Pre-Game Cowboys v Manly [Round 25, 2021]

[BOZO]

Storm and Panthers would each start as strong favourites to beat Manly.
I think the last few years must have shaken my confidence, at this late hour I am suddenly starting to wonder if Manly has overacheived this year and is about to be bundled out with barely a whimper. I am having a @mickqld moment.

The RIGHT Perspective ...

The Storm and the Panthers have earned the RIGHT to be favourites

and Tom Turbo has earned the RIGHT to win a game on his own for Manly

If Des selects the RIGHT team and his players take the RIGHT attitude on the field

we THE MIGHTY SEA EAGLES can take back what is RIGHTLY ours .

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Obviously any thoughts Des may have had of resting players from the game went out the door when the Roosters spanked the Raiders. If Parra won and we lost we would be sixth. Not acceptable I'd say. Des will rest some late in the game if Manly fly ahead. Then its a question regarding who they play. Certainly most probably the Storm but as I've said I wouldn't be surprised if Bennett plays a swifty to avoid playing Manly and gifts the Panthers the minor premiership. Doubtful, but the Storm will have less problems with the Bunnies sans Latrell than a Turbo charged Sea Eagles.

If the Storm lose two in a row you definitely know two things

1) they’ve tanked
2) they’re scared of Manly

 

[Bearfax]

Storm and Panthers would each start as strong favourites to beat Manly.
I think the last few years must have shaken my confidence, at this late hour I am suddenly starting to wonder if Manly has overacheived this year and is about to be bundled out with barely a whimper. I am having a @mickqld moment.

Quite agree though three of those defeats against the top 8 sides were in that initial 4 game opening to the season without Turbo. They played Panthers again and came close as they did against the Storm. The Newcastle game was a bit of an aberration. Manly looked flat after thumping an in form Parra the week before and quite frankly the ref was not what I would have called impartial, sending 2 of ours to the sin bin at critical moments, penalising Manly 9-0 until the very last minute when he gave a penalty against the Knights and sent a player to the sin bin with only that minute remaining and then 2-0 inside the ten infringements. Newcastle copped only one infringement (ruck infringement in 51st minute) the entire game until the 79th minute. I took little notice of that defeat.

However up to now Manly hasn't beaten a top seven side other than Parra as you say but most of those were early in the season

 

[southsideeagle]

I like the idea that we have something to play for. I hope it is a strong cowboys side and we have to grind out a win. If we dont win this we will definitely struggle against storm and panthers.

 

[Eagle 1]

I like the idea that we have something to play for. I hope it is a strong cowboys side and we have to grind out a win. If we dont win this we will definitely struggle against storm and panthers.

That's possible, and if that happens and we end up 5th then we play 8th. I know a lot of Manly people who don't mind this scenario. Rather than being mauled by Melb or Penrith.

 

[QLDSeaeagle]

That's possible, and if that happens and we end up 5th then we play 8th. I know a lot of Manly people who don't mind this scenario. Rather than being mauled by Melb or Penrith.

The crazies who think 5th is an option, should read my last 23 game analysis which shows in the modern game nobody has ever won the bigun from 5th, and even 4th is going to be bloody hard.
1st 8/23 34.8%
2nd 6/23 26.1%
3rd 6/23 26.1%
4th 3/23 13.0%
5th 0/23 Zilch, zip ,nada
The '95 Dogs remain the only team to have won from 6th and they beat us.

 

[Eagle 1]

The crazies who think 5th is an option, should read my last 23 game analysis which shows in the modern game nobody has ever won the bigun from 5th, and even 4th is going to be bloody hard.
1st 8/23 34.8%
2nd 6/23 26.1%
3rd 6/23 26.1%
4th 3/23 13.0%
5th 0/23 Zilch, zip ,nada
The '95 Dogs remain the only team to have won from 6th and they beat us.

To be honest I was one of them, but not now, I feel we are a great chance of beating Melb more so than Penrith. Will be interesting to see what team Melb serve up against the Sharks.

 

[WiseyEagle]

Maybe, we might have to be content with finishing 4th in the regular season and getting knocked out in straight sets in the finals? Let's hope this isn't the case.

 

[jbb/james]

last game of the season for a team that had a major run of losses. pride will be the call for the cows. we just have to outlast there enthusiasm, respect the ball and wait them out. the cue will go in the rack at some time for the cowboys and as long as we play with patience and intensity they will implode

trying to blow them off the park early so we can rest it out, would be BAD footy

in such an important game , 1 week away from the finals, fully stacked team we will get to see our footy IQ this week. throw it to the big kid while effective, is getting old. big team, big occasion. no one else is coming back to help now we are full strength

the best way to avoid injury, is kick them a new horseshoe and chase, and play the game up there end until they yield and we pile it on. we show promise but we need to see something else besides tom this week to dominate the game.
forwards kick tackle on repeat. play field possession .

 

[Kevinward777]

The crazies who think 5th is an option, should read my last 23 game analysis which shows in the modern game nobody has ever won the bigun from 5th, and even 4th is going to be bloody hard.
1st 8/23 34.8%
2nd 6/23 26.1%
3rd 6/23 26.1%
4th 3/23 13.0%
5th 0/23 Zilch, zip ,nada
The '95 Dogs remain the only team to have won from 6th and they beat us.

