The Silvertails Preview: Round 5 The Manly Sea Eagles v The South Sydney Rabbitohs

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lsz

First Grader
Staff member
By @KeithSheldon

I am currently sitting on 0/4 correct predictions for these things, call me the Brayden Wiliame of previews. But my tactic last week to tip against us to get the win worked so yay!

Last week an injury and suspension hit Manly manages to scrape an ugly win against an injury hit Roosters side. We came in missing Lawrence, Symonds, Taupau and Matai and by the end of the game we were also without Buhrer and DCE, but we scraped away with the win. Our attack is still in a weird position at the moment, where it just switches on in periods and we destroy teams, but other times we look lost. Honestly I think we were lucky to get away with the win, we had less possession, and less than half the penalties but we escaped with the two points. But now whilst Matai, Lawrence and Taupau all return DCE is going to be out for a month, which will be a ridiculous test for our side in the coming weeks.

Souths last week were terrible. Without Sam Burgess, they were just lost. Their forwards sucked, their halves did nothing and they had lost the game in the first 20 minutes. I predicted the Bulldogs would win, but not like that. I don’t see how one player could be so important to a side, it was like they forgot what they were playing. They were dreadful. However Sam Burgess is now back, meaning that they will probably avoid playing like busted losers.


Team Lists:

The Manly Sea Eagles:

1. Brett Stewart

2. Jorge Taufua

3. Jamie Lyon

4. Steve Matai

5. Tom Trbojevic

6. Dylan Walker

7. Apisai Koroisau

8. Nate Myles

9. Matt Parcell

10. Brenton Lawrence

11. Martin Taupau

12. Feleti Mateo

13. Jake Trbojevic

14. Lewis Brown

15. Josh Starling

16. Darcy Lussick

17. Siosaia Vave

18. Blake Leary

19. Luke Burgess

The South Sydney Rabbitohs:

1. Greg Inglis

2. Kirisome Auva’a

3. Bryson Goodwin

4. Hymel Hunt

5. Aaron Gray

6. Cody Walker

7. Luke Keary

8. George Burgess

9. Cameron McInnes

10. Sam Burgess

11. Chris Grevsmuhl

12. Kyle Turner

13. Nathan Brown

14. Damien Cook

15. Jason Clark

16. David Tyrrell

17. Thomas Burgess

18. Paul Carter

19. Michael Oldfield

There are rumours that Steve Matai and Dylan Walker are racing the clock to be fit. If Matai is injured, Brown will come into the side at centre and if Walker is injured I assume Issac John will get a call up. Honestly these injuries might be beneficial to us, since Matai is playing very poorly and John would mean we have an actual half in the halves, instead of a Hooker and a guy still learning the ropes.

As for the Rabbitohs, Bryson Goodwin is struggling with an injury, meaning former Manly winger Michael Oldfield might come into the side to replace him.


Analysis:

This Rabbitohs side is a little lopsided. There spine is okay to above average. Greg Inglis is…. well he is a complete sham of a marquee player. Can you recall a game that he has looked good in when his side has lost? Because I can only think of one and that was the second State of Origin game last year and that is it. If his team isn’t thrashing a side, he is not a factor at all. We just need to not get thrashed to shut him out of the game. As great as Greg Inglis is when he is trying, he is not as good as the ever consistent Brett Stewart, who is just such a calming and important influence in our side.

We are completely outclassed in the halves. Both of the sides are missing their first grade halfback, DCE for us and Adam Reynolds for the Bunnies. Problem is, their other halves are players that naturally play in the halves positions whilst our halves are, as I have already stated a dummy half and a guy learning the ropes. Fortunately though, neither side will have a decent long kicking game, but C. Walker and Keary should run rings around D. Walker and Koroisau. The DCE loss for us is huge, and anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves.

Matt Parcell, boy howdy what a player. As a two headed Queenslander that occasionally watches the Qcup I have been hyped about Parcell ever since we signed him. He has been one of our best every game so far, and is already shaping to be the next great number 9. Long story short he is so much better than Cameron McInnes. I am glad that Cook isn’t the main dummy half at the Rabbitohs, because he is an actual player, McInnes is just nothing. He doesn’t do anything wrong, but he doesn’t do anything decent either. Cook when he is on provides a lot of spark around the ruck for the Rabbitohs and is actually a good player. But fortunately for us McInnes is the headliner for our opponents and will be on the field the most.

The Rabbitohs props are quite good. All three of the good Burgess Brothers (sorry Luke) are on display for the Rabbitohs, whilst Tyrell is an average sort of player that just does his job. Meanwhile our props are, well decent but not as good. We have Lawrence who is pure quality, Myles who is great defensively and is improving offensively but still has issues, Vave who is essentially the second incarnation of the 2011 George Rose, Starling who is bog standard average and Lussick who… well I am undecided on but he looks like he is putting in a lot more effort than he did at Parramatta. As much of an improvement this is compared to our pack last year, Sam Burgess is the best forward in the game and his two younger brothers are pretty good too. We are outclassed here.

