Post-Game Discussion Manly v Penrith [Round 24, 2023]

[Eagle 1]

Mmmm, I don't want to sound argumentative mate (that's not my intention), but while I agree with Tommy, the other two - they are the same as what we had tonight (big, lumbering, power forwards) - who are okay - but I reckon you can only carry two to three tops.

Then you need forwards like Leota, Leniu, Martin, JFH, Yeo - blokes that go at 100 miles an hour, aggressive, energetic, mobile. I love Jake, but I honestly don't think he'd make the Panthers side given their profile of forwards.

Disagree, if we had these 3 and the way the Riff played tonight, we win hands down.

 

[Eagle thru 'n' thru]

Mmmm, I don't want to sound argumentative mate (that's not my intention), but while I agree with Tommy, the other two - they are the same as what we had tonight (big, lumbering, power forwards) - who are okay - but I reckon you can only carry two to three tops.

Then you need forwards like Leota, Leniu, Martin, JFH, Yeo - blokes that go at 100 miles an hour, aggressive, energetic, mobile. I love Jake, but I honestly don't think he'd make the Panthers side given their profile of forwards.

1. The only two power forawrds worth keeping are Paseka and Olakau'atu....if a 3rd is a must, I would keep Sipley. Keppie, Woods, & Aloiai should go. The type of mobile forwards we need are Burbo, Brodie Jones, Luke Garner.

2. I wonder how Boyle would've gone tonight.

3. Parker, do yourself a favour and retire for your own health.

 

[Seagles68]

Ben and Brad both out next week.

Seriously!! How hard is it to keep a Urbo on the park. Poor old Ben is not having much luck either.

 

[Ryan]

I find the ‘embracing realism’ comment to be ironic. Penrith were paying $1.10 and we were paying $7.10 for a reason. Great team vs also rans. It’s where we are at whether we like it or not.

We don’t have a complete roster at full fitness, let alone an injury crisis so losing by 12 is not that bad. We tried. I love the club regardless.

And who "doesn't" love the club? You're not the Lone Ranger here.

Doesn't detract from the fact we've been an abomination almost a decade now. The clubs currently delusional (which is the biggest worry) claiming premiership team / windows. We are employing mercenary after mercenary (coaches and players). We are on a run of 32% winning percentage since the jersey fiasco (being 28 games - which is longer than a complete season). We are seeing the same issues (fitness, mobility, culture, energy, intensity) week after week after week.

To think you're suggesting people shouldn't be angry, pissed off, frustrated, annoyed, because we are in a position we "were never going to win game X or game Y or game Z" is horrible. Do you see how much a terrible mindset that is as a fanbase? It's defeatest.

Come on man, respect the club, the emblem, the players and demand and expect more. Set the bar higher - our club deserves that. For that reason, I honestly question if you really DO love the club, because no-one would be happy with any loss in our current run of mediocrity.

 

[Seagles68]

1. The only two power forawrds worth keeping are Paseka and Olakau'atu....if a 3rd is a must, I would keep Sipley. Keppie, Woods, & Aloiai should go. The type of mobile forwards we need are Burbo, Brodie Jones, Luke Garner.

2. I wonder how Boyle would've gone tonight.

3. Parker, do yourself a favour and retire for your own health.

You're not a fan of Bulle?? He is certainly more mobile that the 4 you mentioned.

 

[Eagle 1]

Ben and Brad both out next week.

Ben is grade 2 and Parker not graded as yet, I believe going for test to find out. Hopefully Ben is ok to go, we need him.

 

[Ryan]

Disagree, if we had these 3 and the way the Riff played tonight, we win hands down.

Maaaate, come on. In that case, add their missing players back ! hahaha. We aren't within cooey of that team. Let's say things how they really are. Anh how much better are the forwards missing from those we had tonight anyways? Not that much difference in my opinion.

 

[NREagle]

Ben is grade 2 and Parker not graded as yet, I believe going for test to find out. Hopefully Ben is ok to go, we need him.

Seibold mentioned in the presser both would be out of next week's match and he'd need to pull some players out of reserves to replace them.

 

[Eagle 1]

You're not a fan of Bulle?? He is certainly more mobile that the 4 you mentioned.

Kelma should go, he offered absolutely nothing off the bench, thought Bully went hard for the periods he was on.

 

[Eagle 1]

Seibold mentioned in the presser both would be out of next week's match and he'd need to pull some players out of reserves to replace them.

