#crisis

[Harvies elbow]

There are a number of theories as to why we are struggling at present. Injuries, salary cap scandal, lack of depth, poor coach, poor game plans, DCE's lack of leadership, DCE's inability to game manage, and the list goes on.

Personally, I think the issue is Barrett's inability to get his team up "mentally" for the contest week in, week out. I think that is single handedly the biggest issue. We have a pretty decent roster and are no worse for injuries than the ladder leading Panthers (who have arguably had a tougher time than Manly with injuries). You could argue they have more depth, but they keep tossing up no-name players who become overnight sensations, which appears as depth because they are getting the job done.

I cannot remember (even during wins last year and the couple of wins we strung together last month) a time when our team came out like they were possessed...and I mean ANGRY and bruising in defence. The games we have won over the last couple of years have happened when we get a good start, the bounce of the ball goes our way and we ride the wave of momentum. Never do we grab that momentum from our own doing. We are asleep at the wheel most of the time.

This problem was evident last year but because of Green's game management, we got away with it more often...

There are a heap of things that stop you being a premiership threat, like roster/cap issues and injuries, but nothing should stop you being competitive week in/week out in the NRL except for a lack of effort. Maybe Barrett can see this team trying, but I see a pretty lazy group who are last to dive on a loose ball and never sting in defence.

Fix this effort area and we might start competing in games. We need to be desperate and I am just not seeing it with this group. Actually I saw it once last year at Brookie in rd.26 when we had to win to make the semi-finals. That's how this team should be playing every week.

To drive home your point, look at the druggo's loss to the rorters on Saturday.
They lost, just, to a side far superior on paper but put in maximum effort.
That's what I'm waiting for with our team.
On a regular basis.
Waiting, waiting...

 

[The Who]

I agree with that snake, I think it all comes back to urgency and attitude for this team.

Our line speed is horrible, coming up staggered and absolutely no venom in the tackles. Our hit ups, whilst making metres are the grinding, struggling type of hit up, not the finding the front and fast play the ball type, which are critical. Our attack has no depth and no shape at all. Our support of the ball runner is terrible and our decoys are basically non existent. These are team issues and should be able to be addressed.. We have many players with individual faults too.

Hodkinson is hopeless, grubbed kicks to touch on attack, arm grabbing in defence

Parker. Can't stay on his feet in attack or defence. Offers nothing really

Dce - just hopeless at the moment. Needs to simplify his game and concentrate on running direct and simple but effective ball playing

Thompson- just average.

Uate. Beyond terrible.

A lot of players playing well below their ability and not appearing to care

I'm so dissapointed in them. Hopefully this bye weekend eill give em time to reflect and salvage something out of a ****e season

I can't agree with you about Parker. I think he is an excellent defender and a real trier. I think he'll end up in the back row in seasons ahead.
I think Thompson is far better than 'average'. I also think Uate is still a good player, but prone to lapses. He is certainly not 'terrible'.
However, I agree that Hodkinson is no longer a First Graders. Also DCE has not set up our backline like an organising halfback should for most of the season.
Api has been our one constant. He always plays well. Had he not been injured when leading 8-nil against the Worriers who knows if we could have maintaining the rage and won?
Without him I'm fearful that we will get thrashed.

 

[Eagle2830]

Make Jake captain. A true local who cares when we lose

 

[TimmyQ]

Manly have been a mentally weak momentum swing flat wicket performers for quite some time, a lack of older hardened experience in the ranks is one of the issues.

Look at the Storm how their performances are starting to be more inconsistent especially when Smith is not playing, but then again they still tend to put in effort wise and offer numbers in support pushing up with forwards.

Young coach, young squad, lacking hard heads and experience on and off the field, over 3 years Manly still haven't locked in a halves combination, salary cap issues, players with flaws in their games and mindsets,poor structures and game analysis-----a multitude of reasons why Manly look terrible.

Agreed. Leadership is a big issue for us atm. When we were hugely successful we had a half dozen blokes who could have had the (c) next to their name. There's not enuff strong personalities in this side to rev us up at the start of games and equally rev us up when more effort/commitment is required during the tough patches. When we recruit for next year we really need to look at what type of person we're getting and get a few blokes in with a bit of mental gumption. DCE isn't a captains a**hole. Should never pick a captain just because he's the marquee player. Really, Jake should have got the gig. Yes He's young, etc but he was the obvious choice. But that said u need more than one or two passionate guys in a team to be up every week. We are inconsistent performers because we lack a game plan and we have too many followers and not enough leaders. And to emphasise that point look at how Bellamy recruits. It's predominantly based on the character of the player, his mental toughness and team player mentality. Getting blokes good between the ears makes it easier to produce quality players. They are easy to coach, willing to learn and will put their bodies on the line week in week out. We just don't get it at Manly. Until we wise up we're in for some long term pain sadly.

