The game was simply played at different tempo.... These handling errors, mistimed pressure passes, poor defensive reads, flat footed attacking structures & even those sloppy tries with air swings were ALL simply off the pace of the Dogs game. They controlled that ruck all night winning the quick play the balls in attack & dominant defence to a point where the defence was not only set, but rushing North in numbers to dominate & slow any attempt to roll forward or bend the line- leading to those forced passes & simple spills. Again it's 1st game & plenty of time to correct this area , but really believe the tempo set by the Dogs was the defining point...& that includes the time to gel, which is true to a point but with players of this caliber , there's bigger fish to fry.
I saw a bit of the Tigers match yesterday and they look pretty up-tempo too. Consensus is Manly will improve as the season wears on, question is how fast. I hope it's fast enough to get a win next week but it isn't the gimme I previously assumed it to be.
