A shout out to the bloke at the end (1:28:27) with the face paint and banner. He was just in front of us in the crowd and was quite vocal. When a Raiders supporter threw some hot chips at him and one hit him in the back of the head, he put down his banner to see what it was, saw that it was just a chip so he picked it up and ate it... and then returned to waving the banner. An enjoyable game that one. Go Manly.
I was there that day, I was amongst Manly fans on the opposite grandstand side, the hill. Being a Manly fan I was full of it on the day, quite a vocal and aggressive bunch around me, my mates and I just wanted to enjoy the game, we weren't trouble makers, unfortunately one Manly fan got into a verbal tussle with a Canberra fan with his young daughter or grand daughter perhaps, both individuals weren't going to back down despite offers of mediation from my group. The Canberra dude got hit on the side of his face, he was wearing glasses, I think from memory his glasses were smashed and the young girl was pushed over. Not a good look, young lass visibly upset, and scared. The girl couldn't of been older than 5. Just goes to show it only takes one to spoil the show. Some people can't take their grog either. Both father and daughter were ok in the end. Fortunately the result went our way, great game of footy, although Manly being reduced to 11 men helped the Raiders get on the board, otherwise I think Manly would've shut them out completely. Remember this match was the battle of the top 2 at that stage of the season, a mini decider to see who was the best at that stage. Go Manly!
Interesting you've got the full match, as back then, Ch9 Sunday matches in Sydney were only 1 hr highlights package at 6:30pm (which continued until around mid-1996 IIRC).
Hated it, thought it was a cop out from Channel 9, just so their high rating news hour with "Brian Told Me", god rest his soul, wasn't affected in any way.
Manly and Canberra on form should have been the 1995 Grand Final. But Canberra never got there and Manly played their worst game of the year to see the Dogs swoop in and really steal the Premiership. Don't get me wrong, they didn't steal the Premiership by cheating. They just came from a position of nowhere to upset the apple cart.
And before anyone says anything about the 7th tackle try and the forward pass try the Dogs were awarded (by Eddie Ward) that 1995 GF day ... the reality is that Manly just didn't really show up on the day. They were there, but their game was back on the team bus. The Dogs played to win, we just played. It was a valuable lesson learned for 1996.
Great to see a referee in control and not afraid to deal with the likes of Toovey carrying on like a Prima Donna. .Good job Eddie Ward. I wish today’s referees had the balls to deal with unruly players the way you did.
both thease teams only lost 2 games all year but the 6th place bulldogs somehow won it from being terrible most of the year including losing 42-0 to the knights and western Reds Canberra had not lost a game at bruce stadium in years till this you could defend with 11 men back in those days now it's touch footy and Canberra would have scored 5 trys in 2021 manly defense was amazing this year
Best side to never win a comp, 1995 Manly Sea Eagles. Canberra not too far behind, both sides lost 3 matches for the whole year. The Sydney Bulldogs pulled a big one out of their, u know what, with the help of the refs of course. Bulldogs should've lost to St George in the first semi, awful Refs call at a crucial stage. Manly were down on form during semis period, couple of dodgy wins saw them go through to the GF, Bulldogs were full of confidence, Manly very nervous, they didn't need any obstruction from the refs on that day. First try in Gf, blatant forward pass, 2nd try off the 7th tackle, 3rd try off another forward pass. To cap it off, the Bulldogs had a legitimate try disallowed. Eddie Ward and his 2 touchies truly had an awful day. Manly paid the price for a nervous, mistake riddled performance, too many unforced errors, they never played that badly all through the 95 season. Failed to score a try in the GF, the only time in the whole season they failed to score. An outstanding season for the Eagles was reduced to a merely satisfactory one due to the GF loss, otherwise the 95 team truly could rank as one of the best ever. Thank god for 1996.
Manly 95 team was a great team. It built on the amazing attack of their 94 team as well as an improved fantastic defence. From March to July they were unstoppable. Though that last month leading into the semis (from around round 18) their form had slightly dropped off. In the semis they got out of jail against cronulla and then were boosted by Toovey's return in the prelim against Newcastle in a dour hard fought game. Physically coming into the GF the bulldogs were stronger because basically they had successfully bashed brisbane and canberra out of their way (playing their natural style) whereas manly had to play a hard style against Newcastle in the wet they weren't used to (from memory Ridge had broken ribs yet chose to play the gf). I agree that ref made bad calls in the gf though bulldogs were better on that day. Ultimately that 96 manly team was much more complete. If nothing else Gartner (starting), Serdaris and especially Craig Innes (ten times the centre Danny Moore was) made them a super team. I just wish 96 wasn't played under unlimited interchange.
