Manly Junior League
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| In the A-reserve semi final at Brookvale Oval (17 August 08) Mark Murray became the model touch judge by showing onlookers how to signal touch in goal. Too bad he had left his flag on the 20m line. |
| Frank Samyia has informed the webmaster that in two games on two separate days at the same ground, St Mats Farm, he walked off the ground early because of the mercy rule. On both occasions, Cromer ( in different grades ) had won 52 – 0 in 39 minutes. |
| How cold has it been the last few nights? Ask Brendan Lucas, who became the new 'one shoe' when he turned up to training with one boot (23 Jul 08). On hand was the original 'one shoe' to happily pass on the crown. Brendan was seen to vanish from training rather early - his 2 cold feet might have had something to do with that. |
| Another addition to SBT for one of our regulars. An A-Reserve Referee that has had a big two weeks on SBT had an unfortunate tumble at Harbord Park. His whistle, filled with sand and dirt was 'unblowable' for a good 3 minutes. When a penalty had to be awarded, the referee made it known to the players and spectators by calling out "wait a minute, wait a minute, stop, stop. Penalty back here for an obstruction". When a fresh whistle was brought out to the centreman, there was an applause from onlookers. |
| One member might think that this event went unnoticed, but it has finally caught up with him. A man known for having one shoe, left his bag in his rented car at St Matthews Farm one Sunday. When looking for his car to get changed, he forgot what make and colour his car was. Going around the streets of Cromer with his remote, he still could not identify his car. After peering through the back windows, he eventually found his bag. On his return, Todd Smith asked whether on his Avis car keys if there was a description - funnily enough it was written: the make and colour of the suspect car. |
| After a long hiatus of reports and updates to this website, the current webmaster returned to find two new news articles, a strange but true post and an update to the training report. He thinks the ghost of a former webmaster is now haunting the system. |
| Chris Bignold, who handled the A Grade game between Narrabeen and Avalon at Lake Park on Sunday (July 6 2008), was labelled by a section of the crowd with a new name: Harry Potter.
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| Following the 2007 Saturday Grandfinals played at Denzil Joyce, a nice pool of water had collected around the goal line after a downfall of rain the night prior. Celebrating a victory, a number of kids decided to take a dive. Following this, Manly Referee, Luke Eisenhauer, decided to do the same. For those that know Luke, it would not be so strange. Except he began his run off from the 40metre line. It was reported that kids were seen quickly vacating the area on seeing the run... Also in the process, Luke may have eaten Laurie's fish (see below). |
| A Manly Referee was about to leave a ground and was walking towards his car when he realised he was only carrying his boots and not his entire bag. We can't name names again, but he is a serial offender in these occurrences. |
| A referee was heard telling a player in a rep game: "You're not Moses, so don't wave your hands at me"
For those that can't work out who it is, that referee once told a trainer to modify his language (see below) |
| Laurie Lawira walked off the field at half time of an under 15s game at Denzil Joyce to find advisory board members Shane Charman and Chris Bignold standing around a pile of one dollar coins. It was later found that each represented an infringement at the kick off which was not attended to. Sadly there was quite a number of coins there. |
| What was A-Grade Referee, Chris Bignold thinking when he awarded a 10m penalty in an under 6 gala day game? |
| Todd Smith makes a "dominant" return to SBT. In watching a vintage game of AFL (it was in black and white) at the pub, Todd questioned why the player on the screen was not pulled up for not bouncing the ball. He quickly realised that the "player" was the "referee" (sic. Umpire) |
| Now, we can't name names in this SBT as the webmaster doesn't want to hear from a team of lawyers. But we will say that due to a member's busyness at work and their total dedication to training, they arrived wearing their training shirt inside out. It was quickly picked up by coach Shane Charman. |
| Laurie Lawira made a trip to Denzil Joyce on the first Saturday after the heavy down pour of rain. While the field was in bliss conditions, there were two lagoons of water sitting on the dead ball line and in goal at one end of the field. So big were these water patches, Laurie claims he saw a fish. But that will never be confirmed. |
| Referee Shayne Hayne in his first State of Origin (13 June 07) did not blow a penalty in the first half of football. In fact, it took him 50 minutes to find a penalty against Queensland. The penalty count finished at 4-1 to NSW. This mirrors his effort in an NRL game last year, if you see below... |
