On-field questions

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Back to things on-the-field related, where do you guys see us needing to improve next year in order to go back-to-back. It's obvious just how hard it is to get yourselves back up for a title defence (none since Brisbane in '93), especially with all teams now gunning for you.
Last year was a pretty perfect year in my view, and was mostly illustrated in the fact that we only got blown out once all year (against the Dragons), and peaked at the perfect time. We were also pretty lucky with injuries in the end, and didn't have many rep obligations. All combined to form the perfect season. We're missing a bit of outside backs depth this year, which is a bit of a concern, but apart from that, I don't see too much difference (Rodney's loss will be tempered by Buhrer and T-Rex stepping up). Thoughts? Anything glaring we need to work on? We may be missing Glen, Choc and T-Rex at Origin time, and I have no idea how we can handle this (although our byes might fall favourably for us, not sure?). We saw how Origin affected the Dragons this year.
 
The big question is Crusher, are you going to change your forum name ;)
 
The team may have extra motivation next year due to all the drama post Grand Final. It could actually work in our favour.
 
mosto said:
The big question is Crusher, are you going to change your forum name ;)
The pressure is on to do so it sounds like! Dunno..Crusher, along with Michael O'Connor, were my 2 first favourite Manly players, and was a reason I first started following the club in the late 80's (or it might have just been because we won that year, can't remember, I did have a bit of a fling with the Tigers for a year or so when they were good back then too), so I have a bit of an attachment here..
 
Crusher_Cleal said:
mosto said:
The big question is Crusher, are you going to change your forum name ;)
The pressure is on to do so it sounds like! Dunno..Crusher, along with Michael O'Connor, were my 2 first favourite Manly players, and was a reason I first started following the club in the late 80's (or it might have just been because we won that year, can't remember, I did have a bit of a fling with the Tigers for a year or so when they were good back then too), so I have a bit of an attachment here..

Maybe you can change your user name to Russell Gartner (links with Manly and your ex-lover). Mind you, I am surprised Manly took you back!!!
 
It will test out whether Hasler's defection has unsettled the players or are the players are just as tight with Tooves at the helm.
 
Crusher_Cleal said:
mosto said:
The big question is Crusher, are you going to change your forum name ;)
The pressure is on to do so it sounds like! Dunno..Crusher, along with Michael O'Connor, were my 2 first favourite Manly players, and was a reason I first started following the club in the late 80's (or it might have just been because we won that year, can't remember, I did have a bit of a fling with the Tigers for a year or so when they were good back then too), so I have a bit of an attachment here..

I know how you feel mate. My very first Manly jersey had Crusher's #9 on it (for the younger forum members, 9 used to be a 2nd rowers number, not a hooker) and my second jersey had Dessie's #7. To say I'm devastated by their defection is an understatement.
 
The loss of our 2 wingers is definitely a concern. Hopefully the Wolfman will be injury free this year and improve his positional play in defence. I think Oldfied will have first crack at the other wing spot. He has to improve in many areas of his game or other teams will target him as our weakest link. Then there's Whare who I think should also be given a chance to show what he can do. His limited chances in the top grade in the past 2 seasons have shown lots of promise.
 
Crusher_Cleal said:
mosto said:
The big question is Crusher, are you going to change your forum name ;)
The pressure is on to do so it sounds like! Dunno..Crusher, along with Michael O'Connor, were my 2 first favourite Manly players, and was a reason I first started following the club in the late 80's (or it might have just been because we won that year, can't remember, I did have a bit of a fling with the Tigers for a year or so when they were good back then too), so I have a bit of an attachment here..

Suburb you live in plus Eagle works
Or maybe your real name
 
Crusher_Cleal said:
The pressure is on to do so it sounds like! Dunno..Crusher, along with Michael O'Connor, were my 2 first favourite Manly players, and was a reason I first started following the club in the late 80's (or it might have just been because we won that year, can't remember, I did have a bit of a fling with the Tigers for a year or so when they were good back then too), so I have a bit of an attachment here..

With that record please don't make Foran your new favourite player. Maybe name yourself after Chris Bailey or something.
 
i think depth out wide could be an issue considering we have lost two first class wingers. Buhrer has shown he can cover the centre position if required which is definitely handy as he is a good defender and has a little bit of speed. I think Oldfield will get first crack at the wing spot but agree that he has to improve his positional play in defence. Whare definitely has potential and i think when given the chance at the run of a few games will show he has what it takes. I hear that there are wraps on a young guy from the Waratahs who has come back along with the young centre who had the car crash at the beginning of this year (name escapes me at present).

If we can remain injury free up front, we have shown with Joe stepping up that we have four good front rowers which is definitely a big asset in going forward. I think the starting back row will be Stewart, T-Rex and Watmough with Buhrer and Lussick coming off the bench with Rose and Joe. That leaves Mauro and Tim Robinson at 17th and 18th.

