Manase Fainu

Technical Coach said:
"At the end of the day" (does this mean everything added after this commentary has no value and i need not reply or have an opinion)

Fainu had many things to his favour in 2019, a coach that was leaning towards him from the outset probably due to wanting to manage the cap for the future and Api coming back from i think a leg injury during the off season reduced his fitness levels along with confidence for a while.

Generally played shorter minutes and often starting against fresh hard running forwards and fresh defences, seemed more like he was compensating with high defensive work-rate and intensity to the detriment of his attack---also probably lacking general confidence and wanting to compensate elsewhere.

Never got the impression Des wanted Api around or rated him highly and this would of played on Api's mind for sure, but "obviously" Des has to plan ahead so have no gripes with him making a decision and sticking with it.

As i've mentioned several times it's not so much the attacking elements i have an issue with in relation to Fainu(although i do feel it is very exaggerated and his passing is nothing that stands out) it is his defence and the intensity of his work rate in defence---if that improves great we have a decent hooker---but we are still missing a large chunk of what is required from him.

In saying that with the faster game and less wrestle, cricket scores and attack taking priority maybe his output in attack compensates for his defensive deficiencies.
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Fair enough

For mine I just don't think he's a bad defender. Or at least that it is a little bit of a non-issue in the broader view of things and on the competent defence of our middles during 2019 (hence the 'at the end of the day' line)

Hedging bets a little at the end, although I do that as much as anyone and know that it is probably due to some level of doubt

Or hope is a better word as we all want what's best for manly :happy:
 
40 nil said:
Not so, it's just that I rate the opinion of the current NSW Blues coach (& all time Rugby League great) more credible than yours.
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I don't see where i asked if you value my opinion over others, just that you should form your own opinions and not look for links or others to give you self comfort in having them.
 
Technical Coach said:
"At the end of the day" (does this mean everything added after this commentary has no value and i need not reply or have an opinion)

Fainu had many things to his favour in 2019, a coach that was leaning towards him from the outset probably due to wanting to manage the cap for the future and Api coming back from i think a leg injury during the off season reduced his fitness levels along with confidence for a while.

Generally played shorter minutes and often starting against fresh hard running forwards and fresh defences, seemed more like he was compensating with high defensive work-rate and intensity to the detriment of his attack---also probably lacking general confidence and wanting to compensate elsewhere.

Never got the impression Des wanted Api around or rated him highly and this would of played on Api's mind for sure, but "obviously" Des has to plan ahead so have no gripes with him making a decision and sticking with it.

As i've mentioned several times it's not so much the attacking elements i have an issue with in relation to Fainu(although i do feel it is very exaggerated and his passing is nothing that stands out) it is his defence and the intensity of his work rate in defence---if that improves great we have a decent hooker---but we are still missing a large chunk of what is required from him.

In saying that with the faster game and less wrestle, cricket scores and attack taking priority maybe his output in attack compensates for his defensive deficiencies.
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Your are right.. i heard from someone close to api and he told me something api said to him. des and api had their differences. Des liked the team training together in the weights room etc apparently api liked coming in early and doing what he had to do and that was that.. and continued to do so apparently. He is also loving being back at Penrith
 
sean john said:
Your are right.. i heard from someone close to api and he told me something api said to him. des and api had their differences. Des liked the team training together in the weights room etc apparently api liked coming in early and doing what he had to do and that was that.. and continued to do so apparently. He is also loving being back at Penrith
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Wonder how that goes for Taupau? I have no knowledge but id say Taupau would do his own weights and wouldn't necessarily do all the teams weights sessions. He just strikes me as that guy
 
Technical Coach said:
I don't see where i asked if you value my opinion over others, just that you should form your own opinions and not look for links or others to give you self comfort in having them.
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I have stated my opinion about Fainu several times in this thread, esp. that he is a very intuitive football player who always seems to take the right option with ball in hand. For some reason, you seem obsessed with your perception of deficiencies in his game and post repetitively about this. Your arguments are not persuasive to me and possibly not to other forum members either. I suggest most forum members would concur that Fainu is a very talented player whose absence in 2020 was one of the main reasons the team fared so poorly. You say that "he still has a long long way to go." Of course, he will improve, but what he's shown as a 20-21 year old dummy half is pretty special and Brad Fittler, a higher authority than either of us, has said "he just seems to have something different, without a doubt". For Manase's sake, I wish him freedom from the charges. I enjoy watching him play and hope we have the chance to see him star for the Sea Eagles for many years to come!

