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NRL 2021: Manly boss Scott Penn addresses Sea Eagles’ shocking start
Manly’s chairman addresses the many factors that have resulted in the side sitting last on the NRL ladder, while Kieran Foran says there’s no time to mope.David Riccio and Fatima Kdouh
3 min read
April 2, 2021 - 12:58PM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s.../db1e1a6df964b64ba436bdc2560c4229#share-tools
Manly chairman Scott Penn has labelled the club’s winless start to the year as “unacceptable” while adding nobody within management ever saw it coming.
In the wake of the Sea Eagles embarrassing 46-6 home game loss to Penrith on Thursday night, Penn spoke of his disappointment while adding that there “was no animosity or problems internally”.
The majority-owner of the Sea Eagles added that injuries, including that of superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic, were only one of many factors to why Manly were last on the NRL premiership ladder after leaking 156 points in four games.
“No one is pleased with where we’re at — it is unacceptable for everyone involved, including our loyal fans and members,’’ Penn told The Telegraph.
“This is unusual, I don’t think anyone was expecting this.
“I can look back and say we were very confident coming into the year, no one was concerned about the roster.
“Yes, we’ve had a number of early injuries, which has disrupted us, but we can’t blame injuries when we’re getting some fundamental things wrong.
“We’re hopeful that when we get those fundamentals right and we get some troops back, things will change dramatically.
“It’s simple what is causing it — dropping the ball in key moments and we’re getting punished.
“When you’re on the back foot and searching for a win, you probably push things more than you normally would.
“It’s actually relatively obvious what is happening, it’s just got to be fixed.
“No one likes to get beaten the way we have been, so we need to correct things.
“I will say, there isn’t fundamentally wrong or animosity internally, there’s nothing like that - we just need to be better.”