Half way - report card

[Uk eagle]

C, must try harder, can achieve much more with the right application. (It sounds like one of my school reports)

All is not lost, if we can get in the right place for the last half of the season we are still a chance. The competition is so open this year that a decent run can catapult us up the ladder

 

[mickqld]

With a firing Turbo, and Jurbo, DCE and The Shoe in the 13 we are a top four team. We showed that last week against Canberra. Without them we are a bottom four team which we showed against Newcastle.

Take Edwards, Yeo , Luai and Cleary out of Penrith.
Walsh, Reynolds , Mam and Carrigan out of Broncos.
Mitchell , Murray , Walker , Cook out of Souffs and they'll all be bottom 4 too. We stay healthy and keep most of our top 17 on for the rest of the year we'll give this competition a shake.

 

[bob dylan]

Wasn’t des on close to $1M per?

I am sure $600k-$650K when he signed - I stand to be corrected but he was unemployed.

 

[JBW]

C+

Its really hard to give a proper analysis due to not having a stable number 6 for most of the season.

Two games spring to mind that could have made this a B - If we got the win verse the Rabbitohs and not drawn with the Knights in Mudgee.

As others have said, consistency has been the let down, the team that turned up against the Storm, Rabbits and Raiders was a vastly different team that turned up against the Tigers, Titans and Knights. Theres also been the games where we only played 40 mins, the Panthers and Sharks.

 

[frank stokes]

I am sure $600k-$650K when he signed - I stand to be corrected but he was unemployed.

Yeah I am not sure and you are most probs right… I just thought his journo mates were talking $1m per year grievance payout..

 

[bob dylan]

Yeah I am not sure and you are most probs right… I just thought his journo mates were talking $1m per year grievance payout..

I tried to find something but couldnt. But he was "on the nose" at the time he signed. Cant imagine Penn paying any coach $1mil.

 

[eaglebuzz]

I still think we are a hooker, centre, and prop away from a premiership.

Fainu should solve the second row issue. But as long as we have Croker and Parker in the starting 13 we will be very hard pressed to win the comp.

 

[Brocky]

The report card on Seibs is C-, don’t see any upside in him

 

[Pete W]

After 12 games last year, we'd already won more games than this year - majority of those without Turbo. We dusted the raiders, and beat the storm yet no one was going on and on, clutching at straws like we are this year...constantly trying to convince ourselves that we are making progress. It reeks of desperation. But for mine it's actually worse now, as we are not even flat track bullies any longer (no more putting big scores on teams like Titans, Knights, and Tigers).

A solid F - if this isn't a fail, then what is? Last place? Fmd, our standards have dropped if people are giving a pass for this ****e. Ironically, yet under Des this was unacceptable?

 

[jbb/james]

We lost a lot of hard footy in dylan walker and keiran foran
many underestimated there impact on the attack and there desire in the contest. Either would have got us home last week.

we play fancy footy, try to finesse our way, take soft options, lose the ball in ways that continually baffle. We just havnt bought into to the. NRL style play required to be consistent.

Our copy of NRL for dummies must have gone missing in the barrett years as payback for the banana lounges.

Tom gives us wildcard value over the bottom teams

we have had a few good games, a few good moments but overall we wilt under pressure and there is less pressure in the first half of the season than whats coming .

As has been the case , this last few seasons. There is a lot to like about our side when the stars are out even if they dont win.

last week they looked like 4 million worth of injured and rested stars injected could make the team a real force, just not our 4 million it seems.

 

[LeonardCohen]

There’s still this notion of ‘we’ve shown we can do (insert example), etc’ but I don’t buy that. Every side has won games this year and every supporter base sees potential during those victories. It’s been said before that the Tigers beat Penrith but that doesn’t make them contenders.

We’re not going to go through an entire season and lose every game so of course there will be a good showing here and there, but it’s a mirage; one that every team is capable of producing on occasions. Rugby league is played across a season, not a single game. Until this side turns up week in week out, I’m not getting excited by ‘potential’.

