2013 Seaeagles VERY underrated

[MK Eagle]

To start the year many as always, many were calling the side too old & lacked this or that.
The recruitment has proved top shelf with the best bargain buys you would ever find in Horo , Lawrence & Fa'aso who have raised the tempo in the Seaeagles to another level.
Imo the best outside backs in the game.
The 2 young halves are that superior to the rest its incomparable.
Theres a few foward packs on paper who look stronger but the Seaeagles attitude in 2013 shows that often counts for nothing.
Have seen plenty of quality Manly teams over the past 20 years who have had favourites tags but imo, this team would test any of them.
Until the weekend most of the experts were still only talking about 3 teams & it takes dominating the Storm without 2 strike players to get any accolades.

 

[Shoe1]

It's true, and no loss by more than 12 points, means we were in every game.

 

[eagles2win]

Shhh shhhh don't want people to know where about until grand final day

 

[bones]

You forgot Tom Symonds mate. Another bargain buy.

 

[Hamster Huey]

Perhaps given our sustained success, commentators tend to brush over our efforts to instead focus on which other previous also-ran is making a fresh charge, be it a Parramatta, Roosters, Souths or Dragons in past seasons.

While those teams dominated headlines during various surges, we're left to plug away and then wear less favourable comments from those that haven't really looked deeply into how we've achieved what we have.

I'm cool with that and simply look forward to the retro-analysis on how we succeeded (again) as the commentators talk in hindsight after the Grand Final about how good the clubs culture, coach and playing group really are (like they always knew).

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

We weren't rated in 2011 either, until right near the end. This year we were unfancied before kick-off, have been top 4 the whole way through, yet never spoken about as highly as the other top 3.

I'm happy for the other teams to get all the praise while we quietly go about our business of winning the premiership yet again.

 

[MadMarcus]

We weren't rated in 2011 either, until right near the end.

Yeah, I think in about the 70th minute of the GF a lot of people started to think that we might be capable of winning the comp...

 

[Killer03]

The funny thing for me is the turnaround at times. At the start of the year we aren't going to make the 8....blah blah blah. Then suddenly we have the best 1-7 in the comp?

Our recruits are ordinary, the people we lost (T-Rex) are going to leave holes...blah blah blah. Then suddenly we have recruited the best with Richie, Tommy, Horo and Brenton and offloaded a dud.

Every year we get written off I feel a bit of hope. It happened in 07 (we lost BK we are rubbish) 08 (we lost Monaghan we are rubbish) and 11 (new young halves we are rubbish). I just hope we keep getting underrated, because MK Eagle I agree this team is quality and would stack up against any of our teams in the last 20 years.

 

[bones]

We weren't rated in 2011 either, until right near the end.

Yeah, I think in about the 70th minute of the GF a lot of people started to think that we might be capable of winning the comp...

Even later. It was in the shadows of full time.

 

[MadMarcus]

The funny thing for me is the turnaround at times. At the start of the year we aren't going to make the 8....blah blah blah. Then suddenly we have the best 1-7 in the comp?

Our recruits are ordinary, the people we lost (T-Rex) are going to leave holes...blah blah blah. Then suddenly we have recruited the best with Richie, Tommy, Horo and Brenton and offloaded a dud.

Every year we get written off I feel a bit of hope. It happened in 07 (we lost BK we are rubbish) 08 (we lost Monaghan we are rubbish) and 11 (new young halves we are rubbish). I just hope we keep getting underrated, because MK Eagle I agree this team is quality and would stack up against any of our teams in the last 20 years.

And at the other end of the scale.... every year we hear about how this year is Souths year...

 

[Hamster Huey]

We weren't rated in 2011 either, until right near the end. This year we were unfancied before kick-off, have been top 4 the whole way through, yet never spoken about as highly as the other top 3.

I'm happy for the other teams to get all the praise while we quietly go about our business of winning the premiership yet again.

You get the sense that given very few teams had great seasons, year after year, Manly were considered as likely to drop off after a fairly dominant 4-5 years prior to the 2011 GF.

Staying 'under the radar' has its merits, but I'd still like to see a bit more widespread praise for our coach, staff and players.

 

[Central Coast Eagle]

We weren't rated in 2011 either, until right near the end. This year we were unfancied before kick-off, have been top 4 the whole way through, yet never spoken about as highly as the other top 3.

I'm happy for the other teams to get all the praise while we quietly go about our business of winning the premiership yet again.

The game against the storm late in the year in 2011 was when I knew we were going to win the comp, if snake is fit for the finals I have a very similar feeling this year!