 

[southsideeagle]

I'm sick of all the bitching. The issue is poor management and bad luck (injury wise). The poor management goes back to Des and has not improved. If I hear "oh we should have kept Foran" one more time I will spew. His record is out there. Should Parra have signed him? NO. Should the warriors have signed him? NO. Should the Bulldogs have signed him?NO. Should we have good rid of him? YES.

Should we be paying DCE the money he is on, NO. We should have sorted it out much earlier and paid the lower amount. By the time he signed he had us over a barrel of the managements making. Any way look at what Newcastle paid for Hodkinson ($800/$850?) and Bulldogs paid for Woods ($800?)

Our management got us into a situation that we had no money to buy a 5/8. Moylan wanted to come, Pearce agreed to terms. The management stuffed that up years ago and it has never been fixed.

I was not a real fan of Barretts at the start but I believe we can do well with him. I think we can do well with DCE .

We are playing with probably the skinniest team list of all time. This is due to injuries and bad management. Some of this bad management is on Barretts shoulders (Hastings, Brown?) but what about Myles and Lussick?

There is so much unrest it does affect the teams performance.

 

[Andyvb88]

We are paying DCE 850k of cap money, that is not to much money for a half. On his day he is one of the best half backs

 

[manlyfan76]

The problem starts and ends with the COACH.

Who employed the coach, who is keeping him?
It's a results driven business

 

[BOZO]

My view ....
The biggest challenge that Trent has is to be able to build a strong winning culture
Every successful team has been nurtured by a winning culture .
Our team is playing without confidence and self belief

 

[maxta]

I can't really dismiss much from that OP.
In fact, I find a hungry team full of energy and will to win, has a far different outlook and will keep the book of excuses shut.
Every game we hear about bad refs calls, injuries, bounce of the ball and it's almost like the coaching staff & players are looking for something to blame, rather than digging deep which is the ONLY way out of this gloomy situation - compete.
The best teams rev up after a bad call or 1 of their team mates gets smashed...this team have zero inspiration and lye down and submit easily.
The contact in defence can define a team who is there to win and the marshmallow arm grabs and soft shoulders speak louder than words.
I feel the cattle is not up with the best Manly teams, but I have seen Manly sides that are stacked with reserves and unwanted players, who still have the pride to rip in and make it a contest.
This white flag in 2018 has neon lights of defeat when the going gets tough.....I don't expect to win every game and can accept a loss, but at least go down swinging.

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

And the one constant in the poor management saga? A certain ZtH and his in-laws.

A massive ego who thought he knew how to run a club, who on behalf of his family put Greek vendetta ahead of good sense and destroyed a coaching career and the club’s immediate prospects, in part through his ‘useful idiots’ like Rodent Phil and Lapdog Ritchie.

Took a shine to Foran, who was part of his extended sewing circle, ahead of the semi-outsider DCE. So we lose the one who never wanted to stay anyway and paid overs for the bloke who wanted to stay.

Along the way he brings in his old mate Bob, to provide the footballing sugar hit equivalent of the ‘schools revolution’ during the GFC. Worked out well.

And we are left with the husk of a football club and a busted leagues’ club that can provide no money to the footballing operation. OK, that’s not directly his fault, but you know what I mean.

Everywhere ineptness. Everywhere reminders of the Northern Eagles quagmire. It didn’t have to be like this.

 

[HappilyManly]

The 11 man side against the Scumos weren't waving a white flag

Manly are under pressure and are playing under duress from the minute they take the field now

Everyone should relax and enjoy playing simple footy

 

[Technical Coach]

Agreed. Leadership is a big issue for us atm. When we were hugely successful we had a half dozen blokes who could have had the (c) next to their name. There's not enuff strong personalities in this side to rev us up at the start of games and equally rev us up when more effort/commitment is required during the tough patches. When we recruit for next year we really need to look at what type of person we're getting and get a few blokes in with a bit of mental gumption. DCE isn't a captains a**hole. Should never pick a captain just because he's the marquee player. Really, Jake should have got the gig. Yes He's young, etc but he was the obvious choice. But that said u need more than one or two passionate guys in a team to be up every week. We are inconsistent performers because we lack a game plan and we have too many followers and not enough leaders. And to emphasise that point look at how Bellamy recruits. It's predominantly based on the character of the player, his mental toughness and team player mentality. Getting blokes good between the ears makes it easier to produce quality players. They are easy to coach, willing to learn and will put their bodies on the line week in week out. We just don't get it at Manly. Until we wise up we're in for some long term pain sadly.

