Quoting Sea Eagles

Ken Arthurson
I have enjoyed every moment at Manly - it is always going to be near to my heart and I will never be anything other than a passionate Manly man.

(on the club): "In many ways, the growth of the licensed club has given me as much pleasure as the football club which paralleled its growing professionalism and development. I am proud that both of them have made a worthwhile contribution to life in the Manly district."

(on Steve Menzies): "Everybody talks about his attack but what about his defence? When he hits them, they certainly stay hit. I think he's one of the best prospects we've had for years, and the good part is that he's a local product..."

Terry Randall
"There's something more than ruthless ambition and money involved in playing for your own club. I get a great feeling out of belonging to Manly. It hasn't got anything to do with positions or grades or money. Having real mates and real friends when the going is tough on a football field means more than anything."

(on Steve Menzies): "...He will go down as one of the best players we've ever had at Manly. We've had heaps of good ones but this guy will be right up with the very best."

Graham Eadie
"I was very happy at Manly, and I think Ken Arthurson had a lot to do with that. He was the man that gave the place its harmony. He kept all the good players together, many of them stayed for a lot less than they were offered from other clubs. You only have to look at the other clubs to see why Manly is so successful. The others are always chopping and changing with players and officials, whereas Manly has a whole host of blokes who played more than 200 or more first grade games. Thompson, Fulton, Randall, Vautin, Bob Batty, Freddie Jones, Max Krilich and myself - that's a lot of people in the '200' club."

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (1975)
Back row (left to right): Mark Willoughby, Phil Lowe, Michael Waller, Tom Mooney,
Ray Branighan, Mal Reilly, Laurie Freier, Frank Stanton (coach).
Front row: Terry Randall, Max Krilich, Bob Fulton (c), Alan Thompson,
Steve Symonds, Graham Eadie.   Sitting: C.F. Stanton (ballboy)

Bob Fulton
(on Ken Arthurson): "Arko has been the biggest influence on my career. He's a very special person, the most talented man I've ever met - if he ever wanted to be Prime Minister he would have been. He has a terrific desire to be successful and that transcends to people around him. You are swept along in his enthusiasm. He's been like a father to me."

(on Cliff Lyons): "He's been a top player in the game for more than a decade at the highest level - that is Cliff's own reference. It's common knowledge that teams have tried to shut him down over a long period as a means of stopping Manly. If teams give individuals that attention, then he is special and Cliff is just that."

Cliff Lyons
(on Bob Fulton): "Bozo has had more influence on me than any coach. He understands the game better than the rest and he isn't a ranter or a raver. He uses and urges players to use their specialist skills. I enjoy playing in teams where he is in charge and I'm fortunate to have had his influence through the major part of my career."

(on reaching his 200th grade game for the Sea Eagles): "When I joined the club, I had no idea I'd last so long at the top but it's a terrific place, so professional in every area. The coaches, trainers and players taught me how to look after myself. I have learnt a lot from each one of them. When I arrived here, I was a bit rough around the edges but the coaching staff gave me plenty of good advice..."

Wally O'Connell
"I had to make a decision whether to play with Easts and carry on my career or stand down for a whole season (1950) and just coach Manly and player-coach them from the following season, which I decided to do.

I missed out playing in the three Test matches against Great Britain for sure, and probably was more out of pocket, but I did it for my own conscience sake. I would never forgive myself if I did the wrong thing, even if the League had ordered me to do it. It was a wise decision, and I would do it tomorrow if I had to. People couldn't believe that I did it. I married myself to Manly that day, and I'm still married to them."

Steve Menzies
(on Geoff Toovey): "It's amazing. All the big guys go for him, thinking they can run through him or over him. He just picks up the front-rowers and throws them away. You'd think they'd learn. We all just shake our heads and laugh. His toughness is incomparable."

(on his achievement with the Sea Eagles): "Playing 200 first grade games for one club. What more could you ask for? I'm a local junior and have been following Manly and coming to Brookvale Oval for 20 years. Today is something I'll cherish... I just love the club."

(extending contract with Manly, May 2004): "I'm delighted to play my entire career with Manly. I could never play against the maroon and white."

Ian Martin
(on Manly and himself): "Mate, I didn't go in for all that star crap, I just loved playing the game and playing for Manly ... I was never what you would call a student of the game. I can't tell you what the score was in the 49th minute of a game 15 years ago."

(on Ken Arthurson): "The man was the best thing to ever happen to Manly. He was very astute, a good bloke and always had the best for Manly at heart."

Rex Mossop
(nominating his best-ever Sea Eagles player): "Bob Fulton without a doubt. He was a special player, one who always played to the very limit of his ability. He was tough, he was competitive, he could defend as well as attack. He was good at everything he did. I'd have no hesitation in putting him in my top five players ever."