Ok.. that's bad news...I missed the presser for obvious reasons. Thanks NRE...

 

[Seagles68]

I think Bulle has a lot of upside given his age and development. He also seems like a solid kid to have around the club.

 

[joeboy]

My favourite part was Woods’s attempted tackle while croker couldn’t even get obstructed correctly while Penrith scored off our first tackle kick straight to the fullback with one half arsed chaser

That passage was the distillation of manly and its players right there.

 

[Keffola]

If we had a Melbourne, Panthers, Broncos team around him, he'd be getting accolades, trust me. Schuster is a provider. When you're providing to.....well....let's just say not the greatest receivers, there's not much else anyone can do.

Just don't see it. Have been more than willing to give him time to show it but has disappointed.

Doesnt have speed, doesnt use his size to take the line on, has his bag of tricks but they don't come off against top defences often enough. Average to bad efforts in defence.

I just dont know what people see in him.

 

[LeonardCohen]

And who "doesn't" love the club? You're not the Lone Ranger here.

Doesn't detract from the fact we've been an abomination almost a decade now. The clubs currently delusional (which is the biggest worry) claiming premiership team / windows. We are employing mercenary after mercenary (coaches and players). We are on a run of 32% winning percentage since the jersey fiasco (being 28 games - which is longer than a complete season). We are seeing the same issues (fitness, mobility, culture, energy, intensity) week after week after week.

To think you're suggesting people shouldn't be angry, pissed off, frustrated, annoyed, because we are in a position we "were never going to win game X or game Y or game Z" is horrible. Do you see how much a terrible mindset that is as a fanbase? It's defeatest.

Come on man, respect the club, the emblem, the players and demand and expect more. Set the bar higher - our club deserves that. For that reason, I honestly question if you really DO love the club, because no-one would be happy with any loss in our current run of mediocrity.

I’m not happy just not surprised and don’t have any control over the state of the club. For that reason, I try and keep a level head about things and enjoy the footy and enjoy life. I respect your right to an opinion, I respect your right to be angry and demand more, etc. but I’m a different person to you and my love for Manly manifests in different ways. Neither are right or wrong.

 

[NREagle]

Much as I would have loved to jag a win tonight if the end result we're striving for is a premiership this isn't the way to get to that destination.

Look at the reasons the panthers are so good:-

* They are fit. Amazingly fit. Like they could play another game the next day with no worries.

* They have a settled, long term head coach (assistants come and go but Cleary is what really matters).

* The majority of their players have played together a long time which makes a lot of their plays seem effortless.

* Their roster is extremely good with plenty of depth to cover injuries etc.

* They have a fast, powerful forward pack.

* They have a stable spine with their 1, 6 and 7 basically at their peak of their careers.

* Their players have embraced the club and how much it means to wear their jersey.

Manly (players, coaching staff, management) have a LOT of work to do to get where we want them to be.

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

Well, he did and with a smile, wish he could be more like Demetriou, snarly and pissed off.

If he was a real Manly man he probably would.

It’s difficult to understand why Scott and Tone Mes signed an uninspiring fellow like Tony Tubby as coach. The unfortunate (Warner Bros. cartoon-like) voice alone would be enough to ‘grind my gears’ if I was a player.

Until you remember that he is probably just happy to get a gig and will not rock Scott’s little vanity project - running a once great rugby league club into the ground. His predecessor, well he would rock the boat incessantly. Scott couldn’t have that.

The smiles last night were probably indicative of his relief that Manly showed up and were not beaten by a cricket score.

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

Yeah I am not sure that Luke Brooks was the right signing. We could have got a Cogger or a Cust type player and spent some money on some good forwards.

Or just retained Cust’s services?

 

[Tslog]

Everyone ignoring the Panthers were in second gear last night & treated this Manly game as a partial bye ? Also Cleary’s attacking game was more dreadful than usual.
Now onto that clown DCE:

DCE last night:
intercept try, 5th tackle kicking game often too short or straight to Panthers players, bad kick-off straight to Crichton, unnecessary charge down on the 5th from which Penrith scored,
High Kicks for Saab always too short or too long, bad passing attack, many runs for himself when passing was a better option, bad Hospital pass to Huomole causing a knock on.
Never finding a good pass to Koula, Jake ARTHUR came in and immediately threw a better past than DCE did all night…. if this was the Battle of some of the best 2 halves in the NRL, then it was an embarrassment for the game.