You go through the squad one by one and nearly every player to some degree either has a quiet disposition, is a confidence player, can get down very easily, lacks aggression, lacks a bit of arrogance and passion, not chirpy or needs a mother to give them a good hug etc etc.

One of the qualities of the Storm is how they profile players and test them before they enter the squad--- they get the balance of role players, hard heads, class and leadership.

Manly performed better when a little passion and arrogance was on display with Walker----yeah he went overboard which resulted in even more losses due to injury and suspension but he just brings and gets others up for the game.

 

[BOZO]

The 11 man side against the Scumos weren't waving a white flag

Manly are under pressure and are playing under duress from the minute they take the field now

Everyone should relax and enjoy playing simple footy

Good point . The 11 man side did do the job against the Storm and you do to see blokes in the gym that come in and make an effort once every month but the key to results is getting motivated and performing at your ultimate every week .
That is the culture I was talking about that is needed . This is what culture Trent has to build.
The question is , Is he capable ?
We are 2 ponts ahead of the LOL eels and we expect better than that . We are Manly supporters and Manly does not stand for Mediocre

 

[Sue]

HM It was a whiteflagathon against Souths Tigers Parra Warriors Knights and co and we just played our second top 4 side all season last week.The draw from here is what nightmares are made of.Manly has always risen at home games. Our record at home the last three years is beyond deplorable. Lose the fans and you lose the war . Fortress Brookvale is a distant fairytale.

It’s accepting excuses that kills a long term winning culture like ours.To be honest at this club there is only the fans left to demand excellence. Our leaders certainly don’t.

 

[HK_Eagle]

We are paying DCE 850k of cap money, that is not to much money for a half. On his day he is one of the best half backs

Ah yes, I remember that day, I think it was against the Warriors at Mt Smart in 2017.

 

[BrendonStarr]

I liked DCE more when he was a good kicker a while back

 

[maxta]

The 11 man side against the Scumos weren't waving a white flag

Manly are under pressure and are playing under duress from the minute they take the field now

Everyone should relax and enjoy playing simple footy

Unfortunately 1 game does not make a season.
Against Souths, Newcastle, GC they had the white flag on display.
It does not mean the odd player doesn’t make a good play, basically the effort compared to the opposition lacks the urgency.
Most games when in the balance, the opposition gets on top and imo, a big part of this factor is they want it more.
The scoreboard tells the tale in the end so it’s not even debatable.

 

[TimmyQ]

You go through the squad one by one and nearly every player to some degree either has a quiet disposition, is a confidence player, can get down very easily, lacks aggression, lacks a bit of arrogance and passion, not chirpy or needs a mother to give them a good hug etc etc.

One of the qualities of the Storm is how they profile players and test them before they enter the squad--- they get the balance of role players, hard heads, class and leadership.

Manly performed better when a little passion and arrogance was on display with Walker----yeah he went overboard which resulted in even more losses due to injury and suspension but he just brings and gets others up for the game.

I take it u agreed with what I said then, Techy

 

[Michael H]

Fish start rotting at the head. I believe (and have for the last 2 years) the problems here start at the top and the decisions that have been made from there.

A lot of the culture that made Manly successful has gone. Any remaining culture the club had was lost when Geoff Toovey was moved on. The players are good enough, nothing else is though.

Nothing will change with the current management and staff. I wouldn't be surprised if most of our better players were looking for other options. I would be. You can play for money or you can play to win. What do Manly offer?

 

[winnyason]

I stayed away from st given well we up **** Creek. The club reminding me of those years from 2001-05. There no culture in the club and we been had by evans on a) value of contract b) his ability week in and week out.
I thank scott penn for putting up dollars but he may be starting to see only manly people are successful in this coaching job. Barrett a nice guy but not an nrl coach, players are not being made accoutable by him there taking the piss.
We won a 20s comp tom wright been sighted for 3 minutes in first grade. Jade anderson and fainu wont see as there not in 30 man squad. But he happy to throw up fuktards like lewis brown, matt wright, uate and Winterstein.
I need a bit of a break still love eagles but this is no quick fix. The problem the coach and his captain its that simply