Remember how I said the Rabbitohs squad was lopsided? Well their second rowers aren’t good. Chris Grevsmuhl is a very good player and a damaging line runner. However, that is it really for this Rabbitohs second row pack. Nathan Brown, Kyle Turner and Jason Clark are so… average. Compare that to ours that contains Martin Taupau, Feleti Mateo, Jake Trbojevic and Lewis Brown/Blake Leary. It just outshines them, with Martin Taupau pressing firmly as one of the buys of the year this season, he has only played three times but he has been above average or amazing in each game, and is playing 80 minutes. Hopefully he can come back after his one week break and pick up where he left off, because he has been absolutely tearing it up as an edge forward. Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if Alex Johnston wasn’t playing this week just to avoid being on the wrong end of a Taupau highlights reel again.

And now we get to the backs, and hot damn do the Rabbitohs backs suck. Auva’a is a centre playing winger, Goodwin is such an average player, Hunt is a lousy player and Gray is a rookie winger. I can almost hear Lyon, Turbo, Matai and Taufua giggling at these guys. Lyon and Turbo especially have been great, with Lyon getting better and better each week, desperate to play well. Taufua may have defensive issues, and Matai is struggling but they are still leagues ahead of the Rabbitohs jokers.

I already mentioned this but… well our attack needs to gel for longer than a few minutes. We have demonstrated against the Tigers, Sharks and Roosters that we have the ability to rack up the points, but only when our attack is in gear, which is for some reason only in short bursts. This is a big concern, and we need to fix this if we want to beat a team as good as the Rabbitohs.

Our left side defence was horrible last week, and has been very suspect so far this season. With Jorge Taufua rushing up constantly, Steve Matai aging and Dylan Walker just being an average defender we are getting destroyed down that side. When we play against sides with decent attack down that side they are going to exploit this so hard. Fortunately for us this week the backs at the Rabbitohs suck so it won’t be too much of an issue.

Remember how afraid I was of a Roosters bounce back last week after the thrashing they were dished previously? Well they bounced back and improved a lot but we just managed to snatch a victory. Well this week we are up against a Rabbitohs side that also just got thrashed, and you better believe I am afraid of the bounce back. And the Rabbitohs are a much better side than the Roosters, and with the return of Surgess from his one week injury, let’s just say I am very concerned.


Conclusion:

What can I say? We are done. Without DCE I don’t see how we beat these guys. We may have a better second row, dummy half, fullback and backs but they have a better prop rotation and their halves run rings around the Walker Koroisau combo. We just won’t have enough points or structure when attacking the opposition try line. Plus, after getting thrashed South Sydney will be keen to bounce back and ‘take revenge’. Despite this game being at our fortress, we will struggle to win this one. I do however think it will be close. Our goal line defence (apart from that left edge) is looking good, and our forwards along with Stewart and Parcell will keep us in the game, but I think we will be edged out. Last week I was kinda undecided and went with the Roosters mainly because I hadn’t predicted a correct result yet and hoped that maybe that would tip the odds in our favour via some weird voodoo junk. But this week, I really don’t feel confident at all. I would love to be proved wrong, I would love for Manly to surprise everyone and come out on top but I am a big doubter. I predict The Rabbitohs will win this one by 8 points. Let’s just hope the trend of me being wrong about predictions continues so we get to say ‘lol @ souffs’ loudly and proudly on Thursday evening, but I doubt it.
 
By @KeithSheldon

I am currently sitting on 0/4 correct predictions for these things, call me the Brayden Wiliame of previews. But my tactic last week to tip against us to get the win worked so yay!

Last week an injury and suspension hit Manly manages to scrape an ugly win against an injury hit Roosters side. We came in missing Lawrence, Symonds, Taupau and Matai and by the end of the game we were also without Buhrer and DCE, but we scraped away with the win. Our attack is still in a weird position at the moment, where it just switches on in periods and we destroy teams, but other times we look lost. Honestly I think we were lucky to get away with the win, we had less possession, and less than half the penalties but we escaped with the two points. But now whilst Matai, Lawrence and Taupau all return DCE is going to be out for a month, which will be a ridiculous test for our side in the coming weeks.

Souths last week were terrible. Without Sam Burgess, they were just lost. Their forwards sucked, their halves did nothing and they had lost the game in the first 20 minutes. I predicted the Bulldogs would win, but not like that. I don’t see how one player could be so important to a side, it was like they forgot what they were playing. They were dreadful. However Sam Burgess is now back, meaning that they will probably avoid playing like busted losers.


