Entertaining look at the famed Manly vs Wests rivalry of 1978 – which Roy Masters fully admits he whipped up to get his team going. He also points out it seemed to strike a chord with players and fans. Predictably the Manly players say it was hog wash – but what would they say?
The more serious allegation - was Greg Hartley biased towards Manly? Hartley is interviewed here and seems a dodgy guy now as he did then. (It’s fairly clear from the replays here that Hartley made bad decisions – if he was biased he was probably unaware of it, like Ricky Ponting is with claimed catches).
There is some great footage and some of the players remain excellent talent, especially Tommy Raudanikis and Les Boyd. But it’s frustratingly incomplete. Didn’t the Hartley decisions result in the Four Corners investigation which sent Kevin Humphries to gaol? Why isn’t that mentioned? And Les Boyd later went to Manly – surely that was worth a mention? Ditto the “everyone hating Manly” factor. Still, what’s there is pretty enjoyable.
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