Pre-Game Manly V Cowboys [Round 1, 2025]

[Dion Johnson]

Cowboys have more wins away from home at 4 pines (Brookie), than any other ground they have played at away from home.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

2. I loathe the 'not first grade standard' and 'wouldnt play first grade elsewhere' comments....very very ocassionally you may be right but 90% of the time people are talking about players who have played 50 or 100 plus NRL games or have played at 2 or 3 clubs.

You gotta laugh. I remember Luke Williamson used to cop that back in the day, circa 2007-2008. The guy mysteriously racked up over 200 NRL games without ever being first grade standard, lol

 

[double hoops]

Cowboys have more wins away from home at 4 pines (Brookie), than any other ground they have played at away from home.

Sounds like this is just the game the team we could have but didn't find a way to get the job done in years past.

Are we any better in 2025?

 

[Dion Johnson]

Simpkin wasn't great defensively in the trials

Watching the two trials live I thought he was very good defensively and put some sting into a few bigger players, Dias in the second trial was a good hit.

I just looked at the stats out of the two trials and first trial 35 tackles no misses, second trial 33 tackles and two misses.

I think he has improved his defence, I don’t think Tevega has started in the nine jumper for a few years, I think it’s a step sideways with the selection there.

 

[eaglebuzz]

You gotta laugh. I remember Luke Williamson used to cop that back in the day, circa 2007-2008. The guy mysteriously racked up over 200 NRL games without ever being first grade standard, lol

He wasn't in the first grade side very much when we finally won the premiership.

 

[Chunkytuna]

Watching the two trials live I thought he was very good defensively and put some sting into a few bigger players, Dias in the second trial was a good hit.

I just looked at the stats out of the two trials and first trial 35 tackles no misses, second trial 33 tackles and two misses.

I think he has improved his defence, I don’t think Tevega has started in the nine jumper for a few years, I think it’s a step sideways with the selection there.

Yeah I’m not sure about jazz at hooker either. I can’t ever recall thinking he’s really sharp or quick when watching him previously. Just seemed like an honest hardworking forward. Bit like Croker. No real spark there. Hope I’m wrong though.

 

[Stewbojevic]

Yeah I’m not sure about jazz at hooker either. I can’t ever recall thinking he’s really sharp or quick when watching him previously. Just seemed like an honest hardworking forward. Bit like Croker. No real spark there. Hope I’m wrong though.

Seibold obviously wants a very specific thing from his hooker and Jazz will offer closer to what Croker does. So it’s then a straight swap when Croker comes back.

Not what I would do.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

I think he has improved his defence, I don’t think Tevega has started in the nine jumper for a few years, I think it’s a step sideways with the selection there.

Jazz was starting hooker for Samoa in both tests v England at the end of last year. Played 55 min and 41 min so Simpkin will get a lot of game time against Cows.

 

[stoodamire]

I think Jazz plays the first 20 mins at hooker then spells Jake for 10-20 mins sometime during the game.

 

[Dion Johnson]

Jazz was starting hooker for Samoa in both tests v England at the end of last year. Played 55 min and 41 min so Simpkin will get a lot of game time against Cows.

I watched those two games, Jazz did a job in distributing the ball from dummy half but didn’t challenge the English with a handful of runs in both games.

I thought Gordon outplayed him in those two games and got more minutes in the second game.

The thought that Jazz is there to do the tough work doesn’t read well either looking at the statistics 71 tackles and 9 misses in both those games.

No knock against Tevega who openly discussed his best position is a middle and not a spine player.

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

Cowboys have more wins away from home at 4 pines (Brookie), than any other ground they have played at away from home.

They were actually pretty good away from home last season, too. They will be a challenge.

 

[manlyfan76]

Jazz starting hooker could be to counter the cowboys playing safety first four hit up style to start the game, hoping to win the middle early.

 

[Pete W]

I watched those two games, Jazz did a job in distributing the ball from dummy half but didn’t challenge the English with a handful of runs in both games.

I thought Gordon outplayed him in those two games and got more minutes in the second game.

The thought that Jazz is there to do the tough work doesn’t read well either looking at the statistics 71 tackles and 9 misses in both those games.

No knock against Tevega who openly discussed his best position is a middle and not a spine player.

Wholeheartedly agree. Tevaga's strengths have always been bringing energy as a mobile middle forward off the bench, with the added bonus of utility if, by necessity, he had to cover dummy half. Playing him at 9 early, not only diminishes our threat from dummy half - even more so than Croker, but also takes away from his impact later in the game when we would really need it. He may be experienced, but he's a step down from Croker at 9 in literally every aspect of the game.

