Finals Footy - a new ballgame !

[maxta]

Manly has had much success, playing to the edges and scoring the pretty tries....maybe more than any other team.
This was attempted against Cronulla also, who defended great....but no better than the Storm or Penrith will.
All season in Club games the style was flashy, entertaining and could rack up big scorelines, but the game vs Sharks was a glimpse of what finals footy looks like, with Massive slide defence shutting off those outside spaces and creating errors and a frustrated looking attack after not kicking down the door behind the ruck first.
The Manly attacking power on the shift is still a "go to" and will reap the rewards, but there will need to be willing to cop some bumps and bruises playing direct tough footy for period also, to earn the right for that pretty shifted play.....in fact will have to adapt to the tougher style of footy that finals bring and Cronulla rightly played a week out.
No 1 need more thrust in that ruck and not gunna bother with Croker stuff as he WILL be there....so hopefully can start travelling in numbers in attack with quicks like Tom, Levi, Koula hunting around the ball for the odd offload or tip on and try to win momentum through that middle sector....otherwise out wide is null and void, as the defence will be well structured out wide if unable to dent that ruck area first.....just like the Sharks game.
Anyways keen to see some finals footy and happy Manly are there, so let's bring it !

 

[The Who]

The manner in which we lost to Cronulla has taken the wind out of my optimism that we'd go deep into the finals. It has been the only match where we were outclassed, which surprised me because we've competed manfully in all previous matches. Our forwards were outlasted and our backs were outmaneuvered. It showed me how clueless in attack we are without Turbo. His presence absorbs the focus of defenders, even when he's not actually involved in the play, giving space to other backs.
I'm deflated and not expecting a happy outcome from our Sunday clash.
I believe we have the fourth best roster in the NRL so to finish any lower than this, as now seems likely, will mean we've underachieved in 2024.

 

[maxta]

The manner in which we lost to Cronulla has taken the wind out of my optimism that we'd go deep into the finals. It has been the only match where we were outclassed, which surprised me because we've competed manfully in all previous matches. Our forwards were outlasted and our backs were outmaneuvered. It showed me how clueless in attack we are without Turbo. His presence absorbs the focus of defenders, even when he's not actually involved in the play, giving space to other backs.
I'm deflated and not expecting a happy outcome from our Sunday clash.
I believe we have the fourth best roster in the NRL so to finish any lower than this, as now seems likely, will mean we've underachieved in 2024.

Gotta say - you pretty much summed up exactly how I felt watching on Sunday....and I feel many other posters on here will see it the same way.
I do however feel we are exactly where you seen us and need to be able to 'get tougher'.....I mean we belted them early, then after we cop a penalty or 6 again call, seem to fold ?
This even happened against Dogs early and several other teams befor ethaat.....the mental toughness is lacking and it's not simply fatigue....this is happening after 3 minutes in cases after looking like our middles are bashing them - the red sea parts and off they go for an easy try and often on that "soft" left edge.
I think Oka himself missed 2 key tackles where Sharks scored in close and as soon as they got outside DCE rushing up on other occasions, it was curtains...
The sad truth is Sharks showed more in the biggest key area's of the game - RESILIENCE and EFFORT on EFFORT plays defensively - which Wins the big games.

 

[BOZO]

The sad truth is Sharks showed more in the biggest key area's of the game - RESILIENCE and EFFORT on EFFORT plays defensively - which Wins the big games.

The key word to your post is Resilience my feathered friend
Finals footy is a new ball game and in the High Pressure Battle of do or die survival it is the Resilient teams that come away with the win .