 

[manlyfan76]

Manly needs to apply himself consistently to achieve the results he is capable of.
C

 

[jbb/james]

There’s still this notion of ‘we’ve shown we can do (insert example), etc’ but I don’t buy that. Every side has won games this year and every supporter base sees potential during those victories. It’s been said before that the Tigers beat Penrith but that doesn’t make them contenders.

We’re not going to go through an entire season and lose every game so of course there will be a good showing here and there, but it’s a mirage; one that every team is capable of producing on occasions. Rugby league is played across a season, not a single game. Until this side turns up week in week out, I’m not getting excited by ‘potential’.

Its one of the issues of talking footy on silvertails. Bias.
plenty of good stuff but objectivity often is misplaced
probably a good thing as its a biased view forum to a point but

for a few years we get either out thought, outplayed, bullied or pressured into playing with way less footy Than the opposition. Its a trend we can not get rid of.

Our best possession comes when we score tries and get repeats from kick off,

but the kicker is, we dont seem to care Or look to do much else than complete sets.
Its not good enough to accept 50/50 , you have to go hunt for it and respect it

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Until this side turns up week in week out, I’m not getting excited by ‘potential’.

Ah yes, the famous 'turning up' problem.
The technical meaning of this remains unclear, though I always assume it just means the team suffered a big loss. And because our team/players are in reality really good, the only possible explanation for the thrashing is... didn't turn up!

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

The big elephant in the room is that those teams aren't in any danger of being culled as surplus to requirements when it comes to the teams in Sydney. If Manly keep underperforming, the NRL will have every reason to bring up the relocation or Northern Eagles argument again.

Because that worked out so well last time around.

If you used the parameter that underperformance was the determinant in which clubs were in the competition, then we might have a 6-8 team competition. Then the teams that finished regularly in the bottom four of those eight, maybe they should be culled? Where would it end? That’s right: no competition.

There is nothing in the utterances from the V-line’s mouth, or his sidekick (Manly supporter) Abdo, that they want to kick out or relocate teams.

We do not have a situation where a deep-pocketed media baron is trying to hijack a competition by creating a new one, with the inevitable reconstitution of a single competition when the dust settles - a la 1998-99. Or as we saw in Australian cricket two decades earlier.

 

[manly al]

Were sort of hanging in there until that bad run against the Titans , Broncs and Sharks and prior to this actually 2 nd on the table [ which is hard to realize now ] but the initial bye points helped a bit . Then the turnaround against a high flying Raiders outfit and an away game to boot . Real shame that line up and combinations against the Raiders could not be continued but should be doing better even with a few key players out in other games . Panthers and Sharks efforts were probably an indication that the side is still not mentally tough enough to compete on a consistent level . and yet in both games were able to manage comebacks of sorts so form levels are all over the place . Was not aware that the side only had 41 % possession against the Knights on Sunday but were still too far of the pace to really deserve a result . Not the fault of say half the side who managed pretty good efforts and this seems to be a pattern with many games this season , just not enough consistency as a collective unit .

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Manly is more affected than some by key absences. Souths, Penrith, Sharks even Eels have plenty of good players but can still look like a reasonably competent team even with a couple of stars missing.

Manly's depth is actually improved this year in my opinion, but still relying on developing players who aren't yet good first graders in their own right. This means our performances are more likely to fluctuate in quality. If we keep everyone fit we'll go well, if not ... maybe not!

 

[jbb/james]

Were sort of hanging in there until that bad run against the Titans , Broncs and Sharks and prior to this actually 2 nd on the table [ which is hard to realize now ] but the initial bye points helped a bit . Then the turnaround against a high flying Raiders outfit and an away game to boot . Real shame that line up and combinations against the Raiders could not be continued but should be doing better even with a few key players out in other games . Panthers and Sharks efforts were probably an indication that the side is still not mentally tough enough to compete on a consistent level . and yet in both games were able to manage comebacks of sorts so form levels are all over the place . Was not aware that the side only had 41 % possession against the Knights on Sunday but were still too far of the pace to really deserve a result . Not the fault of say half the side who managed pretty good efforts and this seems to be a pattern with many games this season , just not enough consistency as a collective unit .

