Flat

[Snake]

Seeing a bit of anxiety around the forum about our performances the last two weeks against pretty ordinary opposition.

I’m not worried in the slightest.

we’ve lacked energy because we’ve known we are safe for a while now and coming up against two sides that we were expected to flog, there was always going to be complacency. It’s not a conscious phenomena...it’s just what happens. You can talk about getting up and bringing the energy till the cows come home but the subconscious mind can’t be tricked.

I never thought we’d lose last week or this week and it’s no different for the players. You can’t manufacture the desperation if your gut says you don’t need it.

it’ll be there next week against Melbourne; mark my words. Not saying we’ll win but we’ll be way better in terms of line speed, aggression and overall intent. There is nothing wrong with our ‘game’ itself, just gotta up the energy and we’ll be in the mix.

 

[malroon]

ordinary..??? both teams threw everything they had at us give some credit to them, no team wants to go out on a loss..

 

[NYEagle]

Seeing a bit of anxiety around the forum about our performances the last two weeks against pretty ordinary opposition.

I’m not worried in the slightest.

we’ve lacked energy because we’ve known we are safe for a while now and coming up against two sides that we were expected to flog, there was always going to be complacency. It’s not a conscious phenomena...it’s just what happens. You can talk about getting up and bringing the energy till the cows come home but the subconscious mind can’t be tricked.

I never thought we’d lose last week or this week and it’s no different for the players. You can’t manufacture the desperation if your gut says you don’t need it.

it’ll be there next week against Melbourne; mark my words. Not saying we’ll win but we’ll be way better in terms of line speed, aggression and overall intent. There is nothing wrong with our ‘game’ itself, just gotta up the energy and we’ll be in the mix.

Agree with your comments
Dont forget also that they had in the back of their minds that they will be taking on Melbourne in 6 days.

No-one is going to put their bodies in the line under these circumstances playing a first final.

All in all, a perfect night and everything achieved that we wanted.

NYEagle

 

[Snake]

ordinary..??? both teams threw everything they had at us give some credit to them, no team wants to go out on a loss..

Yeah ordinary...team 15 and team 16!

You know like 2 wins all season for the Dogs and Cows just broke a 10 game losing streak.

Sure they dug in but both ended up easily beaten and we were very very flat for large patches of the games.

 

[malroon]

Yeah ordinary...team 15 and team 16!

You know like 2 wins all season for the Dogs and Cows just broke a 10 game losing streak.

Sure they dug in but both ended up easily beaten and we were very very flat for large patches of the games.

Melb only beat cowboys 20-16 & Rabbits beat dogs 32-24 , two teams above us , so I think we done alright considering..

 

[Dion Johnson]

Would liked to have seen some more discipline footy for the first 40 minutes, to try and eliminate the errors.

More intensity in defence next week would be good, thought Keppie did well in the middle today.

 

[StuBoot]

Seeing a bit of anxiety around the forum about our performances the last two weeks against pretty ordinary opposition.

I’m not worried in the slightest.

we’ve lacked energy because we’ve known we are safe for a while now and coming up against two sides that we were expected to flog, there was always going to be complacency. It’s not a conscious phenomena...it’s just what happens. You can talk about getting up and bringing the energy till the cows come home but the subconscious mind can’t be tricked.

I never thought we’d lose last week or this week and it’s no different for the players. You can’t manufacture the desperation if your gut says you don’t need it.

it’ll be there next week against Melbourne; mark my words. Not saying we’ll win but we’ll be way better in terms of line speed, aggression and overall intent. There is nothing wrong with our ‘game’ itself, just gotta up the energy and we’ll be in the mix.

Spot on.
After we competed with the Storm but came up empty the intent was on display v Parra.
Knowing fourth spot was on the cards and they believed they could get there the early onslaught was impressive.
Granted Parra was in a bit of a hole but it was a statement performance.

We’ll be up for it.

We’re always going to have errors in us due to the way we play but at least we won’t die wondering.

 

[Snake]

Melb only beat cowboys 20-16 & Rabbits beat dogs 32-24 , two teams above us , so I think we done alright considering..

I think you’re missing my point. It’s not a knock on Manly and it’s not specifically intended to be a knock on Cows or Dogs...it’s more an observation that we were flat...very flat in fact. Some are interpreting that as a worrying sign of what’s to come...I’m saying that we’ve been flat because mentally we’ve had one eye on the finals the last couple of weeks and you can see the lack of energy clear as day. It’s nothing to worry about.

 

[HK_Eagle]

Just curious what the three Storm supporters thought about Manly's performance tonight?

And can we still consider the NRL boss and the CEO of Channel 9 two of the three Storm supporters?

 

[Eagles4Life]

Seeing a bit of anxiety around the forum about our performances the last two weeks against pretty ordinary opposition.

I’m not worried in the slightest.

we’ve lacked energy because we’ve known we are safe for a while now and coming up against two sides that we were expected to flog, there was always going to be complacency. It’s not a conscious phenomena...it’s just what happens. You can talk about getting up and bringing the energy till the cows come home but the subconscious mind can’t be tricked.

