fLIP
UFO Hunter
Manly coach Des Hasler says his team virtually handed the Melbourne Storm victory on a plate at Olympic Park on Friday night.
Speaking after the Storm had won the grand final rematch 26-4 to maintain their 100 percent winning record at home against the Sea Eagles, Hasler said the visitors shot themselves in the foot.
"(I'm) pretty disappointed with the way we played," Hasler said. "I think Melbourne just persevered and were a little bit better at the important parts of the game like controlling the ground."
"We just gave away too much possession to a side that … they're the last side in the competition that you want to give ball to and field position. We were guilty of making silly errors and giving away penalties with discipline. Consequently, they scored 12, 18 points off us."
For 30 minutes, I thought we were right in the arm wrestle, we certainly weren't playing up to our best, but a side like Melbourne you can't give points away, particularly early, because they're very hard to run down."
Hasler was loathe to admit that the Storm had played well, preferring to suggest it was a combination of his players' poor game and the hosts' 'disciplined' performance, thoughts echoed by captain Matt Orford.
"They're just a disciplined football side," Orford said.
"They don't make errors at their own end, we were very guilty of that, we played the majority of our football in our half, and like Des said, you turn the ball over that much and give them that much field position, they're going to make you pay."
But with speculation about the chances of the likes of full-back Brett Stewart and several others in the Manly side being picked in the Kangaroos team for next month's Centenary Test against New Zealand, Orford said that was the last thing on the players' minds.
"It was too big of a match to even worry about that stuff," he said. "We had our hands full, it was a real short turnaround, and this road trip down here, it's not called 'The Graveyard' for nothing."
"I'd be very surprised if anyone had rep football on their mind, it was a tough enough task to come down here and get the two points off these blokes."
Speaking after the Storm had won the grand final rematch 26-4 to maintain their 100 percent winning record at home against the Sea Eagles, Hasler said the visitors shot themselves in the foot.
"(I'm) pretty disappointed with the way we played," Hasler said. "I think Melbourne just persevered and were a little bit better at the important parts of the game like controlling the ground."
"We just gave away too much possession to a side that … they're the last side in the competition that you want to give ball to and field position. We were guilty of making silly errors and giving away penalties with discipline. Consequently, they scored 12, 18 points off us."
For 30 minutes, I thought we were right in the arm wrestle, we certainly weren't playing up to our best, but a side like Melbourne you can't give points away, particularly early, because they're very hard to run down."
Hasler was loathe to admit that the Storm had played well, preferring to suggest it was a combination of his players' poor game and the hosts' 'disciplined' performance, thoughts echoed by captain Matt Orford.
"They're just a disciplined football side," Orford said.
"They don't make errors at their own end, we were very guilty of that, we played the majority of our football in our half, and like Des said, you turn the ball over that much and give them that much field position, they're going to make you pay."
But with speculation about the chances of the likes of full-back Brett Stewart and several others in the Manly side being picked in the Kangaroos team for next month's Centenary Test against New Zealand, Orford said that was the last thing on the players' minds.
"It was too big of a match to even worry about that stuff," he said. "We had our hands full, it was a real short turnaround, and this road trip down here, it's not called 'The Graveyard' for nothing."
"I'd be very surprised if anyone had rep football on their mind, it was a tough enough task to come down here and get the two points off these blokes."