 

[mickqld]

It also seems pretty clear why Manly hasn't won a minor premiership. We have an attitude and culture of building towards the finals. We don't show all our tricks and plays till later in the season. We try to build on fundamentals first and add the spit and polish towards the end. We do enough to put ourselves at the top end and then explode when the finals come around. If we had not had so many injuries to key players in 2009,2010 and 2012 we should have been close to GF winners in those years as well. Full credit to Des for instilling this attitude and 2V is carrying it on with much credit. Now it's time for Tooves to take that number 1 prize he deserves so much.

 

[bones]

If we had not had so many injuries to key players in 2009,2010 and 2012 we should have been close to GF winners in those years as well.

Manly were never going to win the comp in 2010 with Hodkinson as halfback.

 

[mickqld]

If we had not had so many injuries to key players in 2009,2010 and 2012 we should have been close to GF winners in those years as well.

Manly were never going to win the comp in 2010 with Hodkinson as halfback.

Yeah fair point I forgot about him but we did have Foz doing all the plays.

 

[simon64]

If Manly win the GF this year, it will be the sweetest victory since 1978 when we overcame massive obstacles to win.

This will be our 10th consecutive finals appearance. And in a year where we were supposed to struggle but Manly fans knew better. I wish I knew what we did with these "fringe recruits". They've all been massive this year while toothless Tony has done bugger all. Speaks volumes for the culture at Manly.

Last Saturday night made people sit up and take notice. You can never count Manly out and it p*sses people off no end.

The icing on the cake would be if we beat Souffs in the GF. We'd have the world against us as everyone jumps on the "everyone's second team" band wagon.

How sweet would it be ?.......41-0.

 

[mickqld]

If Manly win the GF this year, it will be the sweetest victory since 1978 when we overcame massive obstacles to win.

This will be our 10th consecutive finals appearance. And in a year where we were supposed to struggle but Manly fans knew better. I wish I knew what we did with these "fringe recruits". They've all been massive this year while toothless Tony has done bugger all. Speaks volumes for the culture at Manly.

Last Saturday night made people sit up and take notice. You can never count Manly out and it p*sses people off no end.

The icing on the cake would be if we beat Souffs in the GF. We'd have the world against us as everyone jumps on the "everyone's second team" band wagon.

How sweet would it be ?.......41-0.

I'd rather a last minute blistering Snake try to give us a 2 point win (couldn't stand watching Jamie try and kick the winning goal) over Souffs and crush all the little bunny spirits into the dust. As the Fatman said about the Raiders fairytale in 1987 " we ripped the last page out".

 

[Arko-admirer]

I'm still buzzed after Saturday's win. Probably our best since the 2011 finals. The recent Moneyball Fairfax article pointed out that the Storm pretty well outspend everyone except maybe the Broncos on their football side, even when not rorting the cap. I have never really regarded them as more than a marketing exercise, how successful will be shown if the new owners don't reach as far into their pockets as News Ltd.
We are a real club that has come back from extinction and having only some old shopping dockets left lying on the floor in the bank account. We have history, we have heart and we will prevail.

 

[ssar]

If Manly continues to improve and build well into the finals, playing more like that first half @ Brookie against the Storm last Saturday night, all opponents will be swept aside in the Jetwash of massive Sea Eagle wings beating mightily as they fly right by and over the try line time and again.

The Sea Eagles, in one fell swoop, have not only made a statement that cannot be ignored by any of the remaining 2013 Grand Final contenders, but joined the other top 3 as a genuine chance at taking out the title.

Each of the top 4 teams now, for mine, have a fairly equal claim at a good honest run to the Grand Final - it should be a great finals series as we see how the balls bounce, how the sets are completed, and how defensive efforts set the platform for offensive success.

If the Cowboys continue to build and fire they could cause some big upsets, similarly if the Bulldogs & Sharks regain much of their mongrel and develop many great dominant plays they could progress – but in all 3 teams’ cases I can’t see it happening when they come up against any of the current top 4 teams unless they gift them a game.

The Knights will fail.
And how good is it to see the Broncos goooone.. Hopefully they’ll become well-accustomed to the lower area of the premiership ladder.

Let’s hope for a great series of games from here on through to the Grand Final which are well-officiated, with all players playing hard and fair for some great footy!

…Go Manly!

 

[Garts]

If Manly win the GF this year, it will be the sweetest victory since 1978 when we overcame massive obstacles to win.

This will be our 10th consecutive finals appearance. And in a year where we were supposed to struggle but Manly fans knew better. I wish I knew what we did with these "fringe recruits". They've all been massive this year while toothless Tony has done bugger all. Speaks volumes for the culture at Manly.

Last Saturday night made people sit up and take notice. You can never count Manly out and it p*sses people off no end.

The icing on the cake would be if we beat Souffs in the GF. We'd have the world against us as everyone jumps on the "everyone's second team" band wagon.

How sweet would it be ?.......41-0.

Its actually our 9th. We made the finals in 2005 after a break.