Disclaimer: I am not a footy expert, just a mere mortal who has been supporting the Sea Eagles since 1965 @:)
 
Fainu is a good young player, for better or worse, attack or defense, he is still young and at this stage in his career with what he has shown he could literally be anything... Unfortunately 'anything' could be either good or bad. Him missing the entire 2020 campaign would have no doubt hurt us but he is definitely not that influential that if he did play we make the top 4 and challenge for the title. The reality is we 3 out of our 4 spine players for basically the whole season and that's where things begin to fall apart. I love Fainu as a player and hope he developes to fulfill his potential but my concern is the people he chooses to hang around and his 'thug life' persona. I don't know him but I believe he seems like a good kid and it would be a shame if that's ruined by the people he surrounds himself with.
I had a chat with Scott Penn earlier in the year and he gave the kid a really good wrap. Fingers crossed he makes the right choices off the field so he can begin thrive on the field.
 
I wonder if Api was reluctant to do weight training with the rest of the team because a winger like Miski could outlift them all...or so it is claimed :giggle: Personally i think, what I've seen of Fainu, suggests he'll end up being one of our best hookers in the past 60 years. Reminds me a little of Mal Cochrane, who I always felt should have been given a lot more representative selection. Of course I'm comparing him with Cochrane when the latter was an established player. He'll probably be better than that if he doesn't spend the next few years in the nick.
 
Seems to be a fetish for 'Yesterday's Hero', someone who has hardly set the world alight and been shown the door by two clubs and let go by the third, having played little more than half a season, and generally less, for the past five years, and is somehow seen as the messiah returned to save us at 5/8. I must be seeing a different player.

And to risk a naturally gifted 5/8 in Schuster, aged 19, who in 60 minutes showed more skill than anything we have had since Foran left, and is ready and a potential star player himself, bewilders me. As said Foran was 19 when he took the 5/8 spot from a champion in Lyon, who was pushed to the centre. Sensible move as was shown. Back at 5/8 with Schuster in the wings, not a sensible move in my opinion.

Part time as hooker? Yep that could work for Foran. 5/8? May see some good games, and he might surprise but risking the ante on two of a kind when there's a probable royal flush across the table is very risky. The work load has already shown in the past he'll struggle, and suddenly we are in trouble again. Why risk the potential 'Today's Hero' on a falling star
 
Snake said:
We really need him to get off because Foran will play 6 next year and Cust and Croker are going to be our 9s...heaven help us.
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Maybe... but you also swore black and blue that Schuster wasn't a six last year and that the club weren't going to play him anywhere besides the back row or in the centres. He's played one game which happened to be at six and now your going off about the club signing Foz when we have Schuster to play 5/8. What happened?

I'm not disputing the fact that you probably know somebody close to the club, but I am pretty sure the coaching staff aren't aimlessly throwing darts with a blindfold on either.
 
Kevinward777 said:
I'm not disputing the fact that you probably know somebody close to the club, but I am pretty sure the coaching staff aren't aimlessly throwing darts with a blindfold on.
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But Kevvie .... I thought you said coaching staffs are only needed by hack coaches and that Dessie did everything himself ...
 
I think we'll see Foran at #14 next season, primarily to give Schuster a spell at 5/8th while still learning his craft & also as back up hooker, with Cust as starting hooker with Croker in the wings as back up 6, 7 or 9 depending on injuries.

I can't see Des jeopardising the club's ability to keep Schuster by starting Foran at #6, unless it's for a few games at the start of the season with Schuster at #14 just to ease him into becoming a starting 5/8th.
 
The other issue is that Levi has been shown the door, so we now have no established hooker. Cust and Croker together have been shown inadequate to the task. So where are the hookers?

Des wouldn't want to pay big bucks for a replacement hooker if Fainu's case is dismissed. Maybe a rookie cheapie and that may happen anyway but that wont solve the hooking dilemma which haunted Manly last year...and that was with Levi. He wants a good stop gap in my opinion.

At this point there is no established hooker in the squad. Might be wrong but I cant see Des buying a top quality hooker, with the prospect of being overstaffed later this year. My hunch is Foran was brought in (for a year only) to cover for Fainu and support Cust. He's already alluded to this, though Des plays smoke and mirrors all the time so its only speculation. But that seems the most logical purpose for having Foran back. And who knows. If Schuster fails ( most unlikely I would think)or gets injured (more likely) we have a temporary replacement for 5/8
 
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