MANLY-WARRINGAH RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT 2019 MANLY-WARRINGAH RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT 2019 2 FOREWORD TO THE REPORT Welcome to the 2019 Annual Report of the Manly-Warringah Rugby League Football Club (MWRLFC). We produce this report each year as our contribution to the history and record keeping of the Club and the Sea Eagles. The MWRLFC in its current and previous form (the Manly-Warringah District Rugby League Football Club) has produced an Annual Report every year since 1947. By producing this report, we do not purport to represent ourselves as the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Limited (MWSE Ltd) which is a separate legal entity administering and funding the Team. We sincerely thank the current private owners of the Sea Eagles - the Penn family, Andrew Michael and Gary Wolman - who continue to financially support the Sea Eagles. What should not be forgotten or ignored however is that the MWRLFC is also a minority owner of the MWSE Ltd. That means that MWRLFC members also have an ownership stake in the MWSE Ltd, the Sea Eagles. The MWRLFC holds the Preference Share in the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Ltd which gives our members, through their right to vote, determination over the Team’s name, colours and its home ground, as well as two voting positions on the MWSE Ltd Board which has seven members. That’s why it’s important that the MWRLFC remains a strong voice for our members. Our aim this year was to grow our membership, which we did successfully, through the specially designed, individually numbered MWRLFC membership cap. In 2020 we plan to add to that by including another personalised item to our membership offering. We need our membership numbers to be strong so our place within the Sea Eagles structure and the voice of our members (Sea Eagles fans) cannot be ignored should there ever be further, major changes to the ownership or governance of the Sea Eagles. Having said that, we also urge our members wherever possible and affordable, to also be members of the Sea Eagles. Along with attendance figures at home games, NRL membership numbers are a strong indicator of a Club’s health. This report has been largely compiled from publicly available data and our own records. Photography credits to the Sea Eagles and historical records. The production of the Report is done on a voluntary basis and the cost of printing the Report is funded by the MWRLFC through the membership income. The Board. MANLY-WARRINGAH RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL CLUB DIRECTORS 2019 CO-PATRONS - Ken Arthurson AM and Hon Kerry Sibraa AO Names Position Meetings Called Meetings Attended Cliff LYONS Chairman 7 6 Nick CURULLI Director 7 6 David O’DONNELL Director 7 7 Julie SIBRAA Director 7 6 Alan THOMPSON Director 7 3 Scotty WILCOX Company Secretary 7 7 MANLY-WARRINGAH RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT 2019 3 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT Once again, it’s an honour as the Chairman of the Manly-Warringah Rugby League Football Club (MWRLFC) to present the 2019 Annual Report to you, our loyal members. After the disappointments of the previous year, 2019 was a much better year for the Sea Eagles family, encompassing the Sea Eagles, the MWRLFC and the Leagues Club. The team enjoyed more success on the field, particularly at our spiritual home, Brookvale Oval (Lottoland). The MWRLFC increased its membership, bringing back former members and attracting new ones. Our other key partner, the Leagues Club, after some tough times, has also enjoyed a recovery in what is a challenging economic climate. Des Hasler, returning to his rightful home with the Sea Eagles, led what many of the so-called rugby league experts declared a weak roster, into the second week of the finals; a remarkable turnaround from narrowly missing the Club’s first wooden spoon in 2018. When Des re-joined the Club he talked about the fact that had the team stopped just one try in each of the 2018 games, that it would have been a different story. So clearly defence was the area most identified for improvement. Des achieved that, turning the worst defensive record of all clubs in 2018, to the fifth best in 2019. We had some great, tough wins throughout the year. Who can forget the golden point thrillers against the Rabbitohs in round 4 and the Storm in round 19 and the two nail-biting wins over grand finalists the Canberra Raiders in rounds 7 and 23. The away win against Cronulla in round 10 was remarkable for the fact we were without DCE and Tom Trbojevic, debuted outstanding young Cade Cust in the five eighth position alongside Kane Elgey in the halfback role and comprehensively outplayed them. Most importantly, we regained “the