@@superfriends835 Yep, I remember the Semis, went to all of them plus the GF, definitely down on form. I was still amazed Canberra were beaten so comprehensively by the Bulldogs on a wet day if i remember correctly. I was banking on a Canberra V Manly GF. Yes, I remember Ridge had a rib injury, I think Hill as well had an ear infection, something like that. One game that was a sign of things to come for Manly before the 95 semis, was the last round against Souths at Brooky, I was there as well. There was a contest between Menzies and Hoppa to see who would be the lead tryscorer for the year. Souths should've been towelled up by 60 points, Manly were stuffing around the whole game, lots of mistakes, maybe it didn't really matter in the end, I think they put on at least 30 odd points on Souths that day, who were truly awful. But it was a bit disappointing for the home ground. Craig Innes was a truly fantastic centre, shame he only played a couple of seasons at Manly.
@@cameronhesketh6814 very true. Straight after origin period (which Manly committed their entire team to) they had a nasty 3 week run (rounds 16 to 18) where they played roosters (loss) knights (win) and then sharks (loss). On the other side of that month they were definitely feeling the physical effects and needed a rest period. Canberra were lucky enough to not have to commit anyone to origin due to the super league signings and physically were unscathed coming into September. The fact in the prelim they had to play bulldogs in the rain with limited ball movement kind of made it the bulldogs destiny to win that comp that year I guess. Some teams get lucky that way.
@atd8vii They peaked at the right time, but if you look through their whole year it wasn't exactly consistent, weren't they whipped by over 50 points in one match? That just didn't happen to a GF winning side, nowadays no big deal.
@atd8vii I think I was at that game it was a Friday night maybe. A great defensive effort if I remember correctly as the Bulldogs threw everything at Manly but couldn't score. I remember going to SFS watching Bulldogs vs Brisbane semi final 1995, they were pretty good, much better than Brisbane. I just thought in the end its got to be Manly Vs Canberra in GF, got a shock when I saw the Canberra semi, a wet day I think it was, what happened to the Raiders that day? Manly's win over Newcastle to qualify for GF was a bit dodgy, we weren't all that good, didn't fill you with confidence, we got away with that one, it was a hard slog, I remember Ian Roberts was in tears after the game, relieved he had finally qualified for a GF after so many years.
Thanks for these uploads to TH-cam. Wow almost 30 years ago
A shout out to the bloke at the end (1:28:27) with the face paint and banner. He was just in front of us in the crowd and was quite vocal. When a Raiders supporter threw some hot chips at him and one hit him in the back of the head, he put down his banner to see what it was, saw that it was just a chip so he picked it up and ate it... and then returned to waving the banner. An enjoyable game that one. Go Manly.
I was there that day, I was amongst Manly fans on the opposite grandstand side, the hill. Being a Manly fan I was full of it on the day, quite a vocal and aggressive bunch around me, my mates and I just wanted to enjoy the game, we weren't trouble makers, unfortunately one Manly fan got into a verbal tussle with a Canberra fan with his young daughter or grand daughter perhaps, both individuals weren't going to back down despite offers of mediation from my group. The Canberra dude got hit on the side of his face, he was wearing glasses, I think from memory his glasses were smashed and the young girl was pushed over. Not a good look, young lass visibly upset, and scared. The girl couldn't of been older than 5. Just goes to show it only takes one to spoil the show. Some people can't take their grog either. Both father and daughter were ok in the end.
Fortunately the result went our way, great game of footy, although Manly being reduced to 11 men helped the Raiders get on the board, otherwise I think Manly would've shut them out completely.
Remember this match was the battle of the top 2 at that stage of the season, a mini decider to see who was the best at that stage.
Go Manly!
Interesting you've got the full match, as back then, Ch9 Sunday matches in Sydney were only 1 hr highlights package at 6:30pm (which continued until around mid-1996 IIRC).
Hated it, thought it was a cop out from Channel 9, just so their high rating news hour with "Brian Told Me", god rest his soul, wasn't affected in any way.
The 1 hour replay was only in NSW. It was shown as a full match around the rest of the country.
Manly and Canberra on form should have been the 1995 Grand Final. But Canberra never got there and Manly played their worst game of the year to see the Dogs swoop in and really steal the Premiership. Don't get me wrong, they didn't steal the Premiership by cheating. They just came from a position of nowhere to upset the apple cart.
And before anyone says anything about the 7th tackle try and the forward pass try the Dogs were awarded (by Eddie Ward) that 1995 GF day ... the reality is that Manly just didn't really show up on the day. They were there, but their game was back on the team bus. The Dogs played to win, we just played. It was a valuable lesson learned for 1996.
Great to see a referee in control and not afraid to deal with the likes of Toovey carrying on like a Prima Donna. .Good job Eddie Ward. I wish today’s referees had the balls to deal with unruly players the way you did.
