Sea Eagles are prospering due to large home crowds.
Manly Warringah The Sea Eagles are expected to surpass 100,000 fans at home during their upcoming game at 4 Pines Park in 2024, thanks to the extraordinary support.
A total of 96,663 Sea Eagles members and supporters have packed one of the great traditional suburban grounds in the NRL in just six home games this season.
Attendance of over 17,000 spectators has contributed to the Sea Eagles’ triumph over NRL premiership contenders in five of those matches.
The demand to witness the thrilling Sea Eagles ‘Class of 2024’ play has also resulted in the home games being sold out well in advance of the actual match day.
Round eight saw the largest home crowd of the season, with 17,385 supporters witnessing the Sea Eagles destroy their fiercest rivals, the Parramatta Eels, 32–18.
On Sunday, in one of the bravest victories at “The Fortess” in recent memory, 17,187 spectators helped lift a wounded Sea Eagles team off the ground to record a 30-14 victory over St George-Illawarra.
With just 13 players and one substitute, the Sea Eagles had to play 46 minutes of a thrilling victory that saw Manly move up to eighth place.
“To be honest, I really appreciate the community’s support here at Manly,” said Manly Coach Anthony Seibold.
“The boys were inspired to fight hard until full-time by the support of the crowd here today.”
“It was undoubtedly the hardest victory (during my tenure here).
Jake Simpkin, a new Manly hooker, stated that the audience added even more specialness to his club debut performance.
“The energy of a home crowd is indescribable. Of course, this is my first visit as a home player. I played against it a few times here. “I don’t believe I’ve ever won here at Brookie,” Simpkin remarked.
“The supporters are fantastic. It’s special anytime you have a sold-out crowd at home.
“Having that experience on my club debut was pretty cool.” It was fantastic.”
Moving forward Nathan Brown, whose now-famous bullocking runs off the back fence have quickly turned the first-season Sea Eagle into a cult hero, is another player who feeds off the enthusiasm of the home crowd.
“A huge thank you to all of the supporters who come out to see us every week. We adore it and are so grateful to them, Brown remarked.
There are still four home games for the Sea Eagles at 4 Pines Park, three of which are on Sundays.
At a location that is begging for an increase in funding, one can only speculate about how much higher the crowd numbers could be.
“Keep coming, Manly supporters. “It really helps us so much,” enthusiastic junior Ben Trbojevic from the area said.
“What amazing support you have provided.”
