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Parker & Harper sounds like a kids show - eg. Bill & Ben the flower pot men
Bill and Ben cannot tackle . Parker and Harper can

We need to get the best out of them

They may not be the fastest but we can make them the toughest

Our mad professor needs to get them in his lab and inject them with Resilient calf blood

Resilnce is the building of mind over the matter
What does mind over matter really mean ?
It means when someone uses their willpower to rise above adversity.

The moral of the story ...
When we build RESILIENCE we are able to over come all obstacles on and off the football field

To Des and his Players
Winning is a choice to remain Resilient at all times
Losing is a fcked up attitude
 
RESILENCE -- MIND OVER MATTER

NO ONE MATTERS AND NO ONE CAN STAND IN OUR WAY OF SUCCESS !

GO THE MIGHTY SEA EAGLES !!!
building-resilience.jpg
 
He’s got guts the red man. But 15 tries from 70 games as an NRL centre just doesn’t cut it.How many centres in the NRL who have scored 15 tries in five years are still running around.I think it reflects where we are that blokes have one decent game against average opposition in ten starts ( solely in defence) we are all of a sudden waxing lyrical about them.2019 also being referred to. Marbles is a closer game to that than 2021 Rugba League.

What’s the great Manly club’s goal ? Best of the rest ? You don’t compete with good sides with a backline like ours in the néw game. And the next time we play a top 6 side the same dudes that always get picked and got a wrap tonight will get totally smashed and be run around with speed. We know that because it’s been happening for a long time and is one the main reasons we have won two from 15. But hey let’s stick with it because we rolled the warriors by a point in an awful game of football. I loved the win like everyone else but nothing has changed re these outside backs that just keep getting picked this year and last.

You need to SCORE POINTS in the modern game and our outside backs , all of them except Tom ,have scored at the rate of props for the last year.None of them has scored more than 5 tries in the last 30 games. Just can’t win many games with those strike rates. Impossible to make the finals with those stats.Impossible.13 points will win you one or two games maximum in a year.

Problem is Des seems happy with the strike rate.Parker , Suli , Tafua and Garrick are the untouchables except for injury. Are Tippy toes, Harper, Funa , Koula more likely. Don’t know. We never get to find out as thry only play a game here or there.or not all. But simple fact is the current points output by the chosen few is way below what is needed. Give others a go or better still let the slow coaches go and try to buy some talent.that at least matches the prototype of a modern outside back.

Badically every edge forward in the comp out scores everyone in our three quarter line AND that’s with the Australian halfback and now a decorated kiwi international( though struggling with body ) inside them.

Look at Saints. Our forward pack is competitive with them but Hook knows it’s speed and power out bsck that is the icing on the cake.
Bird, Zac , Ravalawa , Dufty eat our blokes for power and speed. In fact they just ate them a couple of weeks ago.

There weren’t too many great tackles out wide that day because the opponents were running at speed , in numbers and were a class above, not disjointed and unorganised like the warriors. Easts South’s and Panthers destroyed us out wide as well.The defence out wide has been embarrassing in every other game yet we hang our hat on this week!

Hook has changed Saints to playing hard and direct, speedy ruck ( watch Vaughan, Faumawina Kerr play the ball) and using his weapons off the back of it. Bird is fit and making a huge difference.Pretty simple game plan like most of the top sides.. McGregor was all over the place.We play like McGregors team did. Frantic halfback , not direct , slow play the ball. Rinse and repeat.

Something ain’t right and if picking the first string slow coaches out wide is the ticket forward that will do me.
 
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He’s got guts the red man. But 15 tries from 70 games as an NRL centre just doesn’t cut it. You need to score points in the modern game and our outside backs , all of them except Tom ,have scored at the rate of props for the last year.None of them has scored more than 5 in the last 30 games. Just can’t win many games with those strike rates. Impossible to make the finals with those stats.

Problem is Des seems happy with that strike rate. Are Tippy toes, Harper, Funa , Koula more likely. Don’t know. We never get to find out as thry only play a game here or there.or not all. But simple fact is the current points output is way below what is needed. Give them a go or buy some talent.
I think Funa has a great strike rate considering he has come off the bench in a few games. Take out his bench games and he is scoring a try every second game! Much better than any of the others. Funa is a slower type but he still has X factor, he's one of those guys that finds himself in space quite a bit and that's from natural footy instincts. Id actually rather see Funa start ahead of Harper, he's a better defender too. I'd actually have Funa and Tuipulotu ahead of our current centre pairing but with Des we know that won't happen.
 
Parker’s on my cleanout list!!

Zero to do with his attitude , and I know he’s a local junior but he’s just not up to it in the modern game.

Played ok in defence last week, but his attack is still extremely average.

I think he’s off contract next year so he’d be one I wouldn’t keep!
 
