tookey
First Grader
A good read
BY JOHN DAVIDSON
IT'S ONLY two rounds into the 2021 NRL season, but with back-to-back defeats it's already looking like being a long, brutal year for Manly.
Smashed by the Roosters in round one, competitive but still beaten by Souths in round two, questions are being asked of the Sea Eagles. With a weak roster, some key players missing and others under-performing, and with stars departing you have to wonder where the relief will come in the future.
Des Hasler’s contract has been extended for two more years, and his status as a playing and coaching great at Brookvale is assured regardless of what happen next. But with the gap between the top and the bottom in the NRL seemingly growing year on year, Manly are in need of improvement in many areas.
Recruitment has been an issue on the northern beaches for some time. Too much of the Sea Eagles’ salary is invested in just a handful of players. No one would doubt the Trbojevic brothers are worth big money, both as world-class players and local juniors, but Tom’s injury problems have worryingly lingered.
Because of them, Manly have gone into another season without a proper replacement at fullback. Dylan Walker has been trialed there so far and failed badly. Considering his numerous off-field issues, both at his former club Souths and at the Sea Eagles, Dylan Walker has been a poor buy.
In contrast, the likes of Marty Taupau, Reuben Garrick and Moses Suli have been great recruits. Brad Parker is a solid performer and Taniela Paseka shows promise. There are some big wraps on youngsters John Schuster and the next Trobjevic off the rank Ben. But losing Addin Fonua-Blake was a major blow, and the experience of Joel Thompson hasn’t been replaced either.
The club let Blake Green go to the Warriors and released Kelepi Tangioa to Super League side Wakefield, where he has been tearing up trees. Liam Knight is another who has done well since exiting.
Then there’s the departure of Api Korisau to Penrith. Manly invested in Manase Fainu, in a move that has backfired terribly with the hooker’s church brain explosion. Korisau has since played a huge role in the Panthers becoming one of the best teams in the comp, and the Sea Eagles have gone into a second campaign without a seasoned, top-class available hooker or a fullback.
In other words, rugby league suicide.
The loss of Clint Gutherson, and partly Shaun Lane too, to Parramatta has left many scratching their heads. Since moving to the Eels ‘Gutho’, born and bred in Mona Vale, has become a bonafide NRL star. Yes, when he was coming through at the maroon and white he was competing with Brett Stewart and a young ‘Tommy Turbo’, and three into one fullback spot doesn’t compute. He also ruptured his ACL in 2015.
In a salary-capped sport you can’t keep all your good players. But considering how rare quality local juniors are on the northern beaches, and how Gutherson’s development has gone since, it is a departure that still burns.
Then there’s the signing of Kieran Foran this year. A brilliant player for the club in the past no one can argue, but is his injury-prone body still up to the task? His track record in recent times does not inspire confidence.
On the hooking front, Manly let Joey Lussick got to Super League in 2018. There he developed, helping his team Salford to get a grand final in 2019 and a Challenge Cup final last year. Lussick, originally from Freshwater, played so well that he has earned a deal at the Eels. The brother and father of ex-Sea Eagles Darcy and Jason could have filled a role at Brookvale.
As could have Matt Parcell, another hooker Manly let go to the UK, back in 2017. He went on to help Leeds win the Super League title. With their hooking stocks bare now, Hasler has been forced to play halves in the number 9 position in Lachlan Croker and Cade Cust.
You add it all together and there has been too many losses and not enough wins on the signing front.
While Canberra, Souths and Canterbury have dipped into the overseas market and picked up some bargains from the UK, the Sea Eagles have been caught asleep despite their rich tradition of bringing in English talent.
Over the decades Manly’s success has been built on a mixture of canny recruitment, especially from Queensland, England, New Zealand and country NSW, combined with some word-class players, great coaching, some tough workhorses and a handful of local juniors.
The Sea Eagles’ first premiership winning teams of 1972 and 1973? Built around Immortal Bob Fulton (who came from Wollongong), winger Ken Irvine (poached from North Sydney), John O’Neill and Ray Branighan (both signed from Souths), Graham Eadie, English pair Mal Reilly and Graham Williams, and local Manly product Terry Randall.
The grand-final winners of 1976? Built around the core of Fulton, Branighan, Eadie and Randall, along with English trio Steve Norton, Phil Lowe and Gary Stephens, and local products Max Krilich, Russell Gartner, Johnny Gibbs and Alan Thompson.
The 1978 winners? Made up of Branighan, Eadie, Randall, Gibbs, Gartner, Krilich, Thompson and Pommy John Gray.
