Kaeo Weekes

SeaEagleRock8 said:
I agree in the ideal world clubs keep young talent until they develop, except everyone doesn't develop to the standard required for NRL.
Also I disagree that Storm and Chooks handle this better. They simply have better resources to attract a continuous stream of talent. Storm showed Croft the door, Chooks showed Hastings the door, also Flanagan.

The other point is, how would Seibs go if he’d said, “Look I might win a couple of wooden spoons but in 3 or 5 years we’ll be going for the premiership”? We both know it would be, “OK thanks for your interest in the position! We’ll let you know”
Click to expand...


Agreed. Seibs is in a tight spot. He's got that stain of a cellar placed side in Brisbane. He needs instant success which is a very tough ask. Doesn't mean he isn't a good coach. Tim Sheens is a premiership and Australian winning coach, famed for bringing under performing sides to the top, yet has just left Wests as cellar dwellers. Its a tricky business and if you dont have the cattle and you dont have a functional admin, chances are not good for you to succeed.

Seibs, with Turbo fully fit and Schuster better focused on his role and task, would have reached the finals. Manly unfortunately, unlike some wealthier clubs doesn't have much reserve, so when injuries occur the next level down from first grade tends to be quite a drop. Confidence is lost. That's why having a good reserve bench is so important and why these kids need to be nurtured from the juniors to the seniors carefully.

Several eventual first grade level juniors from Manly have been allowed to leave, similarly to what happens at Wests, and succeed elsewhere. To me that link between juniors and seniors is where Manly is a little dysfunctional. Not always, but more often than some other clubs. The Manly of the mid 2000s was well run, allowing juniors to develop and flourish, and bringing in solid first graders from elsewhere. That seems to be missing now, though there are some improvements since the Barrett disasters.
 
Current Manly squad includes Jake, Turbo, Burbo, Parker, Haumole, DCE, Schuster, Weekes, Sam and Latu Fainu (obviously leaving), Koula, Tuaimalo Vaega, Keppie, Paseka, and Matterson who have come through our pathways or lower grades.

Also others who've made their NRL debuts at Manly, such as Garrick and Matterson.

Also Croker, Tuipulotu, Saab, Condon, Boyle, Harper, Arthur, and Sipley who'd each had barely a taste of NRL before coming to Manly.

So, I think you are being a tad harsh on Manly's record of nurturing talent. Like everything, it could be better ... and if we were a better resourced club, probably would be.
 
Jake came to firsts in 2013, Turbo 2015, Parker 2016, Evans 2011. That was during a time were Manly were seriously competitive. Matterson, Keppie, Paseka did not go through Manly junior comps Olakau'atu was a Parramatta junior who played his last two junior seasons at Manly. That leaves Schuster, Koula and Vaega as the only juniors in almost the last decade to have established a first grade position from the very successful junior sides of recent years. And this in a side that has missed the finals 6 times in the last 9 years, and only 8th, 6th and 4th in those better years. Yet several of those Manly junior sides in that period performed very well with many outstanding prospects. Where are they now?
 
Bearfax said:
Jake came to firsts in 2013, Turbo 2015, Parker 2016, Evans 2011. That was during a time were Manly were seriously competitive. Matterson, Keppie, Paseka did not go through Manly junior comps Olakau'atu was a Parramatta junior who played his last two junior seasons at Manly. That leaves Schuster, Koula and Vaega as the only juniors in almost the last decade to have established a first grade position from the very successful junior sides of recent years. And this in a side that has missed the finals 6 times in the last 9 years, and only 8th, 6th and 4th in those better years. Yet several of those Manly junior sides in that period performed very well with many outstanding prospects. Where are they now?
Click to expand...
Holden Cup 2017 unearthed some gems.
Letting go of Hynes and Jesse Ramien wasn't everyone's cup of tea.
 
So is that the last of our talented juniors bar olak and schuster all gone.

I know the cap and the squad remains fluid. But we’ve bought players from Outside who are no better and have no affinity with the club and mate overpaid against their output.

We dont seem t o have a clear strategy of development/squad succession. It looks like blindfolded darts to me
 
TheSoaringEagle2023 said:
Holden Cup 2017 unearthed some gems.
Letting go of Hynes and Jesse Ramien wasn't everyone's cup of tea.
Click to expand...

True, but go through any Holden/Toyota / u20's GF teams or u20 Teams of the Year and see how many players have gone on to what we would call household names and/or regular 1st Graders?
Generally it's about four or five, Panthers of 2015 had a few more

2015 GF teams
Panthers
1. Brent Naden 3. Robert Jennings 5. Dylan Edwards 6. Tyrone May 7. Jarome Luai k 9. Soni Luke 10. Moses Leota 11. James Fisher-Harris 12. Corey Harawira

Sea Eagles
1. Tom Trbojevic 4. Jesse Ramien 8. Liam Knight t 11. Luke Garner



2017 GF teams
Parra
6. Dean Matterson* 7. Dylan Brown 14. Reed Mahoney 10. Oregon Kaufusi 13. Ray Stone 8. Sean Keppie

Sea Eagles
6. Tom Wright 7. Cade Cust 9. Manase Fainu 13. Haumole Olakau'atu


These are only players from those squads that I'd put in the recognisable regular first grade category.
*Matterson only debuted late this year - nearly six years later

Some have barely made it and some have been and gone.

