Game Day: Manly v Rabbitohs [Round 5, 2016]

[Ryan]

Wow, what a game at the ground.
Manly woke up from their slumber and monstered the big Souths pack in the second half. Whooshka, the hits and march backs were the Manly D of old

Must have butchered 5 tries, but at least Manly were there - just need to run straight and trust that the support player finds you.😎

Loss on match points, but Baz would be happy with the way our defense has started to gel in the last 3 weeks.🙂

Vave was awesome and Josh not far behind.

IN that second half, when we were more stacked midfield, I thought we started making some really good plays. Guys like Koroisou, Walker, Mateo with 2nd phase play looked great.

We didn't do it that much at the end though.

 

[HK_Eagle]

To give you an idea of how poor a start we had, I got to the ground a minute before kick off but had to wait in line for 15-20 minutes. Souths scored all their points within that short period. As soon as I got into the ground, Souths didn't score again.

Snake is entitled to have an off night but you'd rather it didn't happen when we're missing a playmaker like DCE. He was average tonight and I wish he had tried to take that pass from Api with 2 hands in the 2nd half, after Api had broken through.

Dylan and Api did very well as a past minute halves pairing but we just needed a few good kicks to steal this one and we didn't have a reliable kicker tonight.

It matches the stinker he had last game.

 

[Ben]

We were the better side - our attack at the line is just horrible. I really miss our sweeping plays or our inside balls that would split the defense.

To be honest nearly all our tries this season have come from individual brilliance, not team work - which again was the case tonight.

I'm excited for the future but i'm really hoping our attack can kick into gear - our 5th tackle option was the worst... why not bomb to turbo???? i don't get that, we looked lost every time we got into their line, why not put up a lucky dip???

Snake played one of his worst games for a while - it happens. Api made me eat my own words.

Yes and no

 

[Simonmyers11]

No mate, I was never taking your money.

I also say it was lack of physical fitness and sharpness from our ruck defenders that let The Bunnies rape us up the middle in the first 20. We needed to be sharper and more energetic.

Lussick's marker defense was terrible, and before everyone whinges, I love Lussick as a player.

But after 20 mins we ran over the top of them and dominated field position for the rest of the game. Cant say that souths were fitter when they were gassed after 20min.the 5 day turn arounds have that impact, they say it takes you a while to get the legs and body moving after a short turnaround. Plus the burgess boys were on fire but then they ran out of puff.

 

[HappilyManly]

IN that second half, when we were more stacked midfield, I thought we started making some really good plays. Guys like Koroisou, Walker, Mateo with 2nd phase play looked great.

We didn't do it that much at the end though.

The way they pushed the behemoths back was truly amazing to see.

I really loved the game, even though we lost and the Refs penalized Manly to death. Their first try FFS was straight after a shepherd play that was not pulled up

Have a headache from yelling but it's worth it when I see so much effort being expended after such an arduous month of footy.

 

[Freagle]

If only we had bodies in motion in the last ten minutes - no runners! The halves had nobody movin at speed to pass to. Not our fault - no time to gel, but still a shame.

 

[HK_Eagle]

But they're having a dig, we can't begrudge them that. Nowhere near perfect but remember they've barely trained the past few weeks which means they can't work on plays to any great extent.

So, what were they doing in the off-season? Granted you need real match time to refine it, but there was barely any evidence of them trying to put on any plays in the attacking 20.

 

[BOZO]

No mate, I was never taking your money.

I also say it was lack of physical fitness and sharpness from our ruck defenders that let The Bunnies rape us up the middle in the first 20. We needed to be sharper and more energetic.

Lussick's marker defense was terrible, and before everyone whinges, I love Lussick as a player.

You won the bet and it is only fair I pay up
Send me your details feathered friend. 🙂

 

[Ryan]

But after 20 mins we ran over the top of them and dominated field position for the rest of the game. Cant say that souths were fitter when they were gassed after 20min.the 5 day turn arounds have that impact, they say it takes you a while to get the legs and body moving after a short turnaround. Plus the burgess boys were on fire but then they ran out of puff.

Oh, I agree we did too Simon. But in todays game, you have to match it with the opposition for 80 minutes, or they will tear you apart and almost score a point per minute when your warming up.

South's gassed as well, buy unfortunately, by that time, the game was lost. From that point on, they just had to rely on their defense to get them through, because we completely shut down any and all of their attack from 20 on.

 

[Simonmyers11]

I keep saying, it's a fitness thing. Teams come out, and blast us early, because it works. They tear us apart while we build into the game.

It's 2016 - you can't build into games. Teams will rip you apart - look at this, Sharks, Tigers starts against us - literally tearing us to shreds.

If we can't play for 80, something has to be wrong, and I think it's that our players can't play for 80 minutes, but can play well for 65 odd.

Give the fitness thing a break. If we were leaking tries at the end of games because we were tired then yes it could be a fitness thing but we are coming home over the top of sides because we do have fitness. We do lack size and struggle against teams bigger physical players at the start. I dont think its fitness we are slow starters and the forwards need to rip in more. Myles practically walks into the defensive line. While when vave comes on he really charges.

