Sea Eagles: On This Day - April 4

Author: Wayne Cousins
Timestamp: Sat 4 Apr 2020, 09:11 AM

Check out these eight wins by the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 'On This Day', April 4, in our rich history.

Rd 1, 1964

Half Barry O’Connell scored 13 points in Manly’s 25-19 win over the Newtown Jets at Brookvale.

He kicked five goals and scored a try in the opening round win.

O’Connell joined the Sea Eagles in 1960 after four years at the Eastern Suburbs Roosters. He played 85 matches for the Sea Eagles, many of those as captain, from 1960-64.

Rd 1, 1965

Flying Manly winger Nick Yakich scored a hat-trick of tries in Manly’s opening round win over Eastern Suburbs Roosters at the Sydney Sports Ground.

His brother, Fred Yakich, also scored for the Sea Eagles.

Nick (below) went on to score a try in each of his three appearances for NSW in 1965. His efforts saw him named in the Australian squad for the tour of New Zealand but did not play a match. He went on to play 74 games for Manly.

Outside of rugby league, Nick won five Australian Sprint Championships with the North Narrabeen Surf Club.

Rd 2, 1971

Manly full-back Bob Batty had a big day out in the 32-18 season opening win over the Eastern Suburbs Roosters at the Sydney Sports Ground.

Batty scored a try and kicked seven goals for 17 points in a game that saw Manly score six tries through Bob Fulton, Ken Irvine, Fred Jones, Derek Moritz, and John McDonald.

Batty scored 1156 points for Manly through 40 tries, 502 goals, and 19 field goals. He sits third for most points for the Sea Eagles behind Graham Eadie (1917 points) and Jamie Lyon (1410 points).

Rd 3, 1976

Champion full-back Graham Eadie was on song in Manly’s 31-21 win over Canterbury-Bankstown at Belmore Sports Ground.

In front of more than 16,000 on a Sunday afternoon, Eadie scored a try and kicked five goals. Ray Branighan, Bob Fulton, Rod Jackson, Max Krilich, Ian Martin and Col Parkes also scored for the Sea Eagles.

It was Manly’s third straight win of the season. The Sea Eagles went on to claim their third first grade premiership that season under the captaincy of Fulton and Coach Frank Stanton.

Rd 6, 1982

The Sea Eagles overcame a poor first half to storm home to beat the Canberra Raiders 23-13 at Seiffert Oval.

Trailing 11-3 at half-time, Manly got their act together to make it five wins from six matches.

Half-back Rick Chisholm scored two tries for the Sea Eagles with full-back Mike Eden landing four goals.

Rd 4, 1993

Young winger Jack Elsegood (below) showed what he was capable of in scoring two tries in the 22-4 win over the Newcastle Knights at Brookvale.

It was a breakout season for Elsegood who went on to claim the inaugural Norwich ‘Rising Star’ winner and ‘Dally M’ Rookie of the Year awards.

Rd 5, 1997

Outside back Andrew Hunter bagged a double in the 34-24 win over the Sydney City Roosters at Brookvale.

The Friday night matched attracted over 18,000 fans at the ‘Fortress’. Daniel Gartner, Terry Hill, Craig Innes, and Danny Moore also scored for Manly.

Hunter played 27 matches for the Sea Eagles over two seasons, scoring nine tries.