KEY POINTS:
It was 1997 when Manly last contested the NRL Grand Final, 1996 when they last won one so you'd expect Sydney's northern beaches to be awash in maroon and white ahead of Sunday's title game against the Melbourne Storm.
They have sold A$50,000 ($58,600) worth of team merchandise in the past five days since winning the elimination final.
But a few small streamers outside the Brookvale bus depot yesterday, the odd bunch of balloons deflating in the 25C heat and a video store and glass repairer's workshop draped in team colours gave little indication there was wild fervour for the Eagles.
There was little sign of anything different even at the Eagles' dilapidated ground at Brookvale Oval, where the State Government is baulking at an upgrade.
Cabbies are always happy to fill the air with an opinion. But the question "Who's going to win?"brought a shrug from the Manly-Warringah driver. The captain of the Manly ferry was clearer. "Storm. And you can't use my name."
The two local councils that cover the Eagles' district are schizophrenic in their backing. A parade was proposed, but the Warringah Council said no ticker-tape, which might end up in streams and cause an environmental problem. Then the Manly Council said it would hold a parade regardless of whether the team won or lost.
Sea Eagles chief executive Grant Mayer said they only wanted a public celebration if they won. It looks like there will be one, no tape, if they win.
Manly hosts its International Jazz Festival this weekend, which annually attracts 30,000. They'll have a big screen on the beach to watch the game.
The Eagles are not well supported in the rest of Sydney, having long been saddled with the label "Silvertails" for their high spending on players from clubs that were "battlers", predominantly Souths and Wests. Calls by current and former players for other Sydneysiders to get in behind them appear to have sparked little back-up. Even Eagles coach Des Hasler admitted as much at the Grand Final breakfast yesterday.
"You can't change culture, and people hate Manly, so that's good for the game. People follow two sides, their own side and the one that's playing Manly, that won't change and nor should it," Hasler said.
The ground will be an 80,000-plus sell-out on Sunday, but how many will care who wins? The majority of the tickets are sold long before anyone knows who will play. That's because it's such a great occasion, regardless.
By Sunday the "home"crowd should have swung Manly's way, if only because the vast majority of Sydney residents would agree with the term the Manly Daily used yesterday to describe Melburnians - "Cane Toads crossed with Mexicans". The cane toads reference comes because the bulk of the Storm's players are scouted from Queensland. Mexicans - south of the border.
Only one Storm player has ever come through the Victorian league system, Kiwi wing Jake Webster. This year they have New Zealanders Jeremy Smith and Jeff Lima as regulars and Adam Blair and Sam Tagatese, plus a host of younger players including Junior Kiwi Liam Foran on their books.
The Eagles field a team of old and young Manly juniors, from Steve Menzies to the Stewart brothers, Glenn and Brett, and Luke Williamson. They have just one Kiwi, centre Steve Matai. But the northern beaches are home to tens of thousands of expats so it's likely New Zealand support will lean their way.
The Storm flew to Sydney on Wednesday night and attended the traditional breakfast yesterday, where players sat with old heroes of the game for the meal, and will base themselves here this year. In 2006, they flew up for the breakfast then back home and returned for the game on Sunday. In hindsight, said coach Craig Bellamy, they may have been under-hyped because there was little interest in Melbourne. Prop Ben Cross remains in doubt. "At the end of the day he'll have a fair say in it because I'm fairly confident players know if they can play or not," Bellamy said.