The 1987 champions? Led by Queenslanders Paul Vautin, Dal Shearer and Chris Close, Ron Gibbs and Noel Cleal (both signed from the Roosters), Michael O’Connor (snapped up from the Dragons), Cliff Lyons (snared from Norths), Hasler (who came from Penrith), Pommy Kevin Ward and local Phil Daley.
The 1996 grand final winners? They had Lyons, Hasler, Kiwis Matt Ridge and Craig Innes, Mark Carroll (signed from Souths), David Gillespie and Jim Sedaris (both picked up from Wests), Queenslander Danny Moore and locals Geoff Toovey, Steve Menzies, Daniel Gartner, John Hopoate and Jack Elsegood.
The 2008 champions? Built around Menzies, and local juniors Anthony Watmough, David Williams and Jason King, as well as Kiwi Steve Matai, brothers Brett and Glenn Stewart from Wollongong, Queenslander Matt Ballin, Jamie Lyon (signed from St Helens), Matt Orford (who came from Melbourne), Michael Robertson (who came from Canberra) and Brett Kite (brought in from the Dragons).
The 2011 title winners? Again the core of Watmough, the Stewarts, Robertson, Lyon, Matai, Kite were essential, and paired with Queenslander Daly Cherry-Evans, Foran and local junior Will Hopoate.
There has been consistency and often a clear pattern, a formula to their successful roster management of the past. Allied to that has been their careful selection of coaches – all former Manly players who understand intimately the culture and DNA of the club.
It was Ron Willey in 1972 and 1973, Frank Stanton in 1976 and 1978, Bob Fulton in 1987 and 1996, and Hasler in 2008 and 2011. Willey went on to lead NSW, while both Stanton and Fulton had successful periods in charge of the Kangaroos.
In the Sea Eagles’ 74-year history they have only had 22 head coaches, and since Russell Pepperell in 1965 they have only appointed three coaches that hadn’t worn the maroon and white as players before – Graham Lowe, Peter Sharp and Trent Barrett. All had relatively brief spells at Brookvale and all didn’t win premierships.
Make of that what you will.
The old saying goes that only an ex-Manly player can survive in the Brookie hot-seat, navigating the factions and politics, and of course Hasler is an ensconced at the moment. But once he eventually moves on in the future, perhaps it is time to break that mold?
Or will ex-Sea Eagles like Chad Randall or Michael Monaghan, be shoe-ins for the job?
Some suggest the old boys mentality at the club has to change.
It isn’t just recruitment, roster management and coaching at the ‘Sivertails’ that has raised some eyebrows. The state of Brookvale Oval, now known as Lottoland, has been a concern of some time. Brookie is the club’s spiritual home and has long been in need of a major facelift. It is being worked on now, but it needs to be turned into a 21st century facility.
Manly lag in terms of average attendance, and sat in 14th spot in the 16-team competition with 11,267 in 2019. In terms of membership they are ranked this year a respectable ninth with 10,769, but that has decreased year by year since the high of 13,163 in 2017.
Off the field and Stephen Humphreys was hired as CEO of Manly at the end of 2019. Remarkably, and insanely, he is the 10th chief executive the club has had since 2002. That is just not good enough. The revolving door and blood-letting in the front office has to end.
Humphreys played for Balmain, has rugby league in his blood through his famous father and ran Wests Tigers for a time.
But he has a tough job on his hands. Dealing with Manly owners the Penn family, not to mention the ‘Mad Scientist’ Hasler won’t be easy.
Having owners who are based in New York is problematic. How can the club be run properly and effectively if Scott Penn is in the Big Apple most of the time?
And have the Penns put enough time and money into making Manly successful again? Many would argue they haven’t. The facilities and youth structures are crying out for investment.
The Sea Eagles don’t have a powerful leagues club backing them anymore and aren't boosted by pokie machine-produced dollars. This isn’t the 70s or 80s. They don’t have a Nick Politis or a James Packer bankrolling them.
Over the past five or more years a clear gap has developed at the top of the NRL food chain. Melbourne, Souths, the Roosters, Penrith and Parramatta are the elite in virtually all areas. Off the field Brisbane have it all, but their past few seasons on the pitch have been diabolical. In the nation’s capital Canberra are enjoying a golden run on the field after two lean decades.
In contrast since reaching the grand final in 2013, the Sea Eagles have made the finals three times in the past seven years.
After coming second in 2014, they have finished ninth, 13th, sixth, 15th, sixth and 13th.
It’s a return that is not exactly terrible, but not satisfactory either for a club of their history and pedigree.
Famously, Manly have never won a wooden spoon. It’s a fact Sea Eagles fans hold on to proudly.
