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| Born | 16 March 1952 Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Wing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tom Mooney (born 16 March 1952) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s. He played in Sydney's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership as a wing for the Manly-Warringah and South Sydney clubs. Mooney won the 1976 and 1978 premierships with Manly.
Born in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Mooney was a junior winger for Wauchope. He joined South Sydney in 1972. He played three seasons with the Rabbitohs before joining Manly-Warringah in 1975. At the end of the 1976 NSWRFL season Mooney played in Manly's Grand Final-winning side which defeated Parramatta 13–10. He was also the 1976 season's top try-scorer, equal with teammate and Manly's captain Bob Fulton with both scoring 18 tries in the regular season, though Fulton would score another 3 tries in the finals series.
Mooney scored a try in the 1978 NSWRFL season's Grand Final against Cronulla-Sutherland, which was drawn 11-all and had to be re-played just three days later. Manly would go on to win the replay 16-0 though Mooney did not cross for a try. [3] After playing in Manly's premiership team, Mooney was considered unlucky not to gain a place on the 1978 Kangaroo Tour. Seven of his teammates did tour, as did Manly coach Frank Stanton who was the head coach of the Kangaroos.
Tom Mooney would also go on to be the 1979 NSWRFL season's top try scorer. [4]
In 1990 Mooney was named on the wing in a Manly team made up of the best players in the club's history. He was one of the few exceptional players that failed to represent either his state or country.
Former Manly teammate Paul "Fatty" Vautin told in his biography "The Strife and Times of Paul Vautin that during the 1981 NSWRFL season, Mooney was considered to be in a form slump after not having scored a try in the first six games of the season (of which Manly had only won two). Before Manly's Round 7 match against South Sydney at Manly's home ground Brookvale Oval, a fired up Mooney all but ordered teammates to get him the ball during the game. Mooney went on to score two tries as the Sea Eagles won 21–13. Ironically it would be another 10 games before he crossed for another try. He scored a total of 9 tries for the season and retired from playing at the end of the year.
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). The club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League season and currently host the majority of their home games from Brookvale Oval in Brookvale, while training at the New South Wales Academy of Sport in Narrabeen and their Centre of Excellence in Brookvale. The team colours are maroon and white, and are commonly known as Manly or the Sea Eagles.
Paul Vautin nicknamed Fatty, is an Australian football commentator and formerly a professional rugby league footballer, captain and coach. He has provided commentary for the Nine Network's coverage of rugby league since joining the network in 1992 and also hosted The Footy Show from its beginnings in 1994 opposite co-host Peter Sterling, until 2017. An Australian Kangaroos test and Queensland State of Origin representative lock or second-row forward, Vautin played club football in Brisbane with Wests, before moving to Sydney in 1979 to play with Manly-Warringah, whom he would captain to the 1987 NSWRL premiership. He also played for Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, and in England for St Helens.
Robert Fulton, also nicknamed "Bozo", was an Australian international rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and has commentated on the game with great success at the highest levels and has been named amongst Australia's greatest rugby league players of the 20th century. As a player Fulton won three premierships with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the 1970s, the last as captain. He represented the Australian national side on thirty-five occasions, seven times as captain. He had a long coaching career at the first grade level, taking Manly to premiership victory in 1987 and 1996. He coached the Australian national team in thirty-nine Tests. He was a New South Wales State selector and a national selector. He was a radio commentator with 2GB at the time of his death in 2021, aged 73. In 1981, he was selected as one of the initial four post-war "Immortals" of the Australian game and, in 2008, he was named in Australia's team of the century.
Graham "Wombat" Eadie, is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He has been named amongst Australia's finest of the 20th century. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative fullback, he played in Australia during Manly-Warringah's dominance of the NSWRFL competition during the 1970s. He won four premierships with them and his 1,917 points in first grade and 2,070 points in all grades were both records at the time of his retirement. Eadie also played in England for Halifax, winning the Challenge Cup Final of 1987 with them. He also won World Cups with Australia and collected awards such as the Rothmans Medal and Lance Todd Trophy.
Dennis Ward was an Australian professional rugby league footballer. He was a halfback who played first grade in the NSWRFL Premiership for Canterbury-Bankstown and Manly-Warringah from 1965 to 1972, winning the 1972 Grand Final with Manly. He also played for City Firsts, New South Wales and Australia in representative football.