Resilient teams are Resolute under pressure and do not faulter but find a way .
This Hard edge Mentality is a Culture that a Head coach Instills
The Head coach is the Motivator who fuels the fire in his players belly
What does fire in ones belly mean ?
a strong determination to succeed, emotional stamina, and an intense drive to achieve or accomplish
Motivation is Related to Resilience as it Requires Motivation to Inspire Resilience

This week game against the dogs will be heavily influenced by the coach that Inspires his players to play above their weight and take their game plan to a level above Adversity
The team that Rises with Resilience will overcome the battle of finals Pressure footy and Prevail
The Moral of the Story
Pressure is a Privilege at Manly and it only comes to those that Earn it

Wake up your Players Anthony Siebold
It is do or die Finals time

 

[jbb/james]

All the nitty gritty and stuff is true

BUT what we really need

We need Tom to play like DCE, distribute, primarily stay away from any rough stuff, and for DCE to play like Tom, put the body on the line, lead from the front. Hang 5 tommy boy we got this

if the shoulder needs testing it needs to be sparingly
BUT if we just shovel it to Tom out the back he will be busted again inside 15 and so will morale

If injured Tommy isnt used sparingly by the halves , well that tells you everything you need to know about our on field culture and personal priorities

 

[BOZO]

All the nitty gritty and stuff is true
We need Tom to play like DCE, distribute, primarily stay away from any rough stuff, and for DCE to play like Tom, put the body on the line, lead from the front. Hang 5 tommy boy we got this
if the shoulder needs testing it needs to be sparingly
BUT if we just shovel it to Tom out the back he will be busted again inside 15 and so will morale

You do not put all your Eagle eggs in one basket
Jut like we should put all our hopes on Tom Turbo feathered friend
The Finals battle is an 80 minute battle with 17 fighters on the Ground
We must all fight together to keep our finals venture alive !
One Team
One Mission
We must fight as One !

 

[LeonardCohen]

Manly has had much success, playing to the edges and scoring the pretty tries....maybe more than any other team.
This was attempted against Cronulla also, who defended great....but no better than the Storm or Penrith will.
All season in Club games the style was flashy, entertaining and could rack up big scorelines, but the game vs Sharks was a glimpse of what finals footy looks like, with Massive slide defence shutting off those outside spaces and creating errors and a frustrated looking attack after not kicking down the door behind the ruck first.
The Manly attacking power on the shift is still a "go to" and will reap the rewards, but there will need to be willing to cop some bumps and bruises playing direct tough footy for period also, to earn the right for that pretty shifted play.....in fact will have to adapt to the tougher style of footy that finals bring and Cronulla rightly played a week out.
No 1 need more thrust in that ruck and not gunna bother with Croker stuff as he WILL be there....so hopefully can start travelling in numbers in attack with quicks like Tom, Levi, Koula hunting around the ball for the odd offload or tip on and try to win momentum through that middle sector....otherwise out wide is null and void, as the defence will be well structured out wide if unable to dent that ruck area first.....just like the Sharks game.
Anyways keen to see some finals footy and happy Manly are there, so let's bring it !

I’m more worried about controlling the opposition ruck than what we do with the ball. I think we still showed enough in the middle against Cronulla in the opening 20 but ran out of puff when they got some possession. If we can limit penalties and errors (which does indeed concern attack), we should be able to maintain the rage. If possession swings, the Dogs have the leg speed through the middle to trouble us.

 

[BOZO]

I’m more worried about controlling the opposition ruck than what we do with the ball.

If we are Resilient enough we will Rule the Ruck
We are not a Duck
We are the Great Manly Eagle feathered friend

 

[maxta]

I’m more worried about controlling the opposition ruck than what we do with the ball. I think we still showed enough in the middle against Cronulla in the opening 20 but ran out of puff when they got some possession. If we can limit penalties and errors (which does indeed concern attack), we should be able to maintain the rage. If possession swings, the Dogs have the leg speed through the middle to trouble us.

I agree with the scoreboard first half and every time in good field position had zero impact through the middle, which limited the outside opportunities.
The big men like Paseka and Lodge need bodies around them puxhing up on the ball, as running singles allows the defence (like Cronulla) to get numbers in and dominate the tackle slowing any momentum and it's obvious now there's no running threat from dummy half.
I do think defensively, which again is a translation of the opposition controlling the ruck speed generated by Manly not being as dominant with numbers in the tackle.....the odd set Manly fire up and allow hardly 20m ....but then off a setback penalty or 6 again, simply fall apart.