Team Lists:

The Manly Sea Eagles:

1. Brett Stewart

2. Jorge Taufua

3. Jamie Lyon

4. Steve Matai

5. Tom Trbojevic

6. Dylan Walker

7. Apisai Koroisau

8. Nate Myles

9. Matt Parcell

10. Brenton Lawrence

11. Martin Taupau

12. Feleti Mateo

13. Jake Trbojevic

14. Lewis Brown

15. Josh Starling

16. Darcy Lussick

17. Siosaia Vave

18. Blake Leary

19. Luke Burgess

The South Sydney Rabbitohs:

1. Greg Inglis

2. Kirisome Auva’a

3. Bryson Goodwin

4. Hymel Hunt

5. Aaron Gray

6. Cody Walker

7. Luke Keary

8. George Burgess

9. Cameron McInnes

10. Sam Burgess

11. Chris Grevsmuhl

12. Kyle Turner

13. Nathan Brown

14. Damien Cook

15. Jason Clark

16. David Tyrrell

17. Thomas Burgess

18. Paul Carter

19. Michael Oldfield

There are rumours that Steve Matai and Dylan Walker are racing the clock to be fit. If Matai is injured, Brown will come into the side at centre and if Walker is injured I assume Issac John will get a call up. Honestly these injuries might be beneficial to us, since Matai is playing very poorly and John would mean we have an actual half in the halves, instead of a Hooker and a guy still learning the ropes.

As for the Rabbitohs, Bryson Goodwin is struggling with an injury, meaning former Manly winger Michael Oldfield might come into the side to replace him.


Analysis:

This Rabbitohs side is a little lopsided. There spine is okay to above average. Greg Inglis is…. well he is a complete sham of a marquee player. Can you recall a game that he has looked good in when his side has lost? Because I can only think of one and that was the second State of Origin game last year and that is it. If his team isn’t thrashing a side, he is not a factor at all. We just need to not get thrashed to shut him out of the game. As great as Greg Inglis is when he is trying, he is not as good as the ever consistent Brett Stewart, who is just such a calming and important influence in our side.

We are completely outclassed in the halves. Both of the sides are missing their first grade halfback, DCE for us and Adam Reynolds for the Bunnies. Problem is, their other halves are players that naturally play in the halves positions whilst our halves are, as I have already stated a dummy half and a guy learning the ropes. Fortunately though, neither side will have a decent long kicking game, but C. Walker and Keary should run rings around D. Walker and Koroisau. The DCE loss for us is huge, and anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves.

Matt Parcell, boy howdy what a player. As a two headed Queenslander that occasionally watches the Qcup I have been hyped about Parcell ever since we signed him. He has been one of our best every game so far, and is already shaping to be the next great number 9. Long story short he is so much better than Cameron McInnes. I am glad that Cook isn’t the main dummy half at the Rabbitohs, because he is an actual player, McInnes is just nothing. He doesn’t do anything wrong, but he doesn’t do anything decent either. Cook when he is on provides a lot of spark around the ruck for the Rabbitohs and is actually a good player. But fortunately for us McInnes is the headliner for our opponents and will be on the field the most.

The Rabbitohs props are quite good. All three of the good Burgess Brothers (sorry Luke) are on display for the Rabbitohs, whilst Tyrell is an average sort of player that just does his job. Meanwhile our props are, well decent but not as good. We have Lawrence who is pure quality, Myles who is great defensively and is improving offensively but still has issues, Vave who is essentially the second incarnation of the 2011 George Rose, Starling who is bog standard average and Lussick who… well I am undecided on but he looks like he is putting in a lot more effort than he did at Parramatta. As much of an improvement this is compared to our pack last year, Sam Burgess is the best forward in the game and his two younger brothers are pretty good too. We are outclassed here.

Remember how I said the Rabbitohs squad was lopsided? Well their second rowers aren’t good. Chris Grevsmuhl is a very good player and a damaging line runner. However, that is it really for this Rabbitohs second row pack. Nathan Brown, Kyle Turner and Jason Clark are so… average. Compare that to ours that contains Martin Taupau, Feleti Mateo, Jake Trbojevic and Lewis Brown/Blake Leary. It just outshines them, with Martin Taupau pressing firmly as one of the buys of the year this season, he has only played three times but he has been above average or amazing in each game, and is playing 80 minutes. Hopefully he can come back after his one week break and pick up where he left off, because he has been absolutely tearing it up as an edge forward. Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if Alex Johnston wasn’t playing this week just to avoid being on the wrong end of a Taupau highlights reel again.

