Firstly the bunnies were always going to win last night but 40 nil after 60 may be the best thing to happen to our club.We are not used to this and let's hope it provokes a response.Those blaming Ballin and Buhrer missing haven't been watching the last 6 weeks.Without them we were always going to lose but to put it bluntly Manly Warringah footballs teams do not succumb like that.Other factors are in play.The reality is 10 years of success in the salary cap era is sensational and it is hats off to everyone involved.This day was always coming and the key is to make the right moves.
A couple are obvious but the tricky area is around the halves.The obvious ones will happen now...Choc will go,Stevie should be allowed to leave.Both are club legends and for different reasons don't want to be here.Let them go.They deserve respect.Snake will stay simply because we will pay him almost double what other clubs will given his injuries and he is contracted till 2016.Injuries aside Bullet has a lot give our club over the next 3 years.
Now the hard bit.I have been a proponent of keep the halves and build around them like the Storms big three.The problem with that is that Kieran Foran,despite what all the fans want to believe,is looking to leave and in my opinion will be elsewhere in 2016.Only my opinion.If you want a single illustration of our problems at the moment then look at the way he is playing.The mongrel is gone and 2/3 of Kieran's paycheck is due to his incredible desire and toughness.He is playing ok but that fierceness that is his X factor is for the moment gone.
So do we throw the cheque book at Foran big time and hope that he gets past this? Tough question and the byproduct of it all is will DCE buy into an era of Manly rebuilding as virtually the sole lynchpin if Foran leaves.As long term fans we know the Eagles rarely take long to be a force once again but a Bennett led Broncos will be tough to resist. Foran staying or going may very well be what makes his mind up either way.
Personally I think Kieran will be leaving.Whether we bite the bullet and pay Kieran huge overs or really bolster a pack that needs rejuvenating badly will probably shape our next decade.The blokes who run the football side of things at Manly are prove performers and I am confident we will make the right moves.
A couple are obvious but the tricky area is around the halves.The obvious ones will happen now...Choc will go,Stevie should be allowed to leave.Both are club legends and for different reasons don't want to be here.Let them go.They deserve respect.Snake will stay simply because we will pay him almost double what other clubs will given his injuries and he is contracted till 2016.Injuries aside Bullet has a lot give our club over the next 3 years.
Now the hard bit.I have been a proponent of keep the halves and build around them like the Storms big three.The problem with that is that Kieran Foran,despite what all the fans want to believe,is looking to leave and in my opinion will be elsewhere in 2016.Only my opinion.If you want a single illustration of our problems at the moment then look at the way he is playing.The mongrel is gone and 2/3 of Kieran's paycheck is due to his incredible desire and toughness.He is playing ok but that fierceness that is his X factor is for the moment gone.
So do we throw the cheque book at Foran big time and hope that he gets past this? Tough question and the byproduct of it all is will DCE buy into an era of Manly rebuilding as virtually the sole lynchpin if Foran leaves.As long term fans we know the Eagles rarely take long to be a force once again but a Bennett led Broncos will be tough to resist. Foran staying or going may very well be what makes his mind up either way.
Personally I think Kieran will be leaving.Whether we bite the bullet and pay Kieran huge overs or really bolster a pack that needs rejuvenating badly will probably shape our next decade.The blokes who run the football side of things at Manly are prove performers and I am confident we will make the right moves.