The Dogs beat us off the back of several contentious calls, knock ons, forward passes, and a seventh tackle try. That Grand Final was right up there with the Shane Hayne rort of 2014.

 

[QLDSeaeagle]

The Dogs beat us off the back of several contentious calls, knock ons, forward passes,

I hear you mate, but the whistleblowers are not any better this season either.

 

[QLDSeaeagle]

That Grand Final was right up there with the Shane Hayne rort of 2014.

The 95 final is also not included in the modern game statistics.

 

[Eagle 1]

last game of the season for a team that had a major run of losses. pride will be the call for the cows. we just have to outlast there enthusiasm, respect the ball and wait them out. the cue will go in the rack at some time for the cowboys and as long as we play with patience and intensity they will implode

trying to blow them off the park early so we can rest it out, would be BAD footy

in such an important game , 1 week away from the finals, fully stacked team we will get to see our footy IQ this week. throw it to the big kid while effective, is getting old. big team, big occasion. no one else is coming back to help now we are full strength

the best way to avoid injury, is kick them a new horseshoe and chase, and play the game up there end until they yield and we pile it on. we show promise but we need to see something else besides tom this week to dominate the game.
forwards kick tackle on repeat. play field possession .

Really looking forward to seeing our forward pack put in a solid performance tomorrow night, and at full strength.

 

[QLDSeaeagle]

But, I never lose perspective when it comes to Statistics, My grandfather was a brilliant mathematician who worked as a forensic accountant for the tax dept. He would use statistics on his football pools. He never won anything big. He would look at a skewed result and say, they played out of their skins, that wasn't supposed to happen.
So we have hope, if the boys play out of their skins.

 

[rmd]

The Cowboys are a bit 'razzle dazzle', they are mostly a young side and of late have been taking risks in attack however, it's their defence and errors that has them where they are on the ladder.

So I thought let's just look at their last 8 rounds and mind you, they pushed the Storm in round 19.

The Cowboys averaged 76% completion rate over the last 8 rounds however the only time time they had more than 79% completion was against the Storm (85%).

The Cowboys averaged 11.5 (let's say 12) errors per game and yet just 8 against the Storm.

What is clear is that they miss tackles, with an average of 36 missed each game over the last 8 rounds. They even missed 46 tackles against the Dragons and still won (how bad are the Dragons?). The only time they have missed less than 24 tackles in the last 8 rounds was against the Tigers.

So, the Cowboys are prone to mistakes, they miss tackles however, they can rise to the occasion, as while they missed so many tackles against the Dragons, they made 8 line breaks (most they've done ion the last 8 rounds) and 34 tackle breaks (also most they've done in the last 8 rounds). They can be 'on' and 'really off'.

I think Des will want a focus on defence this weekend as that will make the difference in the finals.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

The Dogs beat us off the back of several contentious calls, knock ons, forward passes, and a seventh tackle try. That Grand Final was right up there with the Shane Hayne rort of 2014.

Yep I was there , and even worse one of my mates from Moree , playing on the wing , scored that 7th tackle try AND he knew it !!

Matthew Ryan

I fronted him at the Golfies when he came gone for Xmas that year , and he admitted he knew but “ you know the game Mark you play to the whistle “!!

 

[AlxFromNthNarra]

Last time we played the cows we had a crowd. At Brookvale. No Tom, and Cows were sitting equal 6th on the ladder with us on pts.

They sprung us early, it was 0-12 in no time with the Cows looking like putting a cricket score on us. How the rest of the game played out was important for our season I think.

They were travelling OK the cows then they fell off the horse. They have a good team though, and this game needs to be about us imposing our gameplan on a weaker team, not getting dragged into their style of play where we might be tested on their terms.

An insipid performance here win or lose will not help our cause, nor will a barely-challenged walloping. Hope the cows show up and make us play for it, but don't hurt any of our players. There is no bad blood between us, can't see it being a Souths v Rooter style game.

As always, No Injuries > Keep them to 0 > Cricket score > Win

 

[Waz13]

We are a stronger team in most positions but they also have natch winners in their own right that can turn the game like Jason Taumalolo the Hammer and Valentine Homes
If they complete and hold their own they can make a game of this .

Taumalolo is a shadow of the player he was years ago. Been paid now so all good. Holmes completely overrated imo snd the Hammer can be exposed defensively. The cows seem like a team of names that have at one time or another shown they can be great players as individuals. However unlike us they are not United as a team and the coach has fallen down in this area. We must flex our premiership muscles this Sat night and show we mean business! Finals start Sat night for us and if we can’t beat these guys under the circumstances, we don’t deserve to be winning finals games. For the record I think we win well
Manly 42
Cows 16

 

[Brookie Bob]

From NRL.com:

North Queensland centre Ben Hampton has been ruled out of Saturday evening’s clash with the Manly Sea Eagles with a minor groin injury.

Hampton, who picked up the injury at training on Wednesday, will be fit for the start of pre-season training.

Daejarn Asi comes into the side and will start at centre.

 

[Mitch]

Aloiai and Sironen drop out.

Josh rested or injured?

Sea Eagles team cut for Cowboys match

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Coach Des Hasler has cut his team to play the Nth Queensland Cowboys on Saturday, September 4.

www.seaeagles.com.au