If the game was played on a Freezing Friday night at Bruce maybe different result...
Great match
both thease teams only lost 2 games all year but the 6th place bulldogs somehow won it from being terrible most of the year including losing 42-0 to the knights and western Reds Canberra had not lost a game at bruce stadium in years till this you could defend with 11 men back in those days now it's touch footy and Canberra would have scored 5 trys in 2021 manly defense was amazing this year
the dogs didnt lose the western reds you goose
@@gazzag4807 you are right I meant the warriors. they got flogged by that other new team.. then never lost again that year
Best side to never win a comp, 1995 Manly Sea Eagles. Canberra not too far behind, both sides lost 3 matches for the whole year. The Sydney Bulldogs pulled a big one out of their, u know what, with the help of the refs of course. Bulldogs should've lost to St George in the first semi, awful Refs call at a crucial stage. Manly were down on form during semis period, couple of dodgy wins saw them go through to the GF, Bulldogs were full of confidence, Manly very nervous, they didn't need any obstruction from the refs on that day. First try in Gf, blatant forward pass, 2nd try off the 7th tackle, 3rd try off another forward pass. To cap it off, the Bulldogs had a legitimate try disallowed. Eddie Ward and his 2 touchies truly had an awful day. Manly paid the price for a nervous, mistake riddled performance, too many unforced errors, they never played that badly all through the 95 season. Failed to score a try in the GF, the only time in the whole season they failed to score.
An outstanding season for the Eagles was reduced to a merely satisfactory one due to the GF loss, otherwise the 95 team truly could rank as one of the best ever.
Thank god for 1996.
Manly 95 team was a great team. It built on the amazing attack of their 94 team as well as an improved fantastic defence. From March to July they were unstoppable. Though that last month leading into the semis (from around round 18) their form had slightly dropped off. In the semis they got out of jail against cronulla and then were boosted by Toovey's return in the prelim against Newcastle in a dour hard fought game. Physically coming into the GF the bulldogs were stronger because basically they had successfully bashed brisbane and canberra out of their way (playing their natural style) whereas manly had to play a hard style against Newcastle in the wet they weren't used to (from memory Ridge had broken ribs yet chose to play the gf).
I agree that ref made bad calls in the gf though bulldogs were better on that day.
Ultimately that 96 manly team was much more complete. If nothing else Gartner (starting), Serdaris and especially Craig Innes (ten times the centre Danny Moore was) made them a super team.
I just wish 96 wasn't played under unlimited interchange.
@@superfriends835 Yep, I remember the Semis, went to all of them plus the GF, definitely down on form. I was still amazed Canberra were beaten so comprehensively by the Bulldogs on a wet day if i remember correctly. I was banking on a Canberra V Manly GF. Yes, I remember Ridge had a rib injury, I think Hill as well had an ear infection, something like that. One game that was a sign of things to come for Manly before the 95 semis, was the last round against Souths at Brooky, I was there as well. There was a contest between Menzies and Hoppa to see who would be the lead tryscorer for the year. Souths should've been towelled up by 60 points, Manly were stuffing around the whole game, lots of mistakes, maybe it didn't really matter in the end, I think they put on at least 30 odd points on Souths that day, who were truly awful. But it was a bit disappointing for the home ground.
Craig Innes was a truly fantastic centre, shame he only played a couple of seasons at Manly.
@@cameronhesketh6814 very true. Straight after origin period (which Manly committed their entire team to) they had a nasty 3 week run (rounds 16 to 18) where they played roosters (loss) knights (win) and then sharks (loss). On the other side of that month they were definitely feeling the physical effects and needed a rest period.
Canberra were lucky enough to not have to commit anyone to origin due to the super league signings and physically were unscathed coming into September.
The fact in the prelim they had to play bulldogs in the rain with limited ball movement kind of made it the bulldogs destiny to win that comp that year I guess.
Some teams get lucky that way.
@atd8vii They peaked at the right time, but if you look through their whole year it wasn't exactly consistent, weren't they whipped by over 50 points in one match? That just didn't happen to a GF winning side, nowadays no big deal.
@atd8vii I think I was at that game it was a Friday night maybe. A great defensive effort if I remember correctly as the Bulldogs threw everything at Manly but couldn't score. I remember going to SFS watching Bulldogs vs Brisbane semi final 1995, they were pretty good, much better than Brisbane. I just thought in the end its got to be Manly Vs Canberra in GF, got a shock when I saw the Canberra semi, a wet day I think it was, what happened to the Raiders that day?
Manly's win over Newcastle to qualify for GF was a bit dodgy, we weren't all that good, didn't fill you with confidence, we got away with that one, it was a hard slog, I remember Ian Roberts was in tears after the game, relieved he had finally qualified for a GF after so many years.