Only a couple of Manly players played well, & Schuster should be dropped for Arthur. Shchuster needs to learn accountability

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

Pretty good summary in the SMH. Garrick’s return kick was nearly up there with Les Hanigan’s similar 1st tackle effort in the dying stages of the 1969 Final. Balmain scored, Manly lost. Balmain beat Souths in the GF.

Manly’s season was supposed to end with Trbojevic’s injury - it finally did with a kicking duel

By Adam Pengilly​

August 10, 2023 — 9.55pm

When Tom Trbojevic (Tom who?) tore his pectoral muscle in the second State of Origin match, most thought it would be the end of Manly’s season. Little did they know it would actually end with his replacement starting a good old-fashioned kicking duel.

Reuben Garrick has had an outstanding season as Trbojevic’s replacement in the No.1, but an outstanding season doesn’t mean you’re immune to a moment of utter madness. Case in point: with his team locked in a 12-all skirmish with the title favourites, their season flickering, Garrick opted to return a Penrith kick immediately with one of his own, presumably for speedster Jason Saab.

Manly Sea Eagles host the Penrith Panthers in Round 24 of the 2023 NRL Premiership.

It wasn’t as if we weren’t warned, because coach Anthony Seibold said they’d need to do something different to beat the Panthers. The only problem? Manly’s chase was so staggered and so poor that Sunia Turuva ended up with the ball and raced away to score. The Sea Eagles never got near Penrith after that.

For a team which promised much earlier in the season, Godbold’s first year at Manly will end without finals, barring a miracle. It hasn’t all been bad, and many will admit they stayed in the finals fight longer than first thought when Trbojevic went down in sky blue. But they will need to win their last three games to be a chance, and even then it probably won’t be enough after a scrappy Panthers clawed their way to a 24-12 win at 4 Pines Park on Thursday night, edging closer to another minor premiership.

The match will be remembered as a tale of two kicks, one Garrick’s audition to be Eddie Jones’ next rugby league recruit, and a second from a man who no one really knows what to do with.

There are few more polarising figures in the NRL than Josh Schuster, a player who yo-yos from the astounding to absurd. It did not take even four minutes for him to show both, poaching an intercept from Nathan Cleary (who does that?) and then running 50 metres, nearly every step of the way looking for a helper. Brad Parker was the only man, yet even he resembled the Ford Laser on his last drips of fuel begging for the petrol station. So having run down field and the defence fast getting to him, what does Schuster do? He kicks the ball. On the first play. No Sea Eagle got near it.

Stephen Crichton scored two tries for the Panthers.CREDIT: GETTY

Whether it was a good thing for him or not, his halves partner and captain Daly Cherry-Evans threw an intercept a few minutes later. Only this time it fell in the lap of a speedster, Stephen Crichton, who charged downfield to score. At least Schuster had a similarly red-faced mate.

Cherry-Evans would atone by the end of the half, Schuster would not. The captain held up a beautiful pass for Garrick to score, giving the hosts a lead after Tof Sipley had earlier wrestled his way past four defenders for maybe the softest try Ivan Cleary’s team has conceded in four years.

Crichton’s second try levelled the scores 12-all at the break, but only after howls of protest from Manly fans who were convinced Liam Martin had knocked the ball on into Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega contesting a bomb on the play prior. They may have had a point.

Garrick did not. His hare-brained call to return a kick with one of his own ended up with a shabby chase and Turuva streaking away to score. Yes, Manly’s case was not helped with Ben Trbojevic and Brad Parker leaving the field for concussions tests inside the first two minutes of the second period, which both would fail. Mainly, they didn’t help themselves. Kicking duels and all.

‘RIFF PANTHERS 24 (Stephen Crichton 2, Sunia Turuva, Brian To’o tries; Nathan Cleary 4 goals) defeated MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 12 (Tof Sipley, Reuben Garrick tries; Garrick 2 goals) at 4 Pines Park. Referee: Gerard Sutton. Crowd: 10,102.

 

[The Royal Soup]

Penrith were in 1st gear last night, they knew they only had to turn up to get a win and that’s exactly what they did!

Manly did night play well or gutsy, Penrith we’re in cruise control and it shows just how far behind Manly really are.

- The usual dud plays from the likes of Schuster

- Sloppy slow passing from hooker

- Woods amazing effort at tackling on the kicking duel return lol, what a dud he really is

- DCE tried his best that’s for sure

- Parker yet another head knock