In the news this week:

That's Two From Two, Thank-You
Lesson Handed Out
Mermaids Go Down Swinging
Village Green Turns Blue
Orange Shines Light On Vital Issue
Time Slides By
Old Blue Doing It Tough
Anzac Day A Family Affair
Cheers To This Beer
Jobs For The Boys
Special Thanks
Cannonball On Fire
Meet Your Sponsors

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That's Two From Two, Thank-You

When you checked the Shute Shield draw at the start of the season and saw two away games against Eastwood and Sydney Uni to begin the Marlins' campaign, you'd be forgiven for breaking out in a cold sweat.

TG Millner Field and Uni Oval are at the top of the toughest road trips in the competition, yet the boys in blue have come away with maximum points in both.

Saturday's after-the-bell 31-29 win over Uni has us sharing top spot on the ladder as we finally make our way home for three big Manly Oval games in 14 days.

"We don’t get to sing Manly boom boom all that often here (Uni Oval) so it's great to get away with a win," inspirational breakaway Hunter Ward told Fillets.

"But we're mindful it's only two rounds in and we're not looking to peak by round three."

Point taken. But geez there was a lot to like about this performance.

We trailed twice and were a man down for 10 minutes but still found a way, winning the game via an 82^nd minute penalty goal to Robbie Mcintosh.

"One of our club values is resilience and we showed that by staying in the fight," coach Chris Delooze said.

"A lot of things we didn't do well in terms of game management and controlling that second half, but you can't deny the character.

"That was a good Sydney Uni team and they played well and we nullified that."

A wonderful team try to Ruan Du Plooy (easily the Shute Shield's try of the week, although fullback Wilson Dulieu's five pointer was right up there) put us ahead early in the second half before Uni responded with 17 unanswered points to lead 29-28.

We simply maintained our composure and worked our way up field in the closing stages to earn a penalty.

Mcintosh, after working with superboot Daryl Halligan during the week, slotted his fifth kick of the day (from five attempts) to secure all five points.

Earlier, we suffered narrow losses in 2s (29-24), 3s (35-29) and 4s (35-33).

Lesson Handed Out

It was a case of the Students doing the teaching as our Colts teams came away from Sydney Uni with a C-minus.

All three grades suffered heavy defeats and head coach Ed Morgan didn’t mince his words.

"Flying high off a great first round against Eastwood, our boys were promptly reacquainted with the premier standard in the competition," he said.

"It was a reminder of needing to stay in the fight in each moment of each game when playing at this level, alongside the need for consistent and deeper enthusiasm to beat the opposition from the wrong side of the ball."

There were some specks of gold amid the ruins, with young Tom Porter playing in 3s, 2s and coming on in 1s after ten minutes to replace the badly injured Jono Ryan.

Morgan said: "It was a herculean effort and representative of the fight we expect to see across the whole program in a no-excuses match up against West Harbour on Saturday."

Mermaids Go Down Swinging

As a first up performance, the Manly Mermaids XV certainly made a statement on opening night.

In what was the club's first appearance in a female 15-a-side game for around 20 years, the girls went down 27-26 to perennial powerhouse Sydney Uni last Friday evening.

We trailed 27-12 during the second half before piling on two converted tries to take the game right down to the wire.

We came away with two precious bonus points after scoring four tries and losing by less than seven.

It all augurs well for a big effort against West Harbour at Manly Oval on Saturday (noon kick-off).

VILLAGE GREEN TURNS BLUE

It will have been 260 days – or eight and a half months - since our last home game when the boys run out on Manly Oval against West Harbour on Saturday.

Far too long, if you ask us!

But when it rains (figuratively we hope), it pours.

The Wests game will be quickly followed by the big local derby against the Rats on Anzac Day and nine days later we will complete three consecutive home games when he host Gordon.

Hunter Ward said: "It's going to be awesome to play at home again after so long and something special for the new boys who haven’t experienced that as yet."

Tickets to the Wests game can be purchased here.

ANZAC DAY Rats tickets available here.

Get in quick.

Orange Shines Light On Vital Issue

You will notice something very different about our playing uniform when we run out against West Harbour at Manly Oval on Saturday.

The traditional blue socks will be traded in for orange to recognise a very important cause.

The Grand Stand Round aims to draw attention to the impact of domestic violence in our community.

There were more than 1100 domestic assaults recorded by police across northern Sydney last year and unfortunately many more unreported incidents.

So why the orange socks?

Orange signifies a brighter future, free from domestic violence.

The club is proud to get behind this vital initiative and is urging fans to wear a splash of orange to the village green.

Remember, free support is available for people experiencing violence and abuse.

Call 1800RESPECT or go to www.1800respect.org.au

Time Slides By

Marlins stalwart Adam Hill knows it's a long shot, but he is hoping someone at Uni Oval may have picked up his lost watch following Saturday's last-minute win over the Students.

It's a Gucci with a navy band and Hilly thinks it slipped off his wrist as he was madly whipping us home in first grade from the grandstand – or maybe walking to and from the ground.

He's not holding out much hope of retrieving it, but if you happen to have come across it let us know and we will inform the great man.

Old Blue Doing It Tough

A quick shout out to former Manly player Roger Griffiths, who is in ill-health on the Gold Coast.

Roger played seven seasons for us from 1958 to the mid-60s, racking up 105 games in the process.

