2013 - The day after.

[niccipops]

There's empty feeling for fans after and a Grand Final loss. In some ways it feels worse than getting blitzed by the Storm in the qualifier last year...but it shouldn't. Not by a long shot.
In 2013 the team far exceeded all expectations, with their final outing resulting in being outclassed in the end by the No.1 team who received plenty of leg ups during the match. No excuses though. The Chooks have the trophy and though I'd like to insert that trophy deep into that dirty James Maloney, they won. Well done. The whole team probably has celebratory cappuccino moustaches this morning.
Manly:
Too old? Too injured? Too fatigued? Too small? No super coach. ASADA rumours. Extremely limited funds. Dysfunctional boardroom. Won't make the eight.
But they forgot the Manly spirit. The never say die attitude. The turn up for your mates no matter how busted you are. The coach who wears his heart on his sleeve and speaks his mind for the good of his players.
Very, very proud to part of everything that is Manly. I've signed up as a 2014 member too.

 

[Slide]

Your words are very close to my feelings. I always want Manly to win; to compete against the top teams; to show class; to do our best.

Before the game I thought the result would depend on:

- composure
- stamina
- bounce of the ball
- refs (who would hopefully stay out of the way)

I think our team can hold their heads very high after last night. We were well in the running against the best teams (recently beat Melbourne & Souths and forced Easts to play out of their skins every time we faced them). It always stinks to come so close and miss but this year Manly exceeded the expectations of all but the most one-eyed fans. No fairy-tale but reality says we should be proud of this season. Room for improvement yes but proud of Tooves and the team.