(on Ken Arthurson): "Arthurson, who coached us in '57, '58, '59 and '60, was a supreme motivator of men. He wasn't a ranter of a raver. He just had a knack of letting every bloke in the team know what was expected of him. He'd come up before a game and pull you aside and whisper, {"Now, you're the only bloke in the team capable of doing this. It's all up to you. If you succeed in your job, we all succeed."} There wasn't a man in the maroon and white who wouldn't have run through a brick wall for Ken Arthurson."

Geoff Toovey
(on Bob Fulton): "People like Boze have an aura about them that creates positive attitudes to everyone within the club. With Boze there was always a great feeling around the place that you had something special ... an air of confidence you felt other clubs didn't have."

Alan Thompson
"We won the 1978 premiership under exceptional circumstances, but we achieved it, we didn't come up for air for two weeks, but when we did, we carried it off and that's something that will always stick in my mind. We were helping one another, we had a lot of injuries and we had blokes having a lot of needles to get on the field and we just kept geeing up each other all the time. We would come off at half-time and beg each other to jog from the field to make the other teams think we were fit. We had to drag some blokes off, but they all did it, we all stuck in there together and that was the big thing."

Frank Stanton
"I've never seen since the like of the commitment that those guys had to one another, not to give in despite what ever happened they were never going to give in. I'll take to my grave the vision of Terry Randall getting up for the last game, needing not one but several pain killing injections to get on the field. And all for injuries to different parts of his body. If they had to replay again they would have played. It was a sheer mind over matter thing."

Bruce "Goldie" Walker
"I wanted to play for Manly even when I was with Norths. I always envisaged playing at Brookie so when Arko (Ken Arthurson) rang me, there was no decision to make.

(Manly memories): Obviously the premiership win and Kangaroo tour in 1978 were the two biggest highlights of my career, but there were plenty of other good memories. Winning the KB Cup in 1982 was pretty memorable. I also enjoyed playing with some really great players."

(on Frank Stanton): "The feeling he generated in that side (1978) was unbelievable. The guys were so together that there was no way we were going to lose. I remember after we beat Wests in the final we ran off the field to show Cronulla - who were watching in the stands - that we were still feeling fit and ready to take them on."

Terry Hill
"The person who made a massive contribution to my career was Bob Fulton. I had a crossroad in my career early on and I came upon this wonderful person at Manly Warringah who changed everything for me."

"I've had a great career. I've had some highlights, plenty of lowlights. I'd rather look at the high ones: playing for NSW, playing for Australia, winning a premiership in '96 with Manly."

Des Hasler
(comparing rugby league coaches): "Bozo (Bob Fulton) stands out. I have probably picked up most from him, although you get bits and pieces from everyone. But he taught me the meaning of being competitive, of being ruthless and single-minded."

Peter Peters
"Des (Hasler) is the closest thing to Bob Fulton in his personality, desire, love of the game and determination than anyone else I've seen. He's a very hands-on coach, just like Bozo (Fulton). He watches videos to all hours of the night, he is meticulous in his preparation and the players have responded to his style. We're delighted to have him on board."

Paul Vautin
"It's just in my history, and in my blood. I went from boyhood to manhood at Manly."

(on his nickname): "About the only ones who call me by my first name these days are my wife Kim and my mother. I got it at one of my first training sessions with Manly back in 1979. After I walked past Fred Jones, he asked Graham Eadie who was the new little fatty. I've been 'Fatty' ever since."

(on the 1987 Sea Eagles Premiership side): "That Manly side would stack up anywhere-any time. Kevin Ward, Ronnie Gibbs and Mal Cochrane were hard men up front, and Noel Cleal was the best running forward I've played with. Out in the backs Dessie Hasler was a great athlete... still is. Mick O'Connor and Rowdy (Dale Shearer) were just sensational. Stuart Davis and David Ronson out on the wings didn't get too many wraps, but both of them sure knew how to finish off a movement."

Roy Bull
"Every part of Cliffy's (Lyons) game is excellent. He has the attack, the defense, a very shrewd football brain. The things he can do in this Manly backline is freakish. He's a wizard with the ball in his hands, he has tremendous vision."

Ron Willey
(on taking his players to Manly Leagues Club after training): "We would have two schooners and discuss last week's match and where we went right and how we made mistakes. Then we would discuss our coming match. This way a coach gets loyalty and I knew that the players would do their best for me."

Quotes derived from:
The Sea Eagle Has Landed, by Robert Smith;
Arko: My Game, by Ken Arthurson;
The Moose that Roared, by Rex Mossop;
...and other miscellaneous sources.