Lawrence & Kite

[MK Eagle]

Lawrence was outstanding last Friday night. Missed an uncharacteristic tackle by his standards in that 2nd half but all round thought he really stood up.
His high octane runs & early involvement was up there with Choc imo.
He is super fit & will need that same level against Souths.
Kitey will stand up here going by past big games.
Still recall his MoM effort in the 2008 GF - he is skillful for a front rower but plays his best footy going direct & hard. Will need to fire up for this 1.
These Souths boys think they have the edge up front as do most so called experts, but if these guys stand up, & imo they will, its possibly the most important platform to take the win this Friday....

 

[doc]

Ive been watching manly since 1981 and i can't recall manly being such an outsider in a finals match. It's a strange feeling. Our current team Reminds me of when the parramatta forwards punched above their weight against us in the early 80's. Now we've got the brilliant backs with the punch above your weight forwards....

 

[sheridanstand78]

That is a good comparison, that Parra side had brilliant backs who had combinatons that mesmerised many defences. Our attack is similar, our forwards are effective in what they do.

Beating souths is all about discipline and speed. Brains beating brawn is the way.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

I've been wrong before (though I struggle to remember the details), but, seriously, I see our forwards winning this one. Lawrence and Kite are crucial for us, but no more than Richie and big George. Apart from Lawrence (who is shaping as a World Cup bolter), they are previous grand final winners. In the engine room.

Souths have plenty of lard and plenty of expectations, but they play a very simple style. We have the talent to outplay them, if our middle blokes play as I expect they will. Manly by 8.

 

[Hamster Huey]

Ive been watching manly since 1981 and i can't recall manly being such an outsider in a finals match. It's a strange feeling. Our current team Reminds me of when the parramatta forwards punched above their weight against us in the early 80's. Now we've got the brilliant backs with the punch above your weight forwards....

G'day Doc, I'd suggest 2005 vs Parra and 2010 vs Dragons when we entered finals in 8th. In particular the Dragons match we had injuries and suspension across the board.

But in general, you're right. It's a rare feeling.

---

I've been wrong before (though I struggle to remember the details), but, seriously, I see our forwards winning this one. Lawrence and Kite are crucial for us, but no more than Richie and big George. Apart from Lawrence (who is shaping as a World Cup bolter), they are previous grand final winners. In the engine room.

Souths have plenty of lard and plenty of expectations, but they play a very simple style. We have the talent to outplay them, if our middle blokes play as I expect they will. Manly by 8.

I reckon Tooves has a couple of tricks up his sleeve for this match.

 

[mac]

I actually think Souths frontrow of Asotasi and the younger Burgi are not that great, but guys like Sam Burgi, Chris Mcqueen, Teo, Sutton ect are the hard and big mobile guys to stop who can also run angles and when our guys are tired it will be hard to put them down. Really need Ballin, Choc, Gifty and DCE, Foz to put the tackling shoes on for friday night. We need numbers in the tackle and those driving back tackles as well...solid kick chase and try and kick no where near GI...then we will come out on top.

 

[Brissie Kid]

Ive been watching manly since 1981 and i can't recall manly being such an outsider in a finals match. It's a strange feeling.

The 1991 semi against the Raiders. Lowe's Sea Eagles were ravaged by injuries & were given no hope. Then early in the game Tooves went down in a tackle when he 'accidentally' got some Deep Heat or something in his eyes. That was his day gone. Despite that Cliffy pulled out a man of the match performance along with Kevin Iro, but it wasn't enough when some Billy Harrigan moments all swung the Raiders way.


Great story here on Brent Kite. Some real interesting insights into the Hasler era re moving on players under the cap.
Kite at peace again after anger over being released
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/kite-at-peace-again-after-anger-over-being-released-20130924-2uc99.html

 

[Killer03]

Kite is a big match player.

I remember one game in about 07/08 when we played the Bulldogs. And at that time the Dogs were regarded as having the best forward pack in the comp. He tore them a new a$$hole. It was a real coming of age in my mind.

Lawrence has been a great find, but he needs to go up a level. He's blindingly quick, fit and can find a gap.

Richie needs to do what he does best....straight and hard (preferably no dumping GI on his head...at least when the ref is watching).

Georgey the same, straight and hard.

I can't wait for the media to be shocked on Saturday morning about how the 'light weight' sea eagles pack trumped the Burgess pack.

 

[HoldenV8]

What we need from our forwards on Friday night is some go-forward. When BJ and Kitey were subbed off against the Sharks, other than Choc our go forward stopped until Tooves gave Georgie a run.

Interesting to read an article this week about BJ. It said he was born in Mackay (true) and that he grew up in my town of Adelaide (true, his dad was stationed at the Edinburgh RAAF base located in the outer northern suburbs), but that he considers himself a New South Welshman. I thought he said on The Footy Show when he was on Perfect Partners about a month or so ago that he considers himself a Queenslander?

You know, of all the players at Souff$ who will present a danger on Friday night.....Louganis (the diver), Reynolds, Sutton and those 4 pommy grubs.....I think the biggest danger is Issac Luke. IMO he has been their best player this year by a long way, but doesn't get the accolades his more flashy team mates do.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

No Tom Burgess for Souths, not even on their extended bench.

 

[Bearfax]

Actually I'm awed by Lawrence's dynamic play and speed. Almost another Phil Lowe. How on Earth Canberra and Gold Coast couldnt see the potential in this fellow is astonishing. He has been one of our main go forward players all season and some of his long breaks are more like you would expect from a centre. His only flaw is he doesnt pass and perhaps Toovey can teach him that small skill during the offseason. He and Horo have been remarkable finds. I wonder what he would be like as a second row or lock with that speed. A little more space and he could be devastating. With young bucks such as Sao and Trbojevic soon to compete for the front row positions, he may well be better suited further back in the scrum.

 

[6/71]

What we need from our forwards on Friday night is some go-forward. When BJ and Kitey were subbed off against the Sharks, other than Choc our go forward stopped until Tooves gave Georgie a run.

Interesting to read an article this week about BJ. It said he was born in Mackay (true) and that he grew up in my town of Adelaide (true, his dad was stationed at the Edinburgh RAAF base located in the outer northern suburbs), but that he considers himself a New South Welshman. I thought he said on The Footy Show when he was on Perfect Partners about a month or so ago that he considers himself a Queenslander?

You know, of all the players at Souff$ who will present a danger on Friday night.....Louganis (the diver), Reynolds, Sutton and those 4 pommy grubs.....I think the biggest danger is Issac Luke. IMO he has been their best player this year by a long way, but doesn't get the accolades his more flashy team mates do.

BJ tweeted / twote / twatted (?) about the article with a couple of corrections.