| The Website has been updated. |
| Johnny Mac, the master of technological devices drove an electric car to training (27 Feb 07) it was only noticed by two members when Johnny was sitting in his car for over 10 minutes trying to start it. |
| When Nathan Hogan returned to the footy field to train, he found that cobwebs had developed in his boots. Nathan also discovered hamstrings and calf muscles. Johnny Mac was very shocked to hear of this and bluntly told Hoges that he didn't know he had either of them! |
| At the Annual General Meeting for 2007, it was the first time in three years that elections were held for positions - Even for Gear Steward. In what was a tight contest between David Lombardo and Jayson Elkins, Jayson emerged the victor. Present from NSW referees, Doug Keen, asked Jayson whether they would be designer lables. |
| On leaving Nolans 13 after the preliminary finals on Saturday 26th August 2006, Johnny Mac and Laurie Lawira were stopped by a Manly Cove official who wanted three bags of household appliances to be collected for a winner of their raffle - already strange. But the winner was none other than Philip Brown - a referee winning something from a club, that's quite strange too. But as Johnny Mac pointed out, the strangest thing about this whole occurence was that it was Browny won it - meaning he actually bought a ticket! |
| Luke Eisenhauer has been nominated to appear on strange but true for his ability to forget his shorts then duck off home to get them before a game. What makes this strange however is that Luke, the master of getting to a game right on time, was able to do so because one side claimed ten minutes (waiting for their players to arrive). |
| In an A-grade game at Lake Park (18th Jun 06) David Lombardo recounts an incident where he was involved in tackling a player. He said that, 10m from the goal line there was a change in possession. Instead of heading towards the 20m line to mark the 10, he positioned himself at the ruck. A cunning player decided to use Dave as a shield, stepping left and right, mimicking the referee's movement (trying to get out of the way). The defender, eventually tired of the comedy went in for the tackle taking Dave with him. Dave said that while lying on the ground, (amidst play) he was fully aware of what was going on, and was up and ready for the next tackle! He has been quoted in saying that he was able to adjudicate on the tackle as it was himself that made the tackle! |
| In the round 13 NRL clash between the Warriors and the Broncos, how many of the 2 penalties given by Shayne Hayne were mandatory?
Answer: Both.
Referee Hayne after 80 mins of football had a count of 1-all. The first of the two came about the 50th minute mark. Both were restart infringements. |
| This doesn't involve Manly refs, but this is possibly a once in a lifetime rugby league strange but true. Friday night, 2nd June 2006, Parramatta V St George. It took 70 minutes for either team to score - John Morris (Parramatta) kicking a field goal to make it 1-nil. Then St George levelled with another 6 mins later, and when you thought that was it, Hornby for the Dragons kicked another to make it 2-1. In the end, one try to the Dragons was scored in the 80th minute, making the score 8-1! |
| Come backs have been a feature of the 2006 season, with Ian Rigby, David Jay and now Chris Bignold making a return. You may ask what is so strange about this? Well, David who made his come back in round 1 and Chris in round 3 have both sent a player in their first game back, they join Paul Harradine (if you read the articles below) in dismissing a player in their return games! We have also been informed Matt Noyen is also part of this club. Any more in this exclusive club should contact the webmaster. |
| The Association has a new role in place for young Todd Smith, the official MWRA Crocodile Hunter. In a Channel Nine News report, Todd was seen being interviewed about a crocodile that had managed to find itself in a pond opposite St Matty’s Farm. It should be put on record that the croc was of length 60cm, it has now been safely relocated to the Australian Reptile Park. *** If anyone wants to see footage of this creature, search “captured croc” on the following website http://ninemsn.video.msn.com/v/en-au/v.htm |
| We all know Mr Samyia is a math whiz, however in a post-grandfinal dinner he managed to amaze the six other attendees when he was able to split the bill of an odd figure around $157 seven ways, while on the telephone, while giving live commentary on the cricket match that was currently on. |
| Dave Lombardo did the final of the inaugural V8s and a minute or two into the game sin-binned a Fiji player. Seconds later another Fiji player was binned. Two minutes later another Fiji player was sent off. In the second half another Fiji player was sent off. A record for Dave, two sin bins and two send-offs, all from the one team, in an 8-man a side game that was eight minutes each way! And the winner of the game? Fiji. |