Kevin Junee is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played as a halfback in the 1960s and 1970s.
Terry William "Igor" Randall is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played for the Manly-Warringah club in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership. He is regularly named in all-time great teams and polls. He also represented New South Wales and Australia. He began his career in 1970 as a Centre, but soon after in 1972 was switched to the forwards by coach Ron Willey, primarily playing in the second-row. His nickname was Igor.
Cliff Lyons is an indigenous Australian former international rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A Clive Churchill Medalllist and two-time Dally M Medallist, he made 309 first-grade appearances with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, winning grand finals with them in 1987 and 1996. Lyons also represented New South Wales and Australia, being part of the successful 1990 Kangaroo Tour of Great Britain and France.
Kenneth Richard "Arko" Arthurson AM is an Australian rugby league football identity. Affectionately known as "The Godfather of Manly", he played, coached and was later an administrator at the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. Later he ran the NSWRL, and then the Australian Rugby League during the 1990s' Super League war, resigning in 1997 as part of the peace process for creating the unified National Rugby League.
The 1987 NSWRL season was the 80th season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Thirteen clubs competed for the New South Wales Rugby League premiership's J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in the grand final between the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Canberra Raiders who were the first club ever from outside Sydney to appear in a premiership decider. This season, NSWRL teams also competed for the 1987 National Panasonic Cup.
The 1976 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 69th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from around Sydney, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Manly-Warringah and Parramatta clubs. NSWRFL teams also competed for the 1976 Amco Cup.
The 1978 NSWRFL season was the 71st season of the NSWRFL Premiership, Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, and Australia's first. Twelve clubs, including six of 1908's foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Manly-Warringah and Cronulla-Sutherland clubs that was drawn and had to be re-played. NSWRFL teams also competed for the 1978 Amco Cup.
The history of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles dates back to 1932 when the Manly-Warringah Junior Rugby Football League was founded. In 1947 the New South Wales Rugby Football League included two additional teams: Manly-Warringah DRLFC and Parramatta DRLFC. The new club adopted the nickname "Sea Eagles" and went on to compete in every season of top-level rugby league until merging with the nearby North Sydney Bears to form the Northern Eagles club at the end of 1999. After three years the joint-venture team was disbanded with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles returning as a sole entity once more to the National Rugby League.
The 1949 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the forty-second season of Sydney's top-level professional rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. Ten teams from across the city contested the premiership during the season which culminated in a grand final between St. George and South Sydney.
The 1987 World Club Challenge was the second game of its kind to be played between Britain's and Australia's domestic rugby league champion clubs. Chairman of Britain's 1986–87 Rugby Football League season champions Wigan, Maurice Lindsay, invited Australia's 1987 NSWRL season premiers, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles to Wigan for the game. After this memorable match, the World Club Challenge was decided to be made an official annual feature on the rugby league calendar.
Russel Gartner, also known by the nickname of "Frog eyes", is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. An international representative three-quarter, He played for Manly, Balmain and Easts in the NSWRFL premiership.
John Gibbs is an Australian radio personality and former rugby league footballer. A New South Wales state and Australia national representative half back of the 1970s and 1980s, he played his club football with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. Gibbs spent 2012 as a presenter on NRL Daily and was also the host of Sydney radio station 2UE's Sports Today program, and has appeared regularly on The Footy Show. He was also previously a member of the Gibbs-Hadley Continuous Call Team. Gibbs and fellow commentator Darryl Brohman were successfully head-hunted from radio 2UE after the 1999 NRL season and both then spear-headed the successful 2GB rugby league radio coverage from the beginning of the 2000 season, along with Jon Harker. Gibbs, showing his versatility, also called rugby union matches for the ABC.
Ian Thomson is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. An Australian international and New South Wales interstate representative front row forward, he played club football for Manly-Warringah, with whom he won the 1978 NSWRFL Premiership, as well as Balmain.
Ray Ritchie was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, and coached in the 1980s. A New South Wales state and Australia national representative three-quarter back, he played in the New South Wales Rugby League Premiership for Sydney's Manly-Warringah club, becoming their coach after retirement from playing.
The 1978 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season was the 32nd in the club's history since their entry into the then New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership in 1947.