Breaking that down a bit

we had our season opener statement game against depleted dogs. The REDEMPTION round. no way we lose that
bye
got the eels at a good time
9 day turn around
another decent break

then the season set in

i think when we look back our season could be defined by the souffs and knights back to back
we really just lacked composure. did so much right
could it have raised a few mental demons

 

[maxta]

I reckon the report card reads average as there has been A+ performances and unfortunately F - performances so this makes it C - for my rating.
The problem with other Top 4 teams is they never play terrible, which enables them to win ugly, the same games we lose.
Hate to make excuses but lets talk fact, we have played many games "Again" disrupted by injuries/suspensions ect.
I feel we will come home strong "IF" we get our top 17 healthy to finish the season and I oppose many ppls opinion on SOO for this reason....if the Blues Win and Tommy has found his form and much needed confidence, it will be an absolute blessing for Manly.
Very hard to judge a "New" coaching setup in Seibold and Flannagan as they have had to deal with the above mentioned with forced positional changes, a mish mash of players in and out and often coaching structures, gameplans take time to connect.
I actually have a feel they are very close to coming up with a very solid Blueprint that is still in the lab and also like the bonding which I have seen many games our boys in it together again....the only thing I kind of am already sick of is the post match BS after getting trounced, too much nice guy which doesn't make the players accountable - Rip em a new 1 now and then Seibs.
I know what he is doing as wants to win the trust and be loyal to his players, but the thing is accountability is eveything and I think the players will rise more to honest appraisal, even when harsh.
Barrett tried the multi excuse conferences and they were perhaps comedy value, but pretty sickening at the same time.

 

[Rafferty]

The collective unit comes back to the individuals and those in charge of setting the standards.
I don’t mind Seibs as a human being, seems like a good bloke, but as a coach, I don‘t see that winning formula, his not a Bellamy, Bennett type, I‘m looking at this regardless of the cattle.

Good coaching, good coaches get the individual right, NRL is a hard ass sport, requiring a hard no nonsense approach, it’s why those pair of old buggers above stand out. They drive the individual, challenge them and hold them responsible, they surround themselves with good people, set tuff standards and expect winning out comes, they also work hard and take a no nonsense approach.

From the outside looking in, but as an avid long term supporter, we look soft over 80mins, we lack match fitness to compete, we are even mentally softer, we seem clueless with regard to simple game management, defensive structures, sustained effort, ball security, field position, building pressure, staying in the grind, earning repeat sets, etc etc, simple week to week footy strength. That last week to week, triggers another thought, we struggle to achieve any sort of consistency, winning back to back seems like a massive achievement for us, when it should be just a given, stringing winning runs together regularly just has to be a natural part of the process, the thought process, the actual process.

Were in 11th spot on 13 points equal with Newcastle, with 5 from 12, with Jake out and the other pair on SOO duty it’s not unrealistic to say we could be in 14th by the time origins over and in a battle to hold off 15th and 16th leaving us in a battle for the spoon with the Goons, it could be a case of thank god for the red V. We have a harder draw coming home.

I can’t call our season a success thus far, with the Raiders win our sole stand out, I hope I’m wrong, but I think we are going to find the second half of the year tuff, we haven’t shown anything to date that suggests we’re improving, I hate saying we look sketchy, but we look sketchy AF, our half yearly assessment is a D, even 11th on the ladder maybe a little flattering compared to where I believe we’re at. Get ready for some harsh realities to kick in over the back half of the season. I began the year bullish and expected continued growth, sadly I’ve lost faith in our ability to build into the season and see us struggling to finish the year off, we won‘t make the 8 and that is a fail full stop, as that‘s what the whole year is built on, Sept into Oct.