But will they be able to hold on to that record much longer?
https://www.patreon.com/rugbyleaguelongreads/posts?filters[tag]=Manly Sea Eagles
BY JOHN DAVIDSON
IT'S ONLY two rounds into the 2021 NRL season, but with back-to-back defeats it's already looking like being a long, brutal year for Manly.
Smashed by the Roosters in round one, competitive but still beaten by Souths in round two, questions are being asked of the Sea Eagles. With a weak roster, some key players missing and others under-performing, and with stars departing you have to wonder where the relief will come in the future.
Des Hasler’s contract has been extended for two more years, and his status as a playing and coaching great at Brookvale is assured regardless of what happen next. But with the gap between the top and the bottom in the NRL seemingly growing year on year, Manly are in need of improvement in many areas.
Recruitment has been an issue on the northern beaches for some time. Too much of the Sea Eagles’ salary is invested in just a handful of players. No one would doubt the Trbojevic brothers are worth big money, both as world-class players and local juniors, but Tom’s injury problems have worryingly lingered.
Because of them, Manly have gone into another season without a proper replacement at fullback. Dylan Walker has been trialed there so far and failed badly. Considering his numerous off-field issues, both at his former club Souths and at the Sea Eagles, Dylan Walker has been a poor buy.
In contrast, the likes of Marty Taupau, Reuben Garrick and Moses Suli have been great recruits. Brad Parker is a solid performer and Taniela Paseka shows promise. There are some big wraps on youngsters John Schuster and the next Trobjevic off the rank Ben. But losing Addin Fonua-Blake was a major blow, and the experience of Joel Thompson hasn’t been replaced either.
The club let Blake Green go to the Warriors and released Kelepi Tangioa to Super League side Wakefield, where he has been tearing up trees. Liam Knight is another who has done well since exiting.
Then there’s the departure of Api Korisau to Penrith. Manly invested in Manase Fainu, in a move that has backfired terribly with the hooker’s church brain explosion. Korisau has since played a huge role in the Panthers becoming one of the best teams in the comp, and the Sea Eagles have gone into a second campaign without a seasoned, top-class available hooker or a fullback.
In other words, rugby league suicide.
The loss of Clint Gutherson, and partly Shaun Lane too, to Parramatta has left many scratching their heads. Since moving to the Eels ‘Gutho’, born and bred in Mona Vale, has become a bonafide NRL star. Yes, when he was coming through at the maroon and white he was competing with Brett Stewart and a young ‘Tommy Turbo’, and three into one fullback spot doesn’t compute. He also ruptured his ACL in 2015.
In a salary-capped sport you can’t keep all your good players. But considering how rare quality local juniors are on the northern beaches, and how Gutherson’s development has gone since, it is a departure that still burns.
Then there’s the signing of Kieran Foran this year. A brilliant player for the club in the past no one can argue, but is his injury-prone body still up to the task? His track record in recent times does not inspire confidence.
On the hooking front, Manly let Joey Lussick got to Super League in 2018. There he developed, helping his team Salford to get a grand final in 2019 and a Challenge Cup final last year. Lussick, originally from Freshwater, played so well that he has earned a deal at the Eels. The brother and father of ex-Sea Eagles Darcy and Jason could have filled a role at Brookvale.
As could have Matt Parcell, another hooker Manly let go to the UK, back in 2017. He went on to help Leeds win the Super League title. With their hooking stocks bare now, Hasler has been forced to play halves in the number 9 position in Lachlan Croker and Cade Cust.
You add it all together and there has been too many losses and not enough wins on the signing front.
While Canberra, Souths and Canterbury have dipped into the overseas market and picked up some bargains from the UK, the Sea Eagles have been caught asleep despite their rich tradition of bringing in English talent.
Over the decades Manly’s success has been built on a mixture of canny recruitment, especially from Queensland, England, New Zealand and country NSW, combined with some word-class players, great coaching, some tough workhorses and a handful of local juniors.
The Sea Eagles’ first premiership winning teams of 1972 and 1973? Built around Immortal Bob Fulton (who came from Wollongong), winger Ken Irvine (poached from North Sydney), John O’Neill and Ray Branighan (both signed from Souths), Graham Eadie, English pair Mal Reilly and Graham Williams, and local Manly product Terry Randall.
The grand-final winners of 1976? Built around the core of Fulton, Branighan, Eadie and Randall, along with English trio Steve Norton, Phil Lowe and Gary Stephens, and local products Max Krilich, Russell Gartner, Johnny Gibbs and Alan Thompson.
The 1978 winners? Made up of Branighan, Eadie, Randall, Gibbs, Gartner, Krilich, Thompson and Pommy John Gray.
