I sometimes get asked how did a boy from Granville end up a Manly fan. The short answer is a butcher from Berala named John Dorahy told me he was leaving the Magpies to the Sea Eagles and I should follow. As a nine year old kid I thought this was sound advice, especially after Les Boyd and Ray Brown also made the move.

But I think to me, Manly was always attractive, even before Dorahy’s move. See, growing up in Granville in the 1970s, everybody playing backyard footy wanted to be Ray Price or Ray Higgs or Mick Cronin or John Peard or Ron Hilditch. Ron Hilditch was even my grandmother’s favourite player! And my Mum adored Mick Cronin.

So, as usually the youngest to play backyard footy, I could never be Parra. I had to be the enemy. Manly. It didn’t bother me too much as a kid in 1977. Manly were the defending premiers. I liked pretending to be Graham Eadie, or Alan Thompson, or Max Krilich. I was rubbish at tackling, so I was never going to be a Terry Randall or a John Harvey.

I loved how Manly had the English players back then. Gary Stephens, Phil Lowe and Steve Norton. (I also loved David Topliss at Balmain and Mike Stephenson at Penrith). My Mum started buying Big League, and I got to know Tom Mooney and Russel Gartner. Ian Martin and Simon Booth.

In hindsight, it was an easy switch to Manly when our family butcher told me he was joining the Sea Eagles in 1980. He stayed two years before going home to Illawarra. I am still right here.