Fortress”, winning eight of the 11 games played there this year, including our first home semi-since the magical 2008 season. As well as the vastly improved team effort, there were also some fantastic individual achievements across our roster. As well as once more serving as captain of the Sea Eagles, DCE captained the Queensland State of Origin (SOO) team throughout the series and was Vice-Captain of the Kangaroos in Tests and the Nines tournament, a great honour that speaks volumes of his personal leadership qualities. He also played every Club game throughout the SOO series. He is a credit to our Club. Jake and Tom Trbojevic also represented the series winners, NSW, in SOO 2019 as well as Jake representing Australia for the Kangaroos and the Prime Minister’s XIII, along with fellow local junior Brad Parker. Several other players from our roster also represented their nations as listed in this report, congratulations to them all. Our “Rookie of the Year” Reuben Garrick joined our Club at the start of 2019. Reuben was a Gerringong Lions junior who had been with the St George Club in their under 20s and NSW Cup sides and joined the Sea Eagles hoping to secure a first grade spot. He finished the season having played 26 first grade games, taking honours as the Club’s leading point scorer, leading try scorer and representing Australia in the Prime Minister’s XIII, the Nines and the U23 Junior Kangaroos. A remarkable personal achievement. Had the Club not once more been hit with a series of injuries in the crucial part of the season (and Jake not been sin binned in the final ten minutes off the semi-final against Souths), I believe there is every chance we could have made the grand final. Injuries to Tom Trbojevic, Joel Thompson, Curtis Sironen and Morgan Boyle towards the back end of the season had a significant impact, but having said that, they were most ably replaced by Brendan Elliot, Jack Gosiewski and Corey Waddell. Two players made their first-grade debuts in the finals rounds – Sean Keppie and Haumole Olakau’atu – both performed extremely well and are real prospects for the future. It would be remiss not to mention the great efforts throughout the whole season of our two front rowers Martin Taupau and Addin Fonua-Blake. They led the team from the front all year and their impact on the team’s success should not be underestimated. Also, Dylan Walker developed well alongside DCE in the five eight role, local junior Brad Parker and Moses Suli excelled in the centres, especially towards the end of the season and we enjoyed the big hits from crowd favourite Jorge Taufua, which went viral across the sporting world. Young Manase Fainu proved himself as an integral part of the team, backing up for popular and ever reliable Api Koroisau. The re-signings of many of our current squad, including of course Jake and Tom Trbojevic, now joined by their “little” MANLY-WARRINGAH RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT 2019 4 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT (continued...) brother Ben, along with Joel Thompson, Marty Taupau, Addin Fonua-Blake, Dylan Walker, Jorge Taufua, Brad Parker and Taniela Paseka, gives all Sea Eagles’ fans reasons to be very optimistic for the future. Sadly, we also farewell some players – Api Koroisau, Trent Hodkinson, Kane Elgey, Lloyd Perrett, and Kelepi Tanginoa. We thank them and wish them all the best in their future playing careers or retirement. While it was not a good year for our NSW Cup or Jersey Flegg sides, we congratulate the Harold Matthews and SG Balls sides for their performances in the junior representatives competitions which saw the SG Ball side make the Grand Final, only to lose narrowly to the Illawarra Steelers and the Matthews team make the second week of the finals. There are several highly talented young players to keep an eye on for the future. Off the field, things are also looking up. The Club has received funding from federal and state governments to allow it to build the $32 million Centre of Excellence which will not only include high performance, state of the art training and rehabilitation facilities but also an additional 3,000 undercover seats on the northern side. This will be a great improvement to our home ground although more funding is still required to bring the whole stadium up to standard. While Parramatta, which joined the competition in the same year as Manly-Warringah is now enjoying its third stadium thanks to the largesse of state and federal governments, northern beaches fans are still battling with substandard facilities. The question remains, why do our fans deserve less? We are however encouraged by the recent remarks by incoming NRL Chairman Peter V’landys who supports upgrades of suburban grounds, with Brookvale Oval as his priority.