The 1987 champions? Led by Queenslanders Paul Vautin, Dal Shearer and Chris Close, Ron Gibbs and Noel Cleal (both signed from the Roosters), Michael O’Connor (snapped up from the Dragons), Cliff Lyons (snared from Norths), Hasler (who came from Penrith), Pommy Kevin Ward and local Phil Daley.
The 1996 grand final winners? They had Lyons, Hasler, Kiwis Matt Ridge and Craig Innes, Mark Carroll (signed from Souths), David Gillespie and Jim Sedaris (both picked up from Wests), Queenslander Danny Moore and locals Geoff Toovey, Steve Menzies, Daniel Gartner, John Hopoate and Jack Elsegood.
The 2008 champions? Built around Menzies, and local juniors Anthony Watmough, David Williams and Jason King, as well as Kiwi Steve Matai, brothers Brett and Glenn Stewart from Wollongong, Queenslander Matt Ballin, Jamie Lyon (signed from St Helens), Matt Orford (who came from Melbourne), Michael Robertson (who came from Canberra) and Brett Kite (brought in from the Dragons).
The 2011 title winners? Again the core of Watmough, the Stewarts, Robertson, Lyon, Matai, Kite were essential, and paired with Queenslander Daly Cherry-Evans, Foran and local junior Will Hopoate.
There has been consistency and often a clear pattern, a formula to their successful roster management of the past. Allied to that has been their careful selection of coaches – all former Manly players who understand intimately the culture and DNA of the club.
It was Ron Willey in 1972 and 1973, Frank Stanton in 1976 and 1978, Bob Fulton in 1987 and 1996, and Hasler in 2008 and 2011. Willey went on to lead NSW, while both Stanton and Fulton had successful periods in charge of the Kangaroos.
In the Sea Eagles’ 74-year history they have only had 22 head coaches, and since Russell Pepperell in 1965 they have only appointed three coaches that hadn’t worn the maroon and white as players before – Graham Lowe, Peter Sharp and Trent Barrett. All had relatively brief spells at Brookvale and all didn’t win premierships.
Make of that what you will.
The old saying goes that only an ex-Manly player can survive in the Brookie hot-seat, navigating the factions and politics, and of course Hasler is an ensconced at the moment. But once he eventually moves on in the future, perhaps it is time to break that mold?
Or will ex-Sea Eagles like Chad Randall or Michael Monaghan, be shoe-ins for the job?
Some suggest the old boys mentality at the club has to change.
It isn’t just recruitment, roster management and coaching at the ‘Sivertails’ that has raised some eyebrows. The state of Brookvale Oval, now known as Lottoland, has been a concern of some time. Brookie is the club’s spiritual home and has long been in need of a major facelift. It is being worked on now, but it needs to be turned into a 21st century facility.
Manly lag in terms of average attendance, and sat in 14th spot in the 16-team competition with 11,267 in 2019. In terms of membership they are ranked this year a respectable ninth with 10,769, but that has decreased year by year since the high of 13,163 in 2017.
Off the field and Stephen Humphreys was hired as CEO of Manly at the end of 2019. Remarkably, and insanely, he is the 10th chief executive the club has had since 2002. That is just not good enough. The revolving door and blood-letting in the front office has to end.
Humphreys played for Balmain, has rugby league in his blood through his famous father and ran Wests Tigers for a time.
But he has a tough job on his hands. Dealing with Manly owners the Penn family, not to mention the ‘Mad Scientist’ Hasler won’t be easy.
Having owners who are based in New York is problematic. How can the club be run properly and effectively if Scott Penn is in the Big Apple most of the time?
And have the Penns put enough time and money into making Manly successful again? Many would argue they haven’t. The facilities and youth structures are crying out for investment.
The Sea Eagles don’t have a powerful leagues club backing them anymore and aren't boosted by pokie machine-produced dollars. This isn’t the 70s or 80s. They don’t have a Nick Politis or a James Packer bankrolling them.
Over the past five or more years a clear gap has developed at the top of the NRL food chain. Melbourne, Souths, the Roosters, Penrith and Parramatta are the elite in virtually all areas. Off the field Brisbane have it all, but their past few seasons on the pitch have been diabolical. In the nation’s capital Canberra are enjoying a golden run on the field after two lean decades.
In contrast since reaching the grand final in 2013, the Sea Eagles have made the finals three times in the past seven years.
After coming second in 2014, they have finished ninth, 13th, sixth, 15th, sixth and 13th.
It’s a return that is not exactly terrible, but not satisfactory either for a club of their history and pedigree.
Famously, Manly have never won a wooden spoon. It’s a fact Sea Eagles fans hold on to proudly.
But will they be able to hold on to that record much longer?
https://www.patreon.com/rugbyleaguelongreads/posts?filters[tag]=Manly Sea Eagles