| Frank Samyia has made it back to Strange But True. In the inaugural V8s at Harbord Park Saturday February 26 2005 Frank, in the first game of the tournament (sort of the inaugural inaugural game) awarded a try while 60 metres out from the try line. It should be explained Frank had previously adjudicated on two 90 metre intercept tries, in the minutes leading up |
| Why do referees yearn for the A Grade Grand Final appointment? The secret is out. You get free ice after the game. |
| Todd Eisenhauer became the first referee to both referee and play in grand finals in the district on the same weekend when he refereed the Under 10.3s Grand Final on Saturday (August 28 2004) and played in the Under 15.2s Grand Final at North Sydney Oval on Sunday (August 29 2004). |
| A number of referees fell on the weekend (August 28/29 2004) with the most spectacular being Paul Bryant. Dave Lombardo, who was amongst the runner-ups also fell on Sunday night after his game (a number of times). |
| There have been questions about the lack of postings on Strange but True. As explained to those that have raised the matter, the criteria would have to change for there to be more postings. It has. |
| Phil Brown has been sighted again driving a car. Asked to point it out he pointed to the car park and said it was the white one. There were about twenty white cars in the car park. An observer was quick to point out it was the one with a yellow number plate. |
| Rob Peard sent a player from the field in a preliminary final Saturday (August 21 2004). It seems Rob’s control is not what it used to be. It was an Under 9s game. |
| Dave Liuzzo was recently “dismayed, disheartened and horrored”, but we are dismayed that we cannot recall why. |
| Congratulations to Bevan Bourke’s father Chris. He has been promoted to Captain. |
| Fred Markezic has been ringing Greg Kidd all week, leaving messages wanting to get new shorts, socks and shirt. Greg has never been the gear steward, a position currently held by Todd Douglas, and previously by Jayson Elkins. |
| Laurie Lawira was recently overheard to be asking a fellow referee if he felt an incident had “impeded his impartiality.” |
| Good to see Jason Fox back in action. Foxie has been out with a knee injury and has also spent some time back of Bourke. He says he’s also been to Afghanistan and while we would think that strange, we don’t think it’s true. |
| Rocky Davis is one of a very few who have played, watched, captained, coached, refereed and touch-judged A Grade games. He says he has played 248 A Grade games and is now taking aim at a new record of refereeing A Grade games. The only problem is he has yet to tally up the games he has officiated in. Stay tuned. |
| Dave Liuzzo left behind his black Julius Marlowe shoes at Reub Hudson Saturday (August 21 2004). He was not wearing them at the time. He was reunited with his shoes later at Harbord Park., thanks to a person who knows what it’s like to forget your shoes (or at least one of them). |
| Good to see Rob Peard back from injury. Apparently he sprained an ankle when he was putting the clothes out on the clothes-line and he had to rush to the phone. Dave Jay was on the line (the phone-line). |
| A Cromer A Grade player penalised in Sunday's game against Valleys (June 27 2004) mistakenly thought he had been sent off. Referee David Lombardo said later he had simply told him "to go away." Cromer finished the remaining few minutes with 12 men. The player was ex-Manly ref Luke Fittock. |
| Carl Pymble, otherwise known as the Phantom, confounded appointments board officials by actually turning up for a game on Saturday (June 26 2004). Rob Peard was there 'just in case'. |
| Dave Liuzzo architect of the 'free whistle policy' was recently overheard telling a trainer, "you had better start thinking about modifying your language." |
| Reserve Grade referee Ralph Mills has always been pretty cunning. It was therefore no surprise to this column when it was learned Ralph had chosen February 29 (2004) for his wedding day. Nice going Ralph. You'll only have to remember your wedding anniversary once every four years. |
| Paul Harradine, in his first centre in 10 years, sent a player off. Uncharactristically he used his left arm. |
| Saxon Williams spent a good 30 minutes recently searching for his knee guard. He eventually found it. He was wearing it. |
| At an early 2003 trial Greg Kidd had Valleys and Forestville A Grade in a spin, when in a scrimmage on the Forestville 22, the ball unbeknowns to the players exited the field. Two balls were thrown back into the scrimmage, still unbeknowns to the players. A Forestville player emerged from the ruck and headed for the try line. Instantaneously a Valleys player picked up the other ball and was heading for his try line. Greg stood there, also not realising what had happened, with a player from each side streaking towards their try line, and about to score a try. |
| Rob Peard has done it again. At the 2003 seminar he thanked Rocky Davis for presenting the bi-annual sponsorship payment of $1,500 "this evening". It was 10:05am at the time.
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| Question: Who organised the first ever NSW Referees' golf day 34 years ago, back in 1968?
