With victories to both the Brisbane Broncos and the Parramatta Eels in week one of the finals, the Sea Eagles’ premiership defence hit a grinding halt when they were bundled out of the 2009 finals series. The Storm had gained some revenge for last year’s Grand Final flogging as they smashed the Sea Eagles 40-12 and Manly’s late season surge was over.

While the Manly-Warringah club failed to reach the dizzy heights of success experienced during the 2008 season, the year will still be seen in many ways as a strong one for the club. The Sea Eagles reached the NRL Finals for the fifth straight season, a run only currently bettered by the Storm and the Broncos. As well as a solid NRL season, the club also claimed the World Club Challenge in March against the Leeds Rhinos, won the Queensland Cup grand final through the Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles and the Under 20’s side still remains a strong premiership hope.

After early season success in England and claiming the title of the ‘best club in the world’ the Sea Eagles returned home to new challenges with every team looking to aim up against the defending premiers. The pressure told as the Maroon and Whites suffered four consecutive losses to start the season, including heartbreaking final minute losses to both the Warriors and the Panthers at Brookvale Oval.

The return of Brett Stewart on Easter Sunday allowed for a Round 5 resurrection of the Sea Eagles season with Stewart scoring a hat trick of tries to spark the premiers into life. Stewart’s form continued into Round 6 as he and Jamie Lyon both crossed for doubles in Manly’s defeat of the Rabbitohs.

Just when things looked to be coming good for Maroon and Whites, fullback Brett Stewart was struck down with a knee injury and an ANZAC weekend trip to Townsville led to a poor showing against the Cowboys. Not even a grand final re-match at Brookvale Oval could help lift the Sea Eagles out of the bottom quarter of the table as the Storm looked to hammer another nail into the Manly coffin.

At 16-nil down in Brisbane the Sea Eagles’ season appeared to be over until Jamie Lyon inspired the team with a double as Manly ran out winners 22-20 in a miraculous comeback against the then competition leaders. It was apparent that this was to be a real turning point in Manly’s season as they followed this win with a victory over arch rivals the Eels and were unlucky to lose in a controversial finish to the Titans on the Gold Coast.

The middle phase of the season was a successful one for the Sea Eagles, with three straight victories which eventually propelled Manly into top eight for the first time in 2009. This winning streak included a victory over the ‘Pink Panthers’ at CUA stadium where the ‘Wolfman’ David Williams pulled off one of the try saving tackles of the year and mid season recruit Ben Farrar scored a try in his first match for the peninsular club.

Despite the three straight victories between the byes, the Origin period was a tough one for the Sea Eagles, with as many as six players being selected to play for the Blues. Manly’s 2009 leading try scorer David Williams was among many to make his Origin debut alongside Glenn Stewart, meanwhile Anthony Watmough gained man of the match as the Blues claimed their only win of the year in the third Origin clash.

Manly began their last phase of the season with a courageous win over the Bulldogs at Brookvale Oval following the bye. It was the Sea Eagles of old as they grinded out a hard fought victory in front of a bumper crowd. While a depleted Manly outfit went down to the Dragons the following week at WIN Stadium, it had become clear that the Sea Eagles’ season had been turned around and they were announcing themselves serious as premiership threats.

While the Sea Eagles may have been shaky in their win against the Sharks, they were rampant in their flogging of the Knights at Gosford and all of a sudden the top NRL clubs were beginning to look over their shoulders and take notice. However two losses which followed against sides that Manly should have beaten killed off any realistic top four hopes and placed the play offs position in jeopardy.

Four straight wins to finish the regular season, including gutsy last moment victories over the Storm and the Sharks left the Sea Eagles close to Premiership favourites. The final round 38-4 victory over the third placed Titans at Brookvale left many clubs fearing the defending premiers as they finished their brilliant regular season comeback in fifth and travelling to Melbourne for the first week of the Finals.

While the Sea Eagles finished the season with Brett Stewart back on deck, injuries to players such as Jamie Lyon and Jason King led to a horror trip to the Southern capital where the Sea Eagles ‘season ended. The trip was a disappointing end to the maroon and white careers of Glenn Hall, Heath L’Estrange and Adam Cuthbertson, who were all part of the premiership winning squad in 2008.

There were numerous highlights throughout the season though for Manly, in particularly the wonderful finds in young guns Ben Farrar and Kieran Foran. George Rose also showed remarkable improvement throughout the year as he made his comeback from a leg injury which has plagued his career since 2007. Anthony Watmough finally fulfilled his potential to become the best back-rower in the world late as he began to excel, while Glenn Stewart was a constant solid performer at lock. Michael Robertson also showed the brilliant club man he is, playing most of the season out of position at fullback to fill the void of Brett Stewart, and celebrated his 100th game straight against the Roosters in round 23. Remarkably, Michael has not missed a moment of football since he first ran onto the park for the Sea Eagles in Round 2 2006.

The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles will now look forward to the 2010 season, with new recruits Matt Cross and Joe Galuvao set to mix with the rising stars of the Toyota Cup team and the current Sea Eagles squad in an effort to win back their premiership crown. The season kicks off in March with the Sea Eagles first trial game locked in against the Rabbitohs in early February. All that remains now to be seen for the Manly in 2009 is who will steal their premiership title from their grasp come Grand Final day on October 4.