Club News 2024

[joeboy]

Not sure what the fascination/worry that some have with needing another 2nd rower,in some cases some calling for a “gun” second rower.Penrith won the comp with 1 and the Storm finished minor premiers with arguably none.Manly may need depth,but spending “big” $$ on a second rower is unnecessary.Manly’s problems are not due to the absence of someone dynamic on the left edge

I agree we have larger issues than that, but we have lost Lawton and burbo just doesn’t seem to have another gear in him and is tapped at third. So it could well be a bigger issue next year that we arnt exactly aware of yet.

 

[Frogz]

Burbo wouldn't be playing NRL, if not for his brothers.

 

[BOZO]

Burbo wouldn't be playing NRL, if not for his brothers.

Hopefully next season he can produce a lot of big moments with his big frame

 

[Nordburg]

I agree we have larger issues than that, but we have lost Lawton and burbo just doesn’t seem to have another gear in him and is tapped at third. So it could well be a bigger issue next year that we arnt exactly aware of yet.

Sort the dummy half out and 50% of the problems are gone.The best the team looked this past season,were the 5-6 games Simpkin played at 9

 

[double hoops]

Re the back row. We've lost 4 backrowers. Unofficially signed just one. Now call me crazy but I'd like at least one more. I guess it all depends on who you think can play in the back row and do a job. Waddell yeah but he's surprisingly a better middle for mine. Navale, Bullemor, Brown I wouldn't play on an edge. Tevaga haven't seen enough but got doubts. I may be wrong but I'm thinking Matterson might actually be an option and I cant say I'm excited given his 2024.

 

[Frogz]

Re the back row. We've lost 4 backrowers. Unofficially signed just one. Now call me crazy but I'd like at least one more. I guess it all depends on who you think can play in the back row and do a job. Waddell yeah but he's surprisingly a better middle for mine. Navale, Bullemor, Brown I wouldn't play on an edge. Tevaga haven't seen enough but got doubts. I may be wrong but I'm thinking Matterson might actually be an option and I cant say I'm excited given his 2024.

Matterson is not NRL quality. Good player but NSW Cup is his limit.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Matterson is not NRL quality. Good player but NSW Cup is his limit.

Probably right.
However there is Scott Sorensen, the poster boy for RL journeymen. 86 reserve grade games, as recently as 2021, now at age 31 he is a 4-time premiership winner, so.. there are exceptions, admittedly rare.

 

[Nordburg]

Probably right.
However there is Scott Sorensen, the poster boy for RL journeymen. 86 reserve grade games, as recently as 2021, now at age 31 he is a 4-time premiership winner, so.. there are exceptions, admittedly rare.

Look at the squad,coach,system around Sorensen though.If he was at Manly or any other bottom 10-12 club,not sure he’d be playing like he has

 

[bob dylan]

Burbo wouldn't be playing NRL, if not for his brothers.

Not sure I agree with that.

Players like Corey Waddell, Brad Parker, Lachie Croker, and plenty of others have played lots of games on limited ability but huge determination and dedication.

Though I am sure his surname helped draw the required attention to his skills initially.

 

[The Wheel]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1848268139957829886

 

[double hoops]

After that survey our next major sponsor might be going to sell me real-estate.

I couldn't help but say in field performance matters the most.

Happy for sponsors to help fund the recruitment.

 

[castle eagle]

After that survey our next major sponsor might be going to sell me real-estate.

I couldn't help but say in field performance matters the most.

Happy for sponsors to help.

either that or whitegoods

 

[globaleagle]

After I filled in question about #41 (what would you like manly to do in the community), it said survey done, thanks.

So I dunno what the other 20 questions were, or if I'm entered to win free swag. lol. So it's kinda on point.

 

[Dion Johnson]

Messy restructure​

There is a lot going on at Manly as part of Tony Mestrov’s restructure, most significantly the shifting of John Bonasera out of the head of football role.

He survived the club’s rainbow jumper scandal and the departure of former coach Des Hasler, but he is being moved to a welfare role. Peter Gentle takes over as head of football. There was a lot said about David O’Donnell resigning as head of pathways, but three weeks later he is back in the role.

The reaction to the restructure is worth keeping an eye on, as is the overall influence that manager Isaac Moses has on the club.

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

^That was a Danny Weidler piece in his S-H column.

Not sure how it’s a ‘messy’ situation, other than another example of Weidler’s usual grubby tactics, when reporting on clubland.

 

[Nordburg]

^That was a Danny Weidler piece in his S-H column.

Not sure how it’s a ‘messy’ situation, other than another example of Weidler’s usual grubby tactics, when reporting on clubland.

The “messy situation” is the stranglehold Isaac Moses has on the club

 

[double hoops]

Mestrov must have showed great humility and smoked a peace pipe. Easily the best CEO we've had since Arko. As long as I can remember the Manly way would have been internal warfare here. O'Donnell, Toovs, Watmough, all Sacked. If ever sighted again at the club we are talking a decade at least.

You know just may be a premiership might be closer around the corner than we think.

 

[Frogz]

PVL must be hard up for "experts"

Rugby league is headed for a decade of peace. The NRL and its clubs will spend the next 10 years sitting around the campfire, roasting marshmallows and singing kumbaya.
Pull the other one I hear you say, it plays jingle bells.

Yes, the clubs and the NRL have struck a landmark agreement over license agreements which will form the bedrock of a new relationship for the next decade.

But 10 years of peace may be stretching it. The good news is clubs are about to be consulted like never before, resolving one of the major issues between them and Rugby League Central.

An advisory group of three chairs has been formed - the initial trio will be South Sydney’s Nick Pappas, North Queensland’s Lewis Ramsey and Manly’s Scott Penn - to communicate with the NRL on everything from naming rights to expansion to broadcast negotiations.

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

The “messy situation” is the stranglehold Isaac Moses has on the club

Presumably the majority, if not all clubs, are in a similar position.

Perhaps more accurately, it’s a potential, rather than actual mess.

 

[Nordburg]

Presumably the majority, if not all clubs, are in a similar position.

Perhaps more accurately, it’s a potential, rather than actual mess.

True,it has potential to be a mess,rather than actually being one,but a lot of clubs have rid themselves of the monopoly of one manager having control of so many at their club.Moses in particular,can’t get a foothold into big clubs like the Storm and Roosters (not sure of his situation at the Panthers,so won’t add them)because of his “dubious” practices