Answer: Barry Cross |
| Dane Pymble has shifted house again. Where to? West Pymble of course. |
| At the North Shore Maori Cup (Nov 9 2002), played in blistering hot conditions with Manly Refs officiating, a wag in the all-Maori crowd was heard to have said, "the refs'll be the only ones getting a sun tan here today". |
| Nathan Hogan has never appeared in Strange but True. |
| One Shoe Junior, Dane Pymble, didn't forget to take both his boots to Sunday's game, nor his whistle, nor his uniform. He simply forgot to take his bag, which contained his entire gear. Asked whether he thought this would qualify for Strange but True, Dane was said to say "well unfortunately, whilst people will find it true, I don't know that they will think it strange". |
| Disregard the second sentence, in the previous item. |
| Prior to (and not as a result of) his fall on Saturday, Phil Brown was forecasting the New Zealand Warriors to win the 2002 NRL Premiership, provided Stacey Jones' fitness holds up. With the elimination of the Bulldogs from the finals this week, the forecast is starting to look good. |
| In the minors on Saturday (August 17 2002) at St. Matthews Farm, with a try brewing on the closing bell, the excitement got too much for veteran referee Phil Brown. He toppled over, taking a kid in the process. As Brownie got up, the kid toppled over again, taking Brownie with him. Fortunately the try broke down, and our collapsed referee didn't have to zip down to the in-goal to adjudicate. The kid meantime was overheard to be explaining to a mate why he was lying on the ground (still), saying "the big fat ref fell on me". |
| Clean-shaven Greg Kidd was back at the Judiciary this week, his third consecutive visit in the past 3 weeks. During that time, Greg has sent a total of 5 players from the field. In his two years with the association, Greg hadn't sent a player off, until 3 weeks ago. |
| Up-and-coming referees Greg Kidd, Luke Eisenhauer, and Dane Pymble, are all sporting new hair cuts. It's only a co-incidence, that all 3 are currently being assessed by downtown advisory board members. |
| Who is the A Grade referee who was unhappy with his whistle, bought a new one, and then blew the pea out of it, in the first game in which he used it? |
| Some players sometimes believe there is a gap in the defence where the
referee is standing. Unfortunately for one Christian Brothers under 15's
player, a 108 KG referee, when seeing a player run at him, quickly
moved to one side. Unluckily, the player changed direction at the same time. Two
minutes later the player staggered to his feet. He will probably never run
at a referee again.
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| Question: How many of the 20 tries scored in the Christian Brothers Vs Asquith A and A Resreve Grade Games at Nolans 1 on Saturday night July 20 2002 were scored on the southern end of the ground?
Answer: 19. |
| The flood gates have opened. In the only A Grade game of Sunday July 14, when a Narraweena player kicked a field goal in the opening minutes, it was the second field goal kicked in the A Grade 2002 competition. |
| When a Belrose player kicked a field goal in the Sunday July 7 2002 game, won by Belrose over Cromer, it was the first field goal kicked in A Grade, in the 2002 season. |
| Who was the A Reserve grade referee who blew the pea out of his whistle refereeing an Under 8s game? |
| State of Origin 2002: Which player's performance will be most remembered for game 2 of the 2002 series? Answer: Justin Hodges. |
| State of Origin 2002: How many points did Lote Tuqiri score for Queensland in game 2? Answer 18 (3 tries, 3 goals). |
| State of Origin 2002: At the end of game 2, how many games had Alan Langer played in State of Origins? Answer: A record breaking 33. |
| State of Origin 2002: At a crucial late stage in game 2, Andrew Johns missed a penalty goal that could have levelled the game at 20-all, and changed the outcome. How many goals had Johns kicked consecutively, prior to missing this one? Answer: 21 |
| State of Origin 2002: Of the 5 potential NSW tries adjudicated on by video referee Eddie Ward in game 2, how many did he allow? Answer: 1. |
| When Rocky Davis handled an Under 16s game two weeks ago, it was the first Under 16s game he had refereed in 14 years |
| So Phil Brown swore he wouldn't run an A Grade line again. That was until Ian Rigby broke down last weekend, and within seconds, spectator Phil, enjoying a few drinks up until then, was back in action, losing a bet to Dave Jay in the process |
| In The Valleys Vs. Christian Brothers game Sunday, Valleys had to come from behind to defeat the home side, Christian Brothers. The final score was 68-2 |
| Dane Pymble only sent one player off this week |
| Question: Which former Manly Ref has been named 'Batchelor Of The Year' for the second year in a row, by Cleo Magazine?
Answer: Ed Sweeney |
| Philip Brown is understood to have driven a car to a game on Sunday, and then to the Harbord Bowling Club. He then drove himself home. |
| At the recent Manly Refs Seminar, President Rob Peard introduced Tony Danks and Tony Kelly, and said they would be speaking earlier at the Seminar. |
| Question: Who played on the Right Wing for Balmain in the President's Cup Against St. George on June 11 1955 at the SCG, as curtain raiser to the First Test between Australia and France?