 

[mave]

We are just as likely to lose to the Dogs as we are to somehow fluff our way all the way to a PF.

It is there for the taking if we want it bad enough.

I'm not convinced the entire squad actually do.

 

[Shoe1]

I’m more worried about controlling the opposition ruck than what we do with the ball. I think we still showed enough in the middle against Cronulla in the opening 20 but ran out of puff when they got some possession. If we can limit penalties and errors (which does indeed concern attack), we should be able to maintain the rage. If possession swings, the Dogs have the leg speed through the middle to trouble us.

Yes, Braley won the game for them, he constantly got momentum. We need to be better, flatten Mahoney early.

 

[LeonardCohen]

I agree with the scoreboard first half and every time in good field position had zero impact through the middle, which limited the outside opportunities.
The big men like Paseka and Lodge need bodies around them puxhing up on the ball, as running singles allows the defence (like Cronulla) to get numbers in and dominate the tackle slowing any momentum and it's obvious now there's no running threat from dummy half.
I do think defensively, which again is a translation of the opposition controlling the ruck speed generated by Manly not being as dominant with numbers in the tackle.....the odd set Manly fire up and allow hardly 20m ....but then off a setback penalty or 6 again, simply fall apart.

I thought we managed the battle in the middle quite well on both sides of the ball on Sunday, until Brown's dumb penalty. We were limiting their yardage sets and making some decent inroads through Lodge and Paseka, who the commentators kept praising for laying a pretty damn good platform. The score was a reflection of a good even contest.

The Trindall penalty didn't have to necessarily be terminal, but that and other circumstantial variables led to a mountain of possession for Cronulla. I saw a 'last ten minutes' tackle reading pop up on the screen and the Sharks only made 6 tackles in that period...we'd made over 40. The game was won and lost in that period. Against a weaker side, we might have wrestled some momentum back at some point, but the Sharks are not pretenders and had the cattle to stomp on us when we were down.

 

[LeonardCohen]

Yes, Braley won the game for them, he constantly got momentum. We need to be better, flatten Mahoney early.

He was great but he was also regularly gifted a freeway to work with, given the back pedalling of our defence. We lost touch via fatigue from a lack of possession. I think we need to manage possession better to be a chance with our sluggish pack. If we can get an even share, we should be able to trouble the Dogs with our size. If they get a nice period of possession, we might gas.

 

[Shoe1]

He was great but he was also regularly gifted a freeway to work with, given the back pedalling of our defence. We lost touch via fatigue from a lack of possession. I think we need to manage possession better to be a chance with our sluggish pack. If we can get an even share, we should be able to trouble the Dogs with our size. If they get a nice period of possession, we might gas.

Completely, he had so much room, our tacklers were struggling to get off the floor and get to marker while he was already up and running. It made me very agitated.

 

[LeonardCohen]

Completely, he had so much room, our tacklers were struggling to get off the floor and get to marker while he was already up and running. It made me very agitated.

Yes, it was hard to watch

 

[Dion Johnson]

Manly has had much success, playing to the edges and scoring the pretty tries....maybe more than any other team.
This was attempted against Cronulla also, who defended great....but no better than the Storm or Penrith will.
All season in Club games the style was flashy, entertaining and could rack up big scorelines, but the game vs Sharks was a glimpse of what finals footy looks like, with Massive slide defence shutting off those outside spaces and creating errors and a frustrated looking attack after not kicking down the door behind the ruck first.
The Manly attacking power on the shift is still a "go to" and will reap the rewards, but there will need to be willing to cop some bumps and bruises playing direct tough footy for period also, to earn the right for that pretty shifted play.....in fact will have to adapt to the tougher style of footy that finals bring and Cronulla rightly played a week out.
No 1 need more thrust in that ruck and not gunna bother with Croker stuff as he WILL be there....so hopefully can start travelling in numbers in attack with quicks like Tom, Levi, Koula hunting around the ball for the odd offload or tip on and try to win momentum through that middle sector....otherwise out wide is null and void, as the defence will be well structured out wide if unable to dent that ruck area first.....just like the Sharks game.
Anyways keen to see some finals footy and happy Manly are there, so let's bring it !