Can't keep them all and also, how long do you give them to make it?
 
Last edited:
He's well down in the pecking order for any backline position with us for next season anyway. Good luck to him at the Raiders he's he's going to need it. Rickys got a short fuse on players not performing and usually runs out of patience on players who don't live up to expectations. Poor ole Albert H got the chop for a lazy Cotric, what a basket case of a club.
 
StuBoot said:
True, but go through any Holden/Toyota / u20's GF teams or u20 Teams of the Year and see how many players have gone on to what we would call household names and/or regular 1st Graders?
Generally it's about four or five, Panthers of 2015 had a few more

2015 GF teams
Panthers
1. Brent Naden 3. Robert Jennings 5. Dylan Edwards 6. Tyrone May 7. Jarome Luai k 9. Soni Luke 10. Moses Leota 11. James Fisher-Harris 12. Corey Harawira

Sea Eagles
1. Tom Trbojevic 4. Jesse Ramien 8. Liam Knight t 11. Luke Garner



2017 GF teams
Parra
6. Dean Matterson* 7. Dylan Brown 14. Reed Mahoney 10. Oregon Kaufusi 13. Ray Stone 8. Sean Keppie

Sea Eagles
6. Tom Wright 7. Cade Cust 9. Manase Fainu 13. Haumole Olakau'atu


These are only players from those squads that I'd put in the recognisable regular first grade category.
*Matterson only debuted late this year - nearly six years later

Some have barely made it and some have been and gone.

Can't keep them all and also, how long do you give them to make it?
Click to expand...
I think this is part of the problem with the modern game. Unless a player "makes it" by a certain age they are discarded.

I would love to see more money in the 2nd tier comp to make that closer to full time and a pathway for the kids who age out
 
I understand the reasons why we are letting Weekes go. And we all saw he failed to grab his opportunities in 2023 (in saying that he was regularly played out of position)

To be honest i didn't really bat an eye lid when Albert Hopoate, Fainu bros, Fifita, Alec T etc were either let go or weren't re-signed

But i suspect Weekes leaving will look foolish for Manly at some stage.
 
Rocky said:
I understand the reasons why we are letting Weekes go. And we all saw he failed to grab his opportunities in 2023 (in saying that he was regularly played out of position)

To be honest i didn't really bat an eye lid when Albert Hopoate, Fainu bros, Fifita, Alec T etc were either let go or weren't re-signed

But i suspect Weekes leaving will look foolish for Manly at some stage.
Click to expand...
Sam F is a player I expect to go far, based on the few stints he had in NRL. Size, athleticism, game awareness and some skill with the ball, but most significantly, attitude. A lot of things can interrupt a promising career but I have no doubt footy ability played no part in Manly not fighting to keep him.
 
Rocky said:
I understand the reasons why we are letting Weekes go. And we all saw he failed to grab his opportunities in 2023 (in saying that he was regularly played out of position)

To be honest i didn't really bat an eye lid when Albert Hopoate, Fainu bros, Fifita, Alec T etc were either let go or weren't re-signed

But i suspect Weekes leaving will look foolish for Manly at some stage.
Click to expand...
Yeah but unless "some stage" is next year then he may as well go to a club that actually has a first grade jumper to offer him.

Which position would you even play him in?

He'd be fourth (at best) on the pecking order for fullback (behind Turbo, Koula and Garrick)

He'd be third (at best) on the pecking order for 5/8 (behind Brooks, Arthur, and probably Schuster)

As above for wing and centre, and he has been crap at hooker.

So all in all he's only worth keeping if we pay him reserve grade money. He had chances to press a claim as a fringe first grader and he shat the bed. He might come good, but he also might not.
 
eaglebuzz said:
Yeah but unless "some stage" is next year then he may as well go to a club that actually has a first grade jumper to offer him.

Which position would you even play him in?

He'd be fourth (at best) on the pecking order for fullback (behind Turbo, Koula and Garrick)

He'd be third (at best) on the pecking order for 5/8 (behind Brooks, Arthur, and probably Schuster)

As above for wing and centre, and he has been crap at hooker.

So all in all he's only worth keeping if we pay him reserve grade money. He had chances to press a claim as a fringe first grader and he shat the bed. He might come good, but he also might not.
Click to expand...
…… but he was meant to be the Messiah!!!

Just sayin’
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Members online

Total: 355 (members: 10, guests: 345)

Latest posts

Team P W L PD Pts
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0

Online statistics

Members online
10
Guests online
345
Total visitors
355
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Latest posts

Newest members

Stay Connected

Back
Top Bottom