The biggest let down of this week's line up is not the 17 players named, but the roles they have been selected in. I hope I am proven wrong. The bench is a big drop to the starting pack in terms of ability and impact. It would make more sense to start with Waddell and Simpkin in the front row, and have Tevaga and either Taukeiaho/Paseka come from the bench so intensity can not only be sustained, but possibly even increased for the second 20min - always a weak period for us

 

[Pete W]

I'd also like to take this opportunity to point out that as we can all agree that we do not have a top 4 forwards roster, we must be smarter in how we use the men we have. This, in my opinion, is done with the bench.

Stacking our starting middles with our best players may seem the obvious way to go, but sticking the rest who couldn't make the cut for the starting 13 on the bench will never yield a net positive for us. All this does is deplete our strength early, as we ride the hope that the fringe guys can maintain the rage. Front loading with our forward pack will only succeed half the time against the average opposition, and almost never against the best. Only the top handful forward rotations can realistically pull this off - of which, we unfortunately are not.

We must hold back a lot of our strength from the opening exchanges, and release it at a constant rate throughout the fight. If Seibold is the brilliant tactician that people have said, he must make better use of our bench.

Funnily enough, I literally just heard Matt Johns talk about the strength of a team's bench as being a critical indicator to success

 

[ManlyTragic]

Jazz is not pop on here but I hope he rocks against the cowboys!

 

[madmax]

12 of last years round 1 team are starting this week. I like the staring line up & think we’re in for a pleasant surprise. Having Aloiai, Brown & Talau to come back will only strengthen us. The 2024 team were good enough for a top 4 finish but some stupid losses & defensive nous cost us. Too many are underestimating our team. If defense improves & chaos training helps with commitment watch out!

 

[lsz]

This line-up is basically the same as last year's, which realistically and ultimately, was uncompetitive with the best sides. To make it worse , IMO, we have been bolstered by a few aging players cast off from their previous clubs. As an example, the selection of Tevaga as run on dummy-half points to a problematic depth situation. The backs are top class but generally most of the back-ups in NSW Cup are not near to NRL standard, so hoping against hope we don't have injuries to a number of key players. One bright light - the emergence of Hopoate who during the trials played with more poise and physical maturity as compared with last season. Wish we had a few more local juniors like him.

Really? When you look at last year's results, I’d argue it was our inability to beat the “weaker” teams that hurt us more than the top teams.

Let’s take a look:

Last year, we lost 10 matches and drew 1. Let’s see who we lost to:

• Parra – Did not make the 8
• St George – Did not make the 8
• Canberra – Did not make the 8
• Dolphins – Did not make the 8
• Brisbane – Did not make the 8
• Penrith – We split games with them
• Souths – Did not make the 8
• Roosters – Split games with them
• West Tigers – Come on
• Sharks – The only team in the top 8 that beat us without us taking anything from them
• Oh, and a draw against the Warriors where we dropped a point.

So, who did we beat in the 8?

• Melbourne
• Penrith
• Roosters
• Cowboys
• Bulldogs
• Knights

So, the only top team we didn’t beat was the Sharks? And our overall record? We dropped 3 games against top 8 teams, opposed to how many against teams outside the 8?

My argument would be that mental toughness, rather than the skill set of the team, meant we didn’t qualify for the top 4, which puts us at a disadvantage in the semis. Now, can we compete with those top teams? I think so, but not until we “win” the games we should.

 

[Disco]

Wholeheartedly agree. Tevaga's strengths have always been bringing energy as a mobile middle forward off the bench, with the added bonus of utility if, by necessity, he had to cover dummy half. Playing him at 9 early, not only diminishes our threat from dummy half - even more so than Croker, but also takes away from his impact later in the game when we would really need it. He may be experienced, but he's a step down from Croker at 9 in literally every aspect of the game.

The biggest let down of this week's line up is not the 17 players named, but the roles they have been selected in. I hope I am proven wrong. The bench is a big drop to the starting pack in terms of ability and impact. It would make more sense to start with Waddell and Simpkin in the front row, and have Tevaga and either Taukeiaho/Paseka come from the bench so intensity can not only be sustained, but possibly even increased for the second 20min - always a weak period for us

Possibly but on the flipside if Tevaga is distributing and defending the first twenty when there is less space around the ruck, that allows a fresh Simpkin to be more of a threat once the middle opens a little.

I mean I was keen for Simpkin to start but happy to see how this plays out before I pan it.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Interesting to see the number of sides who are going with only one traditional specialist prop on the bench.
Meanwhile, Manly was already favourites but have firmed in betting on sportsbet. Whenever taking a stroll along a pot-holed road, amble responsibly.

 

[Seagles68]

Jazz was starting hooker for Samoa in both tests v England at the end of last year. Played 55 min and 41 min so Simpkin will get a lot of game time against Cows.

How did he play? I thought he was brought in as some kind of bench impact player like Brown. I have to say, I don't really know much about how he plays. I saw a couple of Warrior games when he played and he seemed to play a bit like a Lawton role. I would prefer Lawton. Unless of course he blitzes it, then Lawton will be yesterday's man