I am of the view that we were in the game against the Sharks until Tent went off after 23 minutes, we started to lose the ruck and go forward for the following 36 minutes.

Hopefully it’s a lesson learned, the way Siebold managed the bench against the Dogs was very effective, though against the Sharks the rinse and repeat didn’t work, I think he fell into the trap of going the same way against the Sharks and didn’t make a change when we were getting dominated in the middle for that 36 minute period.

The key for me against the Dogs is not letting the ball stay in play for long minutes.

 

[mickqld]

Completely, he had so much room, our tacklers were struggling to get off the floor and get to marker while he was already up and running. It made me very agitated.

This is correct because our forwards are slow plodders. If the dogs get quick play the balls they'll kill us because our slow tacklers will either be rolling on the ground or giving away 6 agains because they're not square.

 

[Shoe1]

This is correct because our forwards are slow plodders. If the dogs get quick play the balls they'll kill us because our slow tacklers will either be rolling on the ground or giving away 6 agains because they're not square.

Sad but true. Hopefully it is a real finals game with skinny 10s and we can just smash them. There was far too much room last Sunday.

 

[maxta]

I thought we managed the battle in the middle quite well on both sides of the ball on Sunday, until Brown's dumb penalty. We were limiting their yardage sets and making some decent inroads through Lodge and Paseka, who the commentators kept praising for laying a pretty damn good platform. The score was a reflection of a good even contest.

The Trindall penalty didn't have to necessarily be terminal, but that and other circumstantial variables led to a mountain of possession for Cronulla. I saw a 'last ten minutes' tackle reading pop up on the screen and the Sharks only made 6 tackles in that period...we'd made over 40. The game was won and lost in that period. Against a weaker side, we might have wrestled some momentum back at some point, but the Sharks are not pretenders and had the cattle to stomp on us when we were down.

Yeh to a degree and many things I feel are similar in thought here and the go forward I will grant you made good inrowds, but never looked to "threaten" the Sharks defence too often.
I'm still pretty convinced our attack apart from when we shift wide with Tom to create the overlap will be limited if we can't create more options in the middle.....as example the only time we look dangerous apart from that shift, is when DCE gives early ball to Oka who carries 2 - 3 players towards the line when with the 10m line and I just think ....we need a bit more than that.
The difference between the 9's on Sunday was night and day and to effect those big plays wide successfully need more options through that ruck area, or teams like Srorm and Penrith will slide and take our outside men into the grandstand.
Simply have to work out a few "other" options when playing "Through" the opposition and not just set up "going around" them.

 

[LeonardCohen]

Yeh to a degree and many things I feel are similar in thought here and the go forward I will grant you made good inrowds, but never looked to "threaten" the Sharks defence too often.
I'm still pretty convinced our attack apart from when we shift wide with Tom to create the overlap will be limited if we can't create more options in the middle.....as example the only time we look dangerous apart from that shift, is when DCE gives early ball to Oka who carries 2 - 3 players towards the line when with the 10m line and I just think ....we need a bit more than that.
The difference between the 9's on Sunday was night and day and to effect those big plays wide successfully need more options through that ruck area, or teams like Srorm and Penrith will slide and take our outside men into the grandstand.
Simply have to work out a few "other" options when playing "Through" the opposition and not just set up "going around" them.

I agree re the 9s.

My take on our attack is that it's fine, providing we manage possession. We have enough talent and speed to score points but like any side, when we are losing the ruck, it'll look like we have little to offer, because we'll be shifting against a set defence. If we can scramble the ruck and fatigue the opposition, there are plenty of points of attack.

I understand you're suggesting the same thing, i.e. something happening in the middle, but I believe that's not so much a tactical concern, rather an application issue. If we bang the door down in the middle, the space will open and the natural instincts and abilities of our talented halves and outside backs will ensure points are plenty.

We scored 10 points in the opening 20 minutes last week and even managed to post another two tries in spite of the fact we were bashed from pillar to post for the better part of an hour. The side can score enough points. Can they stop the opposition from scoring enough?