I never thought we’d lose last week or this week and it’s no different for the players. You can’t manufacture the desperation if your gut says you don’t need it.

it’ll be there next week against Melbourne; mark my words. Not saying we’ll win but we’ll be way better in terms of line speed, aggression and overall intent. There is nothing wrong with our ‘game’ itself, just gotta up the energy and we’ll be in the mix.

We are a very good chance of winning next Friday against the Scum. We won't have any trouble at all being mentally ready for this game. In fact I think we have been building towards it since Round Five. I think we have a number of things in our favour actually.

This Friday we should finally be able to put our best seventeen onto the field. We come into the match pretty much injury free. We are arguably the best attacking team in the comp right now. We are more than capable of playing an expansive game in attack, that will really trouble the Storm defence.

The Scum looked tired in their last few games, mentally and physically. Yes they did enough to win these games (except against Parra), but I really think they have peaked for 2021. I'm not saying that Bellamy can't get them back up again. But on Friday I am definitely feeling that Des brings a game plan that wins us the match.

Go Manly

 

[Lyonstomenzies]

I thought you were talking about standing too flat which we are very guilty of.
lots of forward passes from our boys today.

 

[HK_Eagle]

Call me crazy, but we have got the scum. We have got the comp wrapped up if we continue to believe. And I wouldn't want anybody else driving this time into the finals than Des.

 

[Eagles4Life]

I thought you were talking about standing too flat which we are very guilty of.
lots of forward passes from our boys today.

I have a feeling we will have a completely different shape this Friday. Des has had the boys standing flat intentionally. We won't see this against the Scum. Ola'katau and Schuster have been standing noticeably flat, which doesn't really suit either of them. They have just been following the game plan. That plan changes for Friday.

 

[Remy]

Totally agree, we have a smart coaching team with great senior leaders. Our youngsters just looked like they had eyes for the finals already, we will turn up for finals. A lot of people in the club know how different finals footy is and what it takes to win. We got those players and the coach who's touched the highest of the high. And they are the men leading us. Not worried about complacency and flatness at all.

 

[Nordburg]

Would liked to have seen some more discipline footy for the first 40 minutes, to try and eliminate the errors.

More intensity in defence next week would be good, thought Keppie did well in the middle today.

I think the errors have been their Achilles heel for a fair chunk of the season,even when TomT plays.Plenty said after the close Storm loss that if they had cut out their errors,they probably win that game but I’m not too sure they can eradicate those issues because it’s part and parcel with their expansive way of playing.

 

[Brisbane Tragic]

Seeing a bit of anxiety around the forum about our performances the last two weeks against pretty ordinary opposition.

I’m not worried in the slightest.

we’ve lacked energy because we’ve known we are safe for a while now and coming up against two sides that we were expected to flog, there was always going to be complacency. It’s not a conscious phenomena...it’s just what happens. You can talk about getting up and bringing the energy till the cows come home but the subconscious mind can’t be tricked.

I never thought we’d lose last week or this week and it’s no different for the players. You can’t manufacture the desperation if your gut says you don’t need it.

it’ll be there next week against Melbourne; mark my words. Not saying we’ll win but we’ll be way better in terms of line speed, aggression and overall intent. There is nothing wrong with our ‘game’ itself, just gotta up the energy and we’ll be in the mix.

We have been flat and very clunky but there has been a decided change in our tactics. Instead of trying to just strip teams for numbers we now have Turbo and others coming back against the grain and trying to have more unders balls. I think it was in response to the Melbourne loss givenm that the stripping for numbers didnt work every time in that game to get on the outside. So we are now using the alternative and yes we are not quite as good at that strategy. What it does like the Turbo try in the first half last night though is it puts doubt into the opposition - that they need to hold their line for a split second more before sliding off. That will hopefully mean that they get that split second more when they try to strip for numbers. Maybe something we should have started trying 10 weeks ago - but I gather we didn't think the Storm defence in that loss would be so resilient. But yes that is the noticeable change and the reason we have been clunky the last few games. I expect next week we will still use a few unders plays out wide but we will go back to the stripping numbers strategy more and yes hope that split second extra gives us the space we need.

 

[jbb/james]

i have complete faith in dessies ability to pace a team. It his strength. Tough to keep faith after watching the last 2 games but i will.

But man o man do we need to be better

The worry factor is how little controlled footy we have played in the last couple of years. We dont have the tools or smarts to outlast Melbourne. Its going to have to be unconventional .

The slide defences are slowing tom down and melbourne dont have missing patches of effort where we can chuck on 6 tries

But if the tigers can play the cows in a gf , anything is possible

 

[Dee Why Eagle]

Don't always agree with Des's selections or tactics... Or maybe I just don't understand.
But one thing for sure, Des has always shown that he is a maestro at getting his teams primed for the finals

 

[Rosko]

Call me crazy, but we have got the scum. We have got the comp wrapped up if we continue to believe. And I wouldn't want anybody else driving this time into the finals than Des.

You’re crazy 😜

 

[Rosko]

We won’t be left wondering long. Easy to read from the first set whether we turn up for a game or not. If we start against Melbourne like the last 3 games, it could be all over in 10 minute.
Sure hope you’re right @Snake