LU - 2011 Season Preview - Manly Sea Eagles

  • We had an issue with background services between march 10th and 15th or there about. This meant the payment services were not linking to automatic upgrades. If you paid for premium membership and are still seeing ads please let me know and the email you used against PayPal and I cam manually verify and upgrade your account.

Berkeley_Eagle

Current Status: 24/7 Manly Fan
2011 Season Preview - Manly Sea Eagles
Written by: Ben Pope
Feb 24, 2011 9:08am

Pursuing a seventh successive finals appearance in 2011, the Sea Eagles will have to do their best to steer clear of the ill-timed injuries and suspensions which brought their 2010 season to an underwhelming end, what's more they will need to address the major lapses in consistency and concentration which hallmarked their season.

Coach Des Hasler will be unwavering in his efforts to improve on the last two disappointing seasons but he doesn't have an easy task ahead of him.

On the positive side it appears as though board room distractions may be a thing of the past with Max Delmege giving up his ownership share of the club during the off season.

One of the biggest hurdles the club will face is the lack of depth in the top squad, while the top 17 will have a familiar look about it with plenty of class and experience throughout, the salary cap has stripped the club of much of the depth they once had and they will be relying heavily on the younger brigade to step up when players are inevitably unavailable.

The most pressure will be on rookie halfback Daly Cherry-Evans, stepping in for Trent Hodkinson he will be given ample time to find his feet but will be aware of the half options Hasler has at his disposal in off season recruit Liam Foran and young gun Gary Riccardi.

Jamie Lyon is of course the key to this Manly outfit, he has been the difference in making the top 8 or not over the last two years for this club, if he is on the field then Manly are always in with a chance of victory.

The return of Brett Stewart looms large, he may miss some early rounds as a cautious approach is taken with his comeback; he and David Williams will add much needed speed and spark to a backline that struggled to produce points at times last year. Young backs Dean Whare, William Hopoate and Michael Oldfield will all see the field at some point and hope to make an impact.

Amongst the forwards, Jason King and Matt Ballin had their best years to date in 2010 with Shane Rodney also a stand out before suffering a season ending knee injury, they will need to continue their rise in form and hope players like Anthony Watmough and Brent Kite can reach the heights they have in recent years if they are any chance of returning to the dominating forward pack they have been. The forwards could be boosted by the long hinted transition to the forwards of Tony Williams who will probably start the year in the backline as cover for the suspended Steve Matai.

A lot of pundits have Manly-Warringah finishing around the middle to lower end of the ladder and that would be a fair assessment at this stage when looking at last season, nevertheless they also showed they are capable of playing some of the highest quality rugby league in the NRL, if they address their issues with consistency and can conjure up some good luck, it would not surprise to see them well in the top eight at seasons end.

Player to Watch - Kieran Foran
At 20 years of age, Foran is the “senior” member of the Sea Eagles halves duo. He got a taste of first grade during the back half of 2009 and started 2010 as the Sea Eagles five eighth; his form in the opening rounds had him lining up at halfback alongside Benji Marshall for the Kiwis. A hamstring injury in Round 9 last year kept him off the field for a few weeks and when he returned he was still visibly affected by the injury and never got back to top form. Foran is an exciting player who loves to take on the line with a step and a dummy, he has no problems making his voice heard on the field and looks like a leader of the future, his kicking game has been developing and you can't help but think he will enjoy reuniting with his Toyota Cup partner in crime, Daly Cherry-Evans.

Rookie to Watch - Daly Cherry-Evans
With Trent Hodkinson heading to the Bulldogs for the 2011 season, Daly Cherry-Evans will get his chance to cement his place in the Sea Eagles 7 jersey. Most Manly fans are familiar with Cherry-Evans as he and Kieran Foran combined in the halves to lead a dominate 2009 Sea Eagles Toyota Cup side to a minor premiership. The last 12 months for Cherry-Evans have been nothing but encouraging: playing for the Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles in the Queensland Cup, Cherry-Evans took out the Rookie of the Year and Best and Fairest awards, Manly officials showed confidence in the young play maker by signing him to a contract which will keep him in maroon and white until the end of 2013 and this off season he was named in the Wayne Bennett coached Queensland Emerging Origin squad.

Signings/Losses
Gains: Daniel Harrison (Bulldogs), Tim Robinson (Eels), Liam Foran (Newtown Jets, NSW Cup)
Losses: Josh Perry (St Helens, ESL), Trent Hodkinson (Bulldogs), Chris Bailey (Harlequins, ESL), Ben Farrar (Catalans, ESL), Lama Tasi (Roosters)

Predicted Best Lineup
1. Brett Stewart 2. Michael Robertson 3. Jamie Lyon 4. Steve Matai 5. David Williams 6. Kieran Foran 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Jason King 9. Matt Ballin 10. Brent Kite 11. Shane Rodney 12. Anthony Watmough 13. Glenn Stewart
Interchange: 14. Tony Williams 15. Joe Galuvao 16. George Rose 17. Terrence Seu Seu



http://leagueunlimited.com/article.php?newsid=20452
 
cant really argue with any of that. pretty spot on. even the line up.

Maybe Cunningham would break into the 17 in place of Gulavao and Lussick for Seu Seu over the course of the season.
 
I reckon Seu Seu will have a good season this time around, need good thrust off the bench for Ballin to be at his most effective.
 
Fro link said:
I reckon Seu Seu will have a good season this time around, need good thrust off the bench for Ballin to be at his most effective.
Agreed!  Seu Seu is the creative spark needed when Balin has a breather.When Le Strange was used as this role Manly were devastating.Not saying Seu Seu is as good as Stranger but he could well be with some game time.

I'm looking forward to him getting his chance..
 
Seu seu can have games like le strange had. If he can play consistently like that he will be a much needed spark.

We miss the impact and creativeness that le strange had. The coaching staff obviously see something in him.
 
Also although Ballin can play 80 minutes if he gets a break and play 55 - 60 he is a much better player.
 
Pretty gooid overview that one, surprising as most stuff on LU is normally total rap
 
Good article.  The only thing I would change is to add Glenn Stewart where they have referred to Anthony Watmough and Brent Kite as players that need to recapture their previous form.

An in-form a fired up Glenn Stewart will make a big difference to our team, and I think it is a real possibility now that Snakes injury and off field woes are (hopefully) behind him.

I am quietly confident we will put on a good show this year.  Of course the big unknown with our side is how DCE handles the jump to the NRL.
 
The only thing I can disagree with is the lack of depth opinion that everyone seems to have of us. Yes, they're young but better to have young quality over experienced plodders.

It sounds like he's been reading this forum.
 
Team P W L PD Pts
3 3 0 48 6
4 3 1 28 6
3 2 1 10 6
4 2 2 39 4
3 2 1 28 4
3 2 1 15 4
3 2 1 14 4
2 1 1 13 4
2 1 1 6 4
3 2 1 -3 4
3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
Back
Top Bottom