And now we get to the backs, and hot damn do the Rabbitohs backs suck. Auva’a is a centre playing winger, Goodwin is such an average player, Hunt is a lousy player and Gray is a rookie winger. I can almost hear Lyon, Turbo, Matai and Taufua giggling at these guys. Lyon and Turbo especially have been great, with Lyon getting better and better each week, desperate to play well. Taufua may have defensive issues, and Matai is struggling but they are still leagues ahead of the Rabbitohs jokers.

I already mentioned this but… well our attack needs to gel for longer than a few minutes. We have demonstrated against the Tigers, Sharks and Roosters that we have the ability to rack up the points, but only when our attack is in gear, which is for some reason only in short bursts. This is a big concern, and we need to fix this if we want to beat a team as good as the Rabbitohs.

Our left side defence was horrible last week, and has been very suspect so far this season. With Jorge Taufua rushing up constantly, Steve Matai aging and Dylan Walker just being an average defender we are getting destroyed down that side. When we play against sides with decent attack down that side they are going to exploit this so hard. Fortunately for us this week the backs at the Rabbitohs suck so it won’t be too much of an issue.

Remember how afraid I was of a Roosters bounce back last week after the thrashing they were dished previously? Well they bounced back and improved a lot but we just managed to snatch a victory. Well this week we are up against a Rabbitohs side that also just got thrashed, and you better believe I am afraid of the bounce back. And the Rabbitohs are a much better side than the Roosters, and with the return of Surgess from his one week injury, let’s just say I am very concerned.


Conclusion:

What can I say? We are done. Without DCE I don’t see how we beat these guys. We may have a better second row, dummy half, fullback and backs but they have a better prop rotation and their halves run rings around the Walker Koroisau combo. We just won’t have enough points or structure when attacking the opposition try line. Plus, after getting thrashed South Sydney will be keen to bounce back and ‘take revenge’. Despite this game being at our fortress, we will struggle to win this one. I do however think it will be close. Our goal line defence (apart from that left edge) is looking good, and our forwards along with Stewart and Parcell will keep us in the game, but I think we will be edged out. Last week I was kinda undecided and went with the Roosters mainly because I hadn’t predicted a correct result yet and hoped that maybe that would tip the odds in our favour via some weird voodoo junk. But this week, I really don’t feel confident at all. I would love to be proved wrong, I would love for Manly to surprise everyone and come out on top but I am a big doubter. I predict The Rabbitohs will win this one by 8 points. Let’s just hope the trend of me being wrong about predictions continues so we get to say ‘lol @ souffs’ loudly and proudly on Thursday evening, but I doubt it.

Finally a preview of yours which I agree with.

Souths are a shoe in this evening!!
 
@KeithSheldon

Looks like it's a Queensland thing, firstly @mickqld likes to pick against us and then you AND me ( until now ).

Funny, but as I've been saying for days, it's when things look grimmest that we shine.

Anyone remember round 26 last year, playing a side that had been posting well looking to cement a spot in the top 4??

If we were playing the Donks or the Boys I'd probably concur, but the Rabbids haven't exactly been impressive in any game this year, let alone the rabble of last week.

Oh sure the big Burgi is back, as well as two not much smaller Burgi's BUT if our forwards can hold their forwards and not get rolled over then we are up to our nuts in this game.

In a tight one, Manly by 4
 
@KeithSheldon

Looks like it's a Queensland thing, firstly @mickqld likes to pick against us and then you AND me ( until now ).

Funny, but as I've been saying for days, it's when things look grimmest that we shine.

Anyone remember round 26 last year, playing a side that had been posting well looking to cement a spot in the top 4??

If we were playing the Donks or the Boys I'd probably concur, but the Rabbids haven't exactly been impressive in any game this year, let alone the rabble of last week.

Oh sure the big Burgi is back, as well as two not much smaller Burgi's BUT if our forwards can hold their forwards and not get rolled over then we are up to our nuts in this game.

In a tight one, Manly by 4

I appreciate that but...... if a team plays unusually badly I am always fearing a bounce back the following week so I am going with the Rabbitohs, especially now that I think Jakey is probably gone.
 
I appreciate that but...... if a team plays unusually badly I am always fearing a bounce back the following week so I am going with the Rabbitohs, especially now that I think Jakey is probably gone.

Fair enough, and taking my goggles off you are right.

If we have both halves out, and a key forward as well it's going to be more than tough.

But as I said, if it's the Donks we were playing I'd be more than worried.

It's not so we are in with a good chance.
 
The tipsters (in the silvertails tipping comp) are slowly changing from Manly to souffs.

gone from 70% to 65%
 
Cant see us scoring enough points think will have a very disjointed attack. Need some luck tonight. Hope the 50- 50 calls go our way
 

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