Answer: Addie Flippance |
| Glen O'Brien was recently seen coming out of the Harbord Diggers Gym. It is not known what he was doing there |
| Any members interested in entering the NRL ranks should seriously contemplate changing their name to Steve. The Steve factor is becoming a real issue. The latest referee to enter the NRL First Grade ranks is Manly Ref's Steve Lyons (Teddy). He joins Steve Carrall, Steve Clark and Steve Richards. The only other Manly Ref officiating in the NRL First Grade (as a Touch Judge) is Steve Chiddy |
| Ever wondered what bbb stands for in Barry Cross's email address bbb5@optus.net? It stands for "barry boy bastard" (source: barry boy bastard). |
| State of Origin: Which player who played in the Manly A Grade competition in 2001 holds the record for playing the most consecutive State of Origin games (24) in Origin history?
Answer: Gary Larson |
| State of Origin: Which player has captained NSW more times than any other player? Answer: Brad Fittler. |
| State of Origin: In it's 21 year history which state has won the most State of Origin games? Answer: Queensland |
| State of Origin: Which state has won the most series? Answer: Queensland |
| State of Origin: As a celebrated winger, how many tries did Wendell Sailor score in his fourteen games of Origin? Answer: One.
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| State of Origin: The 2001 series was the second highest scoring Origin series in history. |
| State of Origin: At half-time of State of Origin III when Queensland led NSW 28-8 they held the second biggest half-time lead ever. At 28-8 the score was exactly half of that in the match last year when NSW inflicted the worst defeat ever of Queensland in a State of Origin match, 56-16. |
| State of Origin: Who was the stand-by referee for the deciding third match in Brisbane? Answer: Tim Mander. He's a Queenslander. |
| State of Origin: Of the fifteen State of Origin games refereed by Bill Harrigan how many have NSW won? Answer: Six |
| State of Origin: How many series-deciding matches played in Brisbane have NSW won? Answer: One |
| State of Origin: How many NSW players from last year's series-winning team played in the deciding third match: Answer: Seven |
| State of Origin: How many of the twenty teams who have won the first match in a State of Origin have gone on to win the series? Answer: Sixteen |
| State of Origin: How many goals had NSW kicker Ryan Girdler kicked, from nineteen attempts, prior to the deciding 3rd match? Answer: Six |
| State of Origin: What name was Alfie Langer calling Bill Harrigan in the deciding third match? Answer: Russell Smith. He's a leading English referee. (Normally Langer refers to Harrigan as Barry Gomershall). |
| State of Origin: Before Bill Harrigan, which referee dominated State of Origin appointments? Answer: David Manson. He's a Queenslander. |
| State of Origin: Before David Manson, which referee dominated State of Origin appointments? Answer: Eddie Ward. He's a Queenslander |
| The Yellow team, captained by Rowdy Mercer, have hit the lead in the training Olympics. (He's probably a Queenslander). |
| There has been no protest by Rowdy about the points awarded for Monday night's training. |
| Glen O'Brien attended training again Monday last. |
| Glen O'Brien attended training Monday. |
| Phil Brown had to muster all his former A Grade experience to restrain himself from awarding a penalty in the Under 6s Saturday.
(Retraction: It has since been advised this in fact was an Under 7s game. Apologies to Phil Brown for any stress caused.) |
| Rowdy commenced the NSW C.I.S. Vs. Manly Reps game Saturday from the half-way line. |
| Australia's original colours were blue and maroon. These were changed to green and gold in 1928. These colours represent the gold of wattle and the green of myrtle, two plants which are found in every State of Australia. |
| The first Rugby League match played at the Sydney Cricket Ground was on the Coronation day of George V - June 2nd, 1911.
Barry Cross was there |
| The last Grand Final at the SCG was between Manly-Warringah and Canberra on Sunday September 27th, 1987 |
| The four tackle rule was introduced in 1967 |
| The field goal was reduced from 2 points to 1 in 1971 |
| The six tackle rule was introduced in Australia in 1972, with the rest of the League world adopting it over the next few years. |
| The first State of Origin match was played in 1980 |
| The last State of Origin match was played in 2002. |
| The differential penalty and the sin bin were introduced in 1982 |
| The value of a try was increased to four points in 1985. |
| After June 1990, four replacements were allowed in International matches. |
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