It was a special night for the Manly Sea Eagles on Sunday as they unveiled the ‘Bob Fulton Stand’ and their new centre of excellence which will revolutionise the NRL club, transforming it into an elite sporting franchise.
I wrote last week about the importance of these suburban grounds which promote tribalism in rugby league and it’s also vital for these football teams to have the necessary facilities which give them the edge in their goal of winning premierships.
How many times have we heard about the “one percenters” giving teams and athletes the advantage in their pursuit of an Olympic gold medal or a grand final ring?
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I think it’s safe to say the Sea Eagles are now equipped with the ‘performance factory’ they need to lift the Provan-Summons Trophy, which they haven’t done since 2011.
It’s appropriate the new stand is named in honour of Bob Fulton because the rugby league Immortal worked tirelessly for years to improve the “substandard” facilities and his vision has finally been realised through this $33 million investment, which will pay dividends for the club.
I would often talk to ‘Bozo’ before going on-air with 2GB’s Continuous Call Team about the facilities on the northern beaches and the Immortal would often say, “we’ve got players sitting in demountable classrooms eating their lunch when other teams are utilising multi-million dollar facilities like the one at Penrith”.
Manly owner Scott Penn told the Continuous Call Team on Saturday, “there’s no question that a modern day NRL club needs facilities that befit an elite sporting organisation”.
“Narrabeen has served its purpose, yes they were demountables, but we did have a number of fields that we could operate from.
“The one thing we were lacking though was the collegiality because there were so many demountables and everyone was spread out.
“To have everyone in one facility is going to be phenomenal.”
There are more advantages to the centre of excellence than the performance of the players. What about the negotiating tool it becomes for the recruitment of big-name players to the club in the future?
If you were a rising star of the game and you had the option of working out of a multi-million dollar rugby league academy like the one at Penrith, or a demountable classroom at Narrabeen, which one would you choose?
Panthers Group CEO Brian Fletcher walked me through the Panthers Academy when it was first built and I was blown away. A spacious weights room, medical facilities, hot and cold recovery baths and even the little things like mobile phone chargers in the players lockers.
The Manly Sea Eagles now have a similar facility they can be proud of and when they’re talking to potential recruits, they can walk them through the centre of excellence and tell the players, “this is where you’ll be working and training each day if you sign with us”.
I couldn’t help but think about the irony of the Sea Eagles beating Canterbury on Sunday night to celebrate the official opening of the new facility at Brookvale, after Trent Barrett constantly complained about the facilities in his time as coach of the Sea Eagles.
You’ll remember before he walked away in 2018, Barrett claimed he had to supply his own desk in the coaches office and the club had to hire chairs for the locker room.
I wonder if the Manly board and the Penn family offered him a tour of the new centre of excellence at Brookvale before he jumped on the team bus with the Bulldogs back to Belmore.
I’ve said in the past, watching footy at Brookvale Oval is like going to the footy in the 1980s, but with the Bob Fulton Stand at the northern end of the ground and the potential of Government funding for more improvements to the oval, the future looks bright.
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