Origin will test us more than last year, but i think we will only have three players in the NSW team and DCE may miss out to Cronk in the QLD team which is a bonus for us.

If we can remain injury free and Toovey can keep the boys mind on the job, i am confident of us finishing in the top 4.
 
Oldfield looked great in his first few chances, but did struggle in his last few games. I put that down to what side of the field he was playing on. Early on he was outside Lyon than in his second stint he was outside Matai. Being a rookie winger, I couldn't think of a better centre to be playing outside of than Jamie Lyon, great one on one defender and an excellent communicator would fill a young bloke with plenty of confidence. Matai on the other hand would surely take a lot more getting used too which is why I think Wolfman should be on his side, they also compliment each other a bit more with their ultra aggressive/kamikaze style of play.
 
Berkeley_Eagle said:
Crusher_Cleal said:
mosto said:
The big question is Crusher, are you going to change your forum name ;)
The pressure is on to do so it sounds like! Dunno..Crusher, along with Michael O'Connor, were my 2 first favourite Manly players, and was a reason I first started following the club in the late 80's (or it might have just been because we won that year, can't remember, I did have a bit of a fling with the Tigers for a year or so when they were good back then too), so I have a bit of an attachment here..

Suburb you live in plus Eagle works
Or maybe your real name

Name of the street you first recall living on, and your first pet's name...

Sorry, wrong game.
 
[/quote]

Or maybe your real name
[/quote]

That would "almost" be unique, I am about the only one on here that has my name, what I do, contact details.

But I agree you gotta change the name, pisses me off every time I see it!!

And remember Noel and I are mates, I have known him from junior football days.....I have beeen so pissed off I haven't even been able to call him!!

SO PLEASE CHANGE NOW
 
Can't see us going back to back imo. The comp is so close now that you can drop one or two games at the wrong time and never recover.
ALL teams think they can make the top 8 - eight won't.
MOST teams think they can make the top 4 - 12 won't
HALF the teams think they can win the comp - 15 won't
The planets need to align ( and at the moment we're in another galaxy ),
the usual stuff - refs decisions, injuries, suspensions, origin etc.

But saying all that, my simple question marks would be - 2nd year syndrome for DCE and contract talks for DCE, Foran, Killer & the Stewys.
They're the main issues.
 
This B2B talk is all crap, even without the drama's....almost impossible to do in the midern era.

Just look at the team from 2008, how many are left now??

And even the team from 2011 has three departures already!!

The Salary Cap means you just can't keep them all, and the more success they taste the more money you need to keep them!!
 
Mark from Brisbane said:
This B2B talk is all crap, even without the drama's....almost impossible to do in the midern era.

Just look at the team from 2008, how many are left now??

And even the team from 2011 has three departures already!!

The Salary Cap means you just can't keep them all, and the more success they taste the more money you need to keep them!!

The main thing in our advantage as compared to 2008 is the fact that the players, just like us the fans, haven't had the full opportunity to "celebrate" the premiership, so a certain hunger / desire for success may still be prevalent. I was always of the opinion that despite the Snake issue, a lack of desire on the players part borne of having accomplished the ultimate the year before, played a large part in our stuttering campaign in 2009. I don't see this being an issue in 2012. Also, of the three players who have left us, two were wingers (though bloody good ones at that).

I think the single biggest obstacle to us having another good year (top 4) may be the destabilising effect of player negotiations (especially if we are to lose stalwarts).
 
Well having wrote us off early this year I'm not going to put my foot in it again and say we will go B2B or we can't. The effect of all this drama is going to be negative for a lot of the players no doubt. Des was like a godfather to most of them. However they are all profesionals who are getting payed very well to do a job. Plus if they want to up their future contract asking prices then having a poor season isn't going to help them. No doubt we still have a premiership winning roster and overall much more solid than any other club from what I can see. Joe,Kite,King are getting on a bit but we did it without Kingy and Wolf so with those 2 back we are still very strong. I think it more comes down to who the threats will be. If we keep the top team on the park for most of the year with no serious injuries or suspensions then I see no reason that we cant win it again. It more so matters who the challengers will be and how much the other teams improve. Tigers,Storm,Dragons, Warriors,Broncos,Rabbits have all lost key players and not really replaced them. I wouldn't say we have lost any key players except Robbo. YET!!!!!
Knights,Dogs,Cowgirls,Titans will be stronger.
I doubt that Penrith,Parra,Raiders,Roosters,Sharks would be strong enough to beat us.
 

Or maybe your real name
[/quote]

That would "almost" be unique, I am about the only one on here that has my name, what I do, contact details.

But I agree you gotta change the name, pisses me off every time I see it!!

And remember Noel and I are mates, I have known him from junior football days.....I have beeen so pissed off I haven't even been able to call him!!

SO PLEASE CHANGE NOW
[/quote]

He didn't consult you before making his decision? I thought you two were pretty much blood brothers.
 

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