Gould on Manly and Tom...

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F

Freagle

Bencher
Sorry if this has been reported elsewhere, but Phil Gould, that excellent judge of football and character, is heaping praise on our performance from Monday night, as well as giving Tom a huge wrap...This is from points five and six of his weekly column in the SMH.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...for-nsw-blues-to-prepare-20160705-gpz9vm.html

Manly were great to watch

What about the performance from the Sea Eagles on Monday night football? Wasn't it brilliant? They absolutely blew the St George-Illawarra Dragons off the park with some scintillating attacking football. I know there's been plenty of criticism levelled at the Dragons for what looked like a lacklustre display, but I think this line of thought totally under-sells the performance of the Manly side in recording such a dominant victory.

It's been a difficult year for the Sea Eagles with injuries and at times and unfair playing schedule. They have had their challenges and rookie coach Trent Barrett could be excused for thinking he had really been thrown in at the deep end of the Rugby league pool for his maiden NRL catching season.

It would appear though, that all this adversity has only made the coach and his players stronger. I was mightily impressed. I have no doubt this team will cause plenty of headaches between now and the end of the season.

6. Tom Terrific

I always cringe when media commentators start lavishing praise on young teenagers, declaring them as the next big thing in rugby league. It is totally unfair and places so much pressure on these youngsters as they try to make their way in the top grade.

Having said that, you don't need to be a genius to see that this young Manly Sea Eagle Tom Trbojevic is something very special indeed. Still only 19 years of age, Trbojevic has amazed us all with his tremendous ability. The one thing that stands out above all else, is his maturity for such a young man. He never looks flustered. He keeps wanting to involving himself in the game at every opportunity. At 194 cm and 104 kg, this young giant defies belief with his skill, speed and unique game awareness.

1465718777141.png

Special talent: Tom Trbojevic. Photo: Getty Images

Earlier this season I made a statement when commentating on a Manly match. I said that I have been a huge fan of Manly fullback Brett Stewart throughout his entire career, however, when the time comes for Stewart to retire, Manly's next winning season will come when young Turbo Tom Trbojevic takes over the full-back position.

We saw a glimpse of the future on Monday night. This kid will be the one to produce Manly's next great era.
 
The scary thing for the opposition is that Tom has been killing it all season no matter which position we've played him in and he's done it in a side that has lost more than twice what it has won.

And he's doing it all right now on what is basically one good ankle. If not for pain killing injections we probably would have lost him to season ending (or at least long term) injury 2 months ago. Imagine what he will do in not only a consistently winning Manly team, but also injury free.

In saying that though, Tom really didn't do anything on Monday night that you wouldn't expect a quality fullback to do these days, things that we have seen from Snake over the past 12 years. He got involved, ran the ball with gusto and was always there in support to a team mate. Its just that with Snake in such poor form this year its something that Manly have rarely had from fullback.
 
Having an enthusiastic fullback that wanted to get his hands on the ball made all the difference.
Manly has the squad to be a top four team, not that this will happen this season. We've lacked enthusiasm. I put this primarily down to our best player over the past decade either not being interested any longer or simply not capable of performing. A willingness to throw the ball around, take chances and back one another up reaped rewards. Monday night was a glimpse at the "Manly style of RL" and I liked what I saw.
 
HoldenV8 said:
The scary thing for the opposition is that Tom has been killing it all season no matter which position we've played him in and he's done it in a side that has lost more than twice what it has won.

And he's doing it all right now on what is basically one good ankle. If not for pain killing injections we probably would have lost him to season ending (or at least long term) injury 2 months ago. Imagine what he will do in not only a consistently winning Manly team, but also injury free.

In saying that though, Tom really didn't do anything on Monday night that you wouldn't expect a quality fullback to do these days, things that we have seen from Snake over the past 12 years. He got involved, ran the ball with gusto and was always there in support to a team mate. Its just that with Snake in such poor form this year its something that Manly have rarely had from fullback.
Click to expand...

His try assist for Jorgey was something pretty special.
 
Freagle said:
I always cringe when media commentators start lavishing praise on young teenagers, declaring them as the next big thing in rugby league. It is totally unfair and places so much pressure on these youngsters as they try to make their way in the top grade.
Click to expand...

That's funny considering in his commentary on Nein Gould is forever saying how some kid they're watching is the next big thing in the game.
 
Woodsie said:
I think it would be one of the functions of the Media Manager to keep the powers informed of the mood/opinions of the irrelevant masses.
Click to expand...
Ah yes, And who might that be? I bet some of his relaying of the fan mood would've been through teeth gritted that tight they thought he had tetanus.
 
He's touched on basically everything short of the media scrum around match fixing. Gus knows his stuff. What we couldn't factor in this year was the rapid decline of Snake and Jamie and the extended absence of Matai and DCE.
It will be a roller coaster for a while longer, but I will remember the second half in round 16 against the Cowboys as the time well elevated ourselves from rock bottom.
 
The Who said:
Having an enthusiastic fullback that wanted to get his hands on the ball made all the difference.
Manly has the squad to be a top four team, not that this will happen this season. We've lacked enthusiasm. I put this primarily down to our best player over the past decade either not being interested any longer or simply not capable of performing. A willingness to throw the ball around, take chances and back one another up reaped rewards. Monday night was a glimpse at the "Manly style of RL" and I liked what I saw.
Click to expand...
Its ridiculous to put the responsibility for our poor season all at the feet of one player. Ridiculous. Our defence at the line has been paper thin with no commitment for most of the matches. Our attack has been disorganised, amateurish. No discipline in the ruck in either attack or defence. Injuries and poor or non existent game plans have been evident. One win against a crappy boring team and suddenly we are top 4 material? Geez you have a SHORT MEMORY.
 
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