Your namesake mightn’t agree mate. Defence was his offense. Not at all comparing Parker to Skivvie (my fav all time manly player) but centres play a huge role in shutting down attacking raids. Communicating with their wing man and making calls on when to jam in or not. I don’t agree at all with your view here that it’s more the backrowers job. We have all watched Parker for years and know his flaws. My point was he did what was needed to help us home, and we won with that.

I’m not sold on Harper either. Not due to size but more that we are reaching for a replacement for Suli or Parker, whoever that may be, and I’ve been in that camp too! Harper to me looks like a rocks or diamonds type. Get good moments and then garbage plays. Time will tell as he’ll have his chance now Walkers out.

I like the idea of Parker as a bench utility as you say. He could help out with numerous roles and that could suit him. I prefer him in that role to Jetski if I’m honest.
matai is known for his defence but his offense was so underrated.

so many people go 'yeah he could just tackle' - wrong, he had one of the most flexible playing styles in that he did have it all - i dont reckon ive seen a centre put in more successful grubbers in the in goal and score off them himself

the bloke could do it all and was such a hard and fast runner. parker may have the hard but is far away from the fast part which is more and more crucial in todays game.

the difference between manly in 2011 when we won the comp is that we were the last grasp of the 'footy player' - the blokes that weren't athletic at all but god they know how to play footy. Ala Jamie Lyon, Glenn Stewart etc, half of them had pub rigs and were known for eating burgers before match day but they were old school and relied on huge skill

These days a footy player is an athlete first and foremost, and then hopefully has a skillset. Look at the large portions of dominant players in the game - almost every team has a running five eighth, and all the best up and comers are generally just extreme athletes. This is what makes the organising halfback so rare - sam walker is probably the only one of note coming through the grades, the next youngest being nathan cleary who is again one of the best players in the comp.

Bit of a tangent but what I am saying is that the days with manly where our great defense, what you call matai (which i don't agree at all saying his defence is his offence - he had it all), would win us games is over. The pub style footy player like jamie lyon and glenn stewart are over. The only winners in todays game are extreme athletes who play a quick game, run ****ing hard and then the best ones have skill on top of that (i.e. cleary again, wighton would hardly be a great 6 10 years ago but because he's just such a great ball runner now he wins the dally m).

Parker is nothing close to the mould of a successful player today - one of the least athletic in a position that staunchly requires an athlete. Again, look at all the best centres: Best, Staggs, Crichton, Lomax etc... list goes on.

Until parker is dropped, or fills the spot of an edge back rower / centre cover on the bench, manly will have a failing attack on the side of the field, and as you eluded to, offense is the best defense - i'd rather have staggs making effective metres so we have good field position than parker drop the ball but have 'ok' defence on the backfoot for 10 minutes.
 
Really don’t want him in the squad let alone the team.

Just too limited as a player, it’s a shame coz his strong suit is great, it’s just he is holding nothing in the other three suits. He is so slow and non evasive/threatening that it decreases the effectiveness of the players inside and outside him

Move him on. Post haste
 
Think that a couple of other clubs were interested in Parker when he was last off contract , apparently re signed on a relatively modest deal again , probably would expect a similar situation now and think that it would be more of an advantage to retain him, plus a little bit of versatility from him . Still have Suli [ and Harper ? ] on the books for next season , then the question to retain Walker , Funa . Is Tippytoes going to make the transition [ hope so ] and see Koula more as a winger , Full back . Like to see Funa stay , Walker should still have some worthwhile footy to offer and would have certainly liked to see him in the centres now but gee he is injury prone these days . Something that the recruiting team has just going to have to resolve sooner or latter .
 
Think that a couple of other clubs were interested in Parker when he was last off contract , apparently re signed on a relatively modest deal again , probably would expect a similar situation now and think that it would be more of an advantage to retain him, plus a little bit of versatility from him . Still have Suli [ and Harper ? ] on the books for next season , then the question to retain Walker , Funa . Is Tippytoes going to make the transition [ hope so ] and see Koula more as a winger , Full back . Like to see Funa stay , Walker should still have some worthwhile footy to offer and would have certainly liked to see him in the centres now but gee he is injury prone these days . Something that the recruiting team has just going to have to resolve sooner or latter .

Any of those other clubs play in the NRL?

Maybe a team with a sh*load of pacy outside backs could carry him but our side is as slow as f**.

All these positions where speed is an attribute, we almost certainly have the slowest players (or almost the slowest) in the NRL for these positions:

Winger (Garrick)
Cenres (Parker)
5/8 (Foran)
Halves (DCE)
Hooker (Croker)
Edge Forwards (pick any of ours)
 
Garrick and DCE are fast relative to their positions buddy...agree the rest are up with the slowest in their respective positions.

You forgot Horhay and Funa.

No way , are you for real, Garrick is the slowest winger in the NRL.
I challenge you to name slower wingers?

And with DCE it is probably hard to tell because other than his cross field crabbing he hardly ever runs the ball these days,
 

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