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In an era in which loyalty is being questioned - or forgotten - Steve Menzies has created another rugby league benchmark by setting a club record of 310 appearances for Manly and, typical Menzies, marked it with a try.
Menzies, returning after 12 weeks out with a groin
injury, scored perhaps the easiest of his 160 career tries with his first touch of the ball in the eighth minute in Manly's 14-2 win over Souths at a sodden Brookvale Oval on Friday night. The 33-year-old simply had to tap the ball down after Matt Orford's crossfield kick created confusion among Souths.
New rules mean NRL players can now jump clubs mid-season, instead of waiting for a defined transfer window, and many fans and former players are critical of those who "jump ship" midway through a series - and some yearn for the days of one-club wonders like Menzies, Canterbury-Bankstown stalwart Steve Mortimer, 234-game Balmain icon Benny Elias and Peter Sterling and Ray Price of Parramatta, to name just a few.
In a week in which eight players announced coming or immediate shifts - including Brisbane's Brent Tate's transfer to the Warriors next year - Menzies is a reminder of the era of one-club loyalty.
"For the fans to see players move mid-season is like a stab in the heart," said Mortimer, who played 272 games for the Bulldogs.
"It is a commercial reality but there is no loyalty left in the game," he told Fox Sports.
Elias said: "What is that word . . . loyalty? Where's it gone? Players are signing with other clubs and we aren't even halfway through the season.
"Garry Jack, Steve Roach, Wayne Pearce and Paul Sironen. All Tigers for life when I played."
Price, Parramatta's champion lock over 259 matches, said: "Loyalty is gone and it will never come back. I don't think players are loyal to clubs and I don't think the clubs are loyal to players.
"I feel sorry for the fans. They are the loyal ones. They keep coming back."
Menzies - the record try-scoring forward in NRL history and the fourth most prolific tryscorer ever - received a testimonial from Manly godfather Ken Arthurson: "Beaver [Menzies' nickname] is the lighthouse in the fog when it comes to loyalty."
"I just never wanted to really leave," Menzies told the Daily Telegraph . "I love playing for Manly. I grew up in the area and always supported the club. It's a tough place to leave. I'm sure 90 per cent of players who come to Manly in the end don't want to leave."