Today, we take a look back at Manly Warringah’s history of hosting the Gold Coast Titans at our spiritual home.
The Sea Eagles and the Titans were due to meet at Lottoland this Friday night but with the match postponed due to COVID-19, it’s time to look back at the eight matches played at our spiritual home since the Gold Coast Titans entered the premiership under that name in 2007.
Of the eight matches played on the Northern Beaches, both clubs have won four each.
Manly’s wins vs Titans at home
Rd 6, 2007
The first premiership match against the Titans was played on a Sunday afternoon at the ‘Fortress’.
In front of a crowd of 16, 887, the Sea Eagles ripped the Titans apart in the opening 40 minutes to take a commanding 18-0 lead at half-time before winning 20-6.
Full-back Brett Stewart scored two tries and winger Chris Hicks one. Centre Jamie Lyon kicked four from four.
The Sea Eagles were coached by Des Hasler and the Titans by John Cartwright, who now works as an Assistant Coach to Hasler at Manly.
Rd 25, 2008
The Sea Eagles staged a huge farewell tribute for club legend Steve Menzies for this Monday night clash.
The match against the Titans marked the final regular season home match for Menzies. To celebrate the occasion, the Sea Eagles renamed the southern stand the ‘Fulton-Menzies’ Stand in honour of the leading tryscoring forward to share with club Immortal, Bob Fulton.
A crowd of 14, 755 saw ‘Beaver’ Menzies walk off as a winner in a 28-10 victory that saw tough centre Steve Matai cross for a double.
Menzies would later return for a finals game at Brookvale before going on to score a try in the famous 40-0 Grand Final win over the Melbourne Storm.
Rd 26, 2009
Sea Eagles fans had plenty to celebrate at the ‘Fortress’ in a 38-4 win on a Saturday night.
Popular winger David ‘Wolfman’’ Williams led the way with two tries with Ben Farrar, Kieran Foran, Glenn Hall, Matt Orford, and Brett Stewart also scoring.
Captain Orford had a fine evening with the boot, kicking five goals from seven attempts.
The 34 point margin remains Manly’s biggest ever win at home over the Titans.
Rd 19, 2013
It was a case of who didn’t score in this Sunday afternoon clash at home.
The Sea Eagles ran in eight tries to four in a 38-20 win over the Titans after Manly led 24-10 at half-time.
Tryscorers for Manly were Jamie Buhrer, Justin Horo, Jamie Lyon, Steve Matai, Nick Skinner, Brett Stewart, Jorge Taufua and David Williams.
The score could have been even higher but for an off day with the boot for Lyon, kicking just three goals from eight attempts.
Not a great decade
From 2010-2019, five games were played at Manly’s home ground with the Titans winning four of them.
Only two games have been played at home since 2013 with the Titans winning both.
Titans wins at Brookvale/Lottoland
Rd 7, 2010 - won 24-22
Rd 7, 2012 – won 26-14
Rd 23, 2018 – won 42-34
Rd 11, 2019 - won 36-18
Most tries vs Titans at home
Tough centre Steve Matai and champion full-back Brett Stewart share the record for most tries scored against the Titans at home with five each.
Of Matai’s five tries, two of them were doubles. The first came in 2008 and the second in a two point loss at home in 2010.
Stewart – the ‘Prince of Brookvale’ – scored his double in 2007.
Furthermore, David Williams, Jake Trbojevic and Jamie Lyon are the players who join Matai and Stewart with two tries each at Brookvale against the Titans.
Current Manly full-back Tom Trbojevic is the only player to have registered a hat-trick at the ‘Fortress’ against the Titans.
He achieved this feat in the round 23 loss in 2018 to the Titans at Lottoland in a game that saw his brother, Jake, score his two tries. It left the Trbojevic brothers with five tries between them in the 42-34 loss.
The Lyon Roars
Centre and captain Jamie Lyon scored all of Manly's 14 points in the 26-14 loss in the round 7 match in 2012 at home through two tries and three goals.
Most tries vs Titans at home
5 Brett Stewart 5, Steve Matai; 3 David Williams, Tom Trbojevic 3, 2 Jamie Lyon, Ben Farrar, Jorge Taufua, Jake Trbojevic.
Most Points vs Titans at home
38: Jamie Lyon (3 tries, 13 goals), 22: Matt Orford (9 goals, 1 try); 20: Brett Stewart, Steve Matai (5 tries each), 12: David Williams, Tom Trbojevic (3 tries each), 10: Daly Cherry-Evans (5 goals), 8: Glenn Hall, Ben Farrar, Jorge Taufua (2 tries each).
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