AND so the Manly players partied in a penthouse. Entirely appropriate - not only because they have reached the pinnacle of the premiership, but also because of where they have come from. On their knees with the executioner standing over them, axe in hand.
The outhouse. The opposite of where the players celebrated yesterday.
Asked yesterday what the grand final victory meant for Manly, chief executive Grant Mayer said: "Forgetting a dollar figure, it means that two individuals in [owners] Max Delmege [who personally signed a check to save the club from bankruptcy] and Scott Penn don't have to throw their hand in their back pocket. Being privately owned, it always falls back on two guys to pay the bills.
"This'll certainly ease their concerns. They've both put half a million dollars in again this year. We'd like to think that now, with a grand final appearance, that won't happen again next year."
Like those "only in America" moments, it is truly one of those "only in rugby league" situations whereby a club that has played in two successive grand finals and won the second is still not breaking even, and is yet to secure a naming-rights sponsor for next year. According to Mayer, thanks to Sunday's success, the club probably will balance the books next year - which will be a nice change after losing $200,000 in the last financial year and averaging $1 million for the previous five.
"It hurts," Mayer said yesterday. "That's not money coming out of a pokie den. That's money coming out of two individuals' back pockets. I don't like going to two guys and saying, 'I need some more money.' But we'd like to think that we can get to a break-even point some time very soon."
And he expects the sponsors to start calling today. In fact, with one company - headed by two Manly fans - already in talks with the club, Mayer hopes to be in a position to discuss a firm offer at the next board meeting this Friday, and even suggested yesterday the Sea Eagles would have $2m worth of sponsorship on the maroon and white jersey next season.
"The people that have already expressed an interest, I'd like to do the deal with, because they came on before we won a competition. They're mad Manly fans and it's a good brand.
"Years ago, we were selling our sleeve sponsorship and our other sponsorships [for] probably the lowest [figure] in the league, and here we are and could command the highest jersey sponsorship in the game. The brand itself, Manly, represents so much. You've got a million people between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Central Coast that are our fans, and I think you saw [on Sunday] night that nobody hates Manly any more, and that in itself is very pleasing.
"We've won a competition, the exposure for the brand is there, and the opportunity for a smart sponsor to come on board now - they're going to get a lot of exposure. We're in a healthy position for the club."
Partying in the penthouse. And that is literally where the players enjoyed their celebrations yesterday. Not quite away from the public eye, but at least away from the public bar.
It's this type of move - allowing the players to celebrate with less chance of another rugby league "moment", the off-field atrocity - that is at the heart of why Mayer believes the brand is so strong.
"Although we've been chanting 40-0 all night, it still hasn't helped it to sink in," Kite, one of two players summoned to Narrabeen for a media call, said. The front-rower is a non-drinker. "We were there last year and won it this year," he said. "We'd like to think we can get back in another one next year. We've still got a nucleus of a very good team … hopefully, we can cash in."
Even the players, subconsciously, are trying to convert bang into buck. And so the Manly players partied in the penthouse of an apartment block in Queenscliff called Bella Vista. Translated from Italian, it means nice view. And it is, especially when you've come from the bottom.
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