Five games, three days, and not a single local in any of them.
Manly finished ninth this season — eleven wins, thirteen losses, one place outside the eight — so the peninsula spends finals weekend as a neutral. If you have ever tried to get near a screen at the Steyne while the Sea Eagles were still alive, that is quietly good news. The pubs will be full but not feral, and you can actually watch the football.
Here is everything on between Friday 25 and Sunday 27 September, and every venue in the village showing it.
The fixtures
All times AEST.
| When | Game | Who | Played at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 25 Sep, 7:50pm | NRL preliminary final | Dolphins v winner of Roosters–Sharks | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane |
| Sat 26 Sep, 2:30pm | AFL Grand Final | Fremantle v Brisbane | MCG, Melbourne |
| Sat 26 Sep, 7:50pm | NRLW preliminary final | Sydney Roosters v TBC | Allianz Stadium, Sydney |
| Sun 27 Sep, 1:05pm | NRLW preliminary final | Gold Coast Titans v TBC | Cbus Super Stadium |
| Sun 27 Sep, 4:05pm | NRL preliminary final | Penrith Panthers v winner of Warriors–Knights | Accor Stadium, Sydney |
Two names are still blank as this goes up. The Roosters play Cronulla on Saturday night and the Warriors play Newcastle in Auckland on Sunday afternoon, and the winners take the two preliminary final spots — so by Sunday evening you will know who Manly's pubs are shouting at.
The NRL and NRLW grand finals are the weekend after, on Sunday 4 October at Accor Stadium.
On the Corso
Hotel Steyne
The obvious one, and the biggest. The Steyne is four venues stacked into one 1936 corner pub at 75 The Corso, and the sports room is Magic Millions Bar on the ground floor — the traditional gathering point for Sea Eagles supporters, which this year means it is available to everyone else. Screens throughout, a late licence, and the Top Deck upstairs if you want the game on in the background rather than in your face.
Best for: the Friday night prelim, and anyone who wants a second room to escape to when the first one fills.
The Ivanhoe
The Ivanhoe at 27 The Corso markets itself as a sports pub and means it: a dedicated sports bar with full TAB facilities and large screens, in a room that is still genuinely a local's pub. Schooner prices belong to a different decade. Open 9am to 3am Monday to Thursday, 9am to 6am Friday and Saturday, and 9am to midnight Sunday — open before, during and long after every game on this list.
Best for: watching properly, with a bet on, without paying beachfront prices.
The New Brighton Hotel
The loudest room in Manly, on the corner where the Corso meets Belgrave Street: sport on the big screens whenever there is sport to show, and cover bands from around nine. That cuts both ways. It is a good call for the Saturday night NRLW prelim when you want an evening either side of the game, and a poor one if you want to hear the commentary. The beer garden out the back is the calmer move when the front bar is heaving.
Best for: the Saturday night game as part of a bigger night out.
Down at the wharf
Felons Manly Wharf
The only venue in Manly with a confirmed, bookable grand final sitting. Felons is screening the AFL Grand Final live on the big screen inside on Saturday 26 September with tables bookable, and it has the NRL and NRLW grand finals on 4 October open for booking too. Regular fixtures are walk-in. Doors from 11am daily, which comfortably covers a 2:30pm bounce.
It is the old Manly Wharf Hotel rebadged, so the room is enormous, the pizza is wood-fired and the water is right there. Our full Felons guide has the detail if you have not been since the changeover.
Best for: the AFL Grand Final. Book it — this is the one sitting of the weekend that will fill.
4 Pines Brewpub
Opposite the wharf on East Esplanade, the original 4 Pines. Downstairs is the classic public bar, and the sports-bar directories list it — but 4 Pines' own venue page says nothing about screens, so ring ahead before you commit a group to it.
Best for: a Pacific Ale and a look at the score, rather than the full eighty minutes.
The clubs
Manly Bowling Club
Manly's best-kept secret for this sort of thing. Large-screen TVs indoors and more on the verandah, looking out over Manly Oval at 59 Raglan Street, at club prices, with kids welcome. Open 11am to 10pm Thursday to Saturday and 11am to 9pm Sunday, closed Monday.
Do the arithmetic before Friday, though: a 7:50pm kick-off finishes around 9:50pm against a 10pm close. The Saturday afternoon grand final and the Sunday 4:05pm prelim are the comfortable fits.
Best for: the AFL Grand Final with family, on a verandah, for half what the Corso charges.
Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club
On the sand at the eastern arm of Manly Cove, with the best-value waterfront deck on the peninsula. Visitors sign in at the door. It is a club bar with screens rather than a sports barn — nobody is here primarily for the football — but for the Sunday afternoon prelim, with the harbour doing its thing outside, it is the most pleasant room on this list by a distance.
Best for: the Sunday 4:05pm, if the weather behaves.
Just up the road
Harbord Diggers, Freshwater is a fifteen-minute drive or a short bus ride, and runs a proper live sport program covering both codes on a scale the village venues cannot match, with the clifftop view as a bonus. Worth the trip if you want big-club atmosphere rather than pub atmosphere.
Before you go
Book only where booking exists. Felons is the one venue with published grand final bookings. Everywhere else is walk-in, which makes the Saturday 2:30pm bounce the moment to arrive early — that is a warm spring Saturday on the Corso as well as a grand final, and the beach crowd and the football crowd want the same tables.
The Friday and Sunday NRL games are the easy ones. No local side, no Sydney derby, and a Sunday afternoon slot competing with the beach. You will get a seat.
Getting home. The Sunday prelim finishes around 6pm, well inside the ferry timetable. The Friday night game finishes near 10pm, so check the last F1 to Circular Quay before you settle in — the ferry guide has the timetable. Driving is the worse idea on grand final Saturday; parking is at its September worst.
Eat first. Pub kitchens on grand final Saturday are a lottery. The fish and chips guide solves it in ten minutes, and you can take it to the sand beforehand.
Apart from Felons, none of these venues has published anything specific for this weekend. They are all standing sports bars that will have the football on — but if you are bringing a group, ring on the Thursday and ask.