During the 1960-61 seasons, he went from playing centre in fourth grade to breakaway in firsts after injury swept through the club.

As was customary in those days, Roger spent his summer weekends competing in surf carnivals for the Manly Life Saving Club.

Our thoughts are with you, mate.

Anzac Day A Family Affair

Footballers tell us they only take it one game at a time, but Warringah fullback Ben Marr admits the Rats broke that mantra to circle Anzac Day as soon as the Shute Shield draw was finalised.

That’s the day Manly Oval hosts a very special and moving local derby, honouring those who have served their country before the action kicks off at 3.10pm.

"It's going to be an awesome day. All the players and coaches jotted it down in their diaries as soon as it was announced," Marr told Fillets.

"Any derby day you get up for but to have it on Anzac Day makes it even more special.

"Manly is a great location for it and I'm sure there'll be a huge crowd on hand. We can't wait."

For the Marr family, the day will hold a little more spice and tension.

Ben's dad Greg is our general manager and there's sure to be some gently sledging in the lead up.

"Hopefully we get the win and I can give him a bit of lip at the end but it won’t be anything too heavy," Ben laughed.

"I will be doing my best for Warringah and he will be doing his best for Manly. He will have a million things to do on the day but hopefully we catch up for a beer when it's all over.

Cheers To This Beer

Just when you thought your love for our great beer sponsor Bucketty's couldn't go any higher, they drop this news on us.

The Brookvale-based brewery is launching Marlins Lager – a 4.8% beer brewed in traditional Aussie lager style using all Australian grain and all Australian hops – later this month.

And they’ve procured local artist Tom Hadley to produce a pretty cool can design to go with it.

It features marlins, mermaids and a few subliminal images (look out for the rat) for keen fans to fossick over.

This amazing drop will be on sale at Manly Oval from Saturday.

Jobs For The Boys

As with every season, we have players who have joined the club from all over Australia and overseas and trying to assist them to settle in and find work is always a challenge.

We have several players looking for casual/fulltime work prepared to turn their hand to anything, whether it be hospitality, labouring, removals, gardening or administration and operational work in an office environment.

Do you have an opportunity at your place of work or do you know someone who is in need of workers?

If so, please contact either Alisha Reber (Manly Rugby Wellbeing Officer - 0410 618 640) or Tim Herbert (Director of Rugby - 0466 748 124).

Special Thanks

A massive amount of work goes into preparing for a home game, particularly the first one of the year.

So we just wanted to give a special shout out to volunteers Ian Bonner, Chris Hedge, Danny Hogan (aka Rowdy) and Rob Forsyth for putting in some time during the week to help GM Greg Marr unload around 400 cartons of grog and assist in a number of other areas around Manly Oval.

Well done, fellas.

Your input was much appreciated.

Cannonball On Fire

We mentioned in a recent Marlins Fillets the return of our first American import – Tony Menyhart – after a 50-year absence.

The Wallbash Cannonball - as he was known – played the 1974 season at Manly and won player-of-the-year.

He went on the end-of-season tour to New Zealand, somehow surviving on and off the field, before getting married in the old Sydney Rd clubhouse and returning home.

Tony was a special guest at Uni Oval as the Marlins overcame the locals in a thriller, catching up with former teammates Mick Batty and Ian MacDonald.

The Cannonball and wife Susan (both pictured above) had a fantastic time at the game after dropping into the Steyne for a few frosties the night before.

"He remembered his 7s coach John "Swansea" Hinton getting him to throw the ball into the lineouts so his gridiron passing skills could find the wingers on the other side of the field," Macca said.

"But his fondest memory was packing into a scrum with the legendary Wallaby Tony Miller, who was well into his 50s at the time."

It was great to see you, Cannonball.

Meet Our Sponsors

People find the Marlins in a variety of ways.

Fraser Elder was a professional soccer player in his younger days, representing Scotland Schoolboys before pulling on the gloves at Scottish clubs Motherwell, Hearts, Hibs, Dundee Utd and Falkirk.

Man United, Notts Forest and Cheslea came chasing and he ended up at the Blues in west London before a severe case of appendicitis and back injuries struck him down and put pay to a promising career.

Fast forward a few years and Fraser found himself in Sydney as operations director at EDP Australia, a firm specialising in environmental and occupational hygiene services.

He quickly established a friends' network which is big into rugby and that led him to the Marlins' door.

"I enjoyed coming to matches with friends and family and some of those friends happened to push me in the direction of (club treasurer) Andrew Gourlay and the conversations (around sponsoring the club) started from there," Fraser explained.

"Gals (former GM Rob Gallacher) managed to get me over the line a few years ago."

EDP is part of the RSK Group, which boasts 200 businesses and 10,000 employees worldwide.

Their mission statement reads: To provide quality tailored solutions that have a lasting legacy for people, property and the planet, with a focus on what is important to our clients."

EDP Australia's relationship with the Marlins has been beneficial to both parties.

"It's been a good way to involve clients we have and build those relationships with our existing clients. There have been many good responses for supporting my local team and helping keep the club ticking over," Fraser continued.

As for his hopes and ambitions in 2024, he said: "For the Marlins to go all the way and lift the Shute Shield…we've been so close and had some exciting ends but no title yet!"

EDP Australia's mantra is "Creating a Better Tomorrow" – a not too dissimilar ethos to the one driving Chris Delooze and his team this year.

Read more about EDP here: https://edp-au.com/

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