Meet the ultimate Warrior
Simon Mannering enters rugby league’s famed 300 club tonight in his final NRL season with the Warriors. But who is the man behind the legend? Jackson Thomas finds out.
lightning, but the sun broke through just before kickoff.
Mannering had an anxious 53-minute wait before entering the game; within 30 seconds he had his first touch.
It was a rushed pass that saw him swamped immediately for a one-metre gain, the first of what would become a total of more than 27,000m – and counting.
It’s a day that 299 games later, Mannering stills holds as his proudest moment.
‘‘You never forget your debut, that would be the highlight for me,’’ he said.
‘‘It was the club’s 10th anniversary. I was lucky enough to come in and play alongside some guys who I looked up to. I was not long out of school and got to play with some legends like Stacey [Jones] and that. I could never have wished for this, the way my career has panned out since then. I’m very lucky.’’
The next season, 2006, the Warriors signed Micheal Luck.
So began a great friendship between two uncompromising back-rowers, something both pinpoint as a career-defining moment.
In an ultimate endorsement, Luck said Mannering would be the first player he’d pick were he putting together a side today.
‘‘I was lucky enough to play along side some great players. The likes of Stacey Jones, Ruben Wiki, Steve Price and Johnathan Thurston. But Simon would be the first one I’d pick,’’ he said.
‘‘In my opinion none of those guys played with the same level of consistency as Simon, and that’s taking nothing away from them, they’re all-time greats.
‘‘Simon has never been as
dynamic as Stacey and not as physically dominant as Wiki, but every single week you just knew what you were going to get. The difference between his best and his worst game is so minuscule.’’
Mannering and Luck spent as much time off the field together as they did on it. They would carpool to and from training, and bonded over their love of music and ‘‘talking rubbish’’, Luck said. It was Mannering’s consistency of character that Luck admired the most.
‘‘The great thing about Simon is he never changes, he’s the same now as he was when he came in as an 18-year-old,’’ he said.
‘‘He’s a product of a great family and it’s made him such a humble, understated man who never asks for anything. For him to reach 300 games is an awesome achievement and couldn’t happen to a more deserving player in my eyes.’’
JOINING THE 300 CLUB
He’s not comfortable with all the fanfare, not at all, but even Mannering (begrudgingly) concedes his pending milestone is one worth recognising.
At a media session on Monday, the veteran back-rower stood and watched as he was lauded by his coach and teammates, none of whom were interested in downplaying what tonight will mean for Mannering and the club.
When it was his turn to front the cameras, Mannering typically used the opportunity to thank all those who had helped get him to this point rather than bask in his own glory.
‘‘I’m surprised I lasted this long to be honest, just thankful,’’ he said.
‘‘It will be a pinch yourself moment to run out. It will be a very proud moment for me and my family but, those sort of things [300 games] you never set out to achieve. These milestones are good moments to thank the people that helped get you here.’’
As Mannering and his team prepare for tonight and the NRL finals thereafter, football remains the main focus – and that’s how he wants things to stay. Whether the Warriors charge all the way to the grand final and send him off in style, or they bow out in week one, Mannering has just one request – don’t make a fuss about him.
‘‘Every single week you just knew what you were going to get.’’
Micheal Luck on Simon Mannering