 

[Ryan]

If only we had bodies in motion in the last ten minutes - no runners! The halves had nobody movin at speed to pass to. Not our fault - no time to gel, but still a shame.

Yeah mate, we looked amazing with 2nd phase play right up the guts. Totally agree with your post mate. Well said.

 

[Eagleheart]

Structure comes off playing a ton of games together and training together for weeks. I think structure is over rated and boring. Set plays are dead. What we missed was players still learning their position and playing with their team mates and running plays instinctively knowing which team mates will run wide or cut back in etc etc. Getting a good kick in on the 5th play or in position to run or pass wide. Just comes with playing games and sticking to the same combinations as much as possible.

I get what your saying @Simonmyers11 and I agree in part. Maybe I did mot explain myself fully. I don't want to see too much structure in attack where it is easy to read by the opposition and becomes boring etc. I love individual brilliance and this is great, but not all the time. Some structured attack is good just to mix it up, to try and alleviate getting caught with the ball on the fifth tackle or just throwing it to a forward to hope they do something etc. And then mix in the instinctive plays as you mentioned, where we will hopefully see more of down the track as the team gels.....and perhaps then, we will win more games.

If we keep using Walker say to try and score, some teams will find a way just to shut him down. And if he gets injured who do we rely on then.

Structure can help just to get some focus, but definitely don't think it is all we should use. We need options and we just did not have any tonight. 🙁

 

[Ryan]

Give the fitness thing a break. If we were leaking tries at the end of games because we were tired then yes it could be a fitness thing but we are coming home over the top of sides because we do have fitness. We do lack size and struggle against teams bigger physical players at the start. I dont rhink its fitness we are slow starters and the forwards need to rip in more. Myles practically walka into rhe defensive line. While when vave comes on he really charges.

The only reason I say that, is because it's common theme now. As though the structures allow for us to be even keeled to begin games. We just get monstered and mauled when we do.

I also don't think it's a slow start. It's our lazy, sloppy defensive play. Tired arms and jersey grabs. I actually think our "O", when we can get our hands on that damned ball (LOL) is pretty good.

 

[Simonmyers11]

Agree Snake was shocking tonight. Absolutely no X factor at all. Should've organised from the back a lot better.

Did nothing. Looked slow and brittle.

Maybe hammy still worrying him. Hasn't really sprinted on it. He will come good hopefully

 

[Ryan]

Also, why couldn't we have a debate like this in the Feriss thread? We can disagree, but do it respectfully. Anyone has a go at me, I admit, I'll fire back.

 

[the mauler]

Also, why couldn't we have a debate like this in the Feriss thread? We can disagree, but do it respectfully. Anyone has a go at me, I admit, I'll fire back.

Disagree respectfully??
Bit rich coming from u champ.

 

[Ryan]

Disagree respectfully??
Bit rich coming from u champ.

When you reply to an opinion with:
"Your a goose Ryan. They had 75% of the ball."

Your not really asking for a pleasant reply. I hope you see that?

 

[Simonmyers11]

I get what your saying @Simonmyers11 and I agree in part. Maybe I did mot explain myself fully. I don't want to see too much structure in attack where it is easy to read by the opposition and becomes boring etc. I love individual brilliance and this is great, but not all the time. Some structured attack is good just to mix it up, to try and alleviate getting caught with the ball on the fifth tackle or just throwing it to a forward to hope they do something etc. And then mix in the instinctive plays as you mentioned, where we will hopefully see more of down the track as the team gels.....and perhaps then, we will win more games.

If we keep using Walker say to try and score, some teams will find a way just to shut him down. And if he gets injured who do we rely on then.

Structure can help just to get some focus, but definitely don't think it is all we should use. We need options and we just did not have any tonight. 🙁

Yeah i get what your saying. Thats whete the experience of a dce has to step up. When to run a steady play or when to chance a backline move. Or when to simply kick for field position or find the in goal. I also think the hooker is a big part in that these days and sure parcell will only improve his combination with dce with more games.
Dont think our backline sweeping plays have been any good since glen stewert left. I think we can be very dangerous on the back of short balls and second phase play though. We have some speedy players with good stepping that can find holes. I like when the fowards do simple little passes or shifts out wide and we get on a role on the back of that. They are a pretty skillfull team but your right you need to know when to run those types of plays and when just to be boring and do the simple stuff right

 

[Karin]

I just got back from the game and I was proud of the players they did try really hard. You could see they wanted the win and were motivated. The vibe out there was different from last year. Given who played and the lack opportunity to train together we shouldn't be too critical. They can only improve. I think the first 10 minutes cost us....

 

[Simonmyers11]

The only reason I say that, is because it's common theme now. As though the structures allow for us to be even keeled to begin games. We just get monstered and mauled when we do.

I also don't think it's a slow start. It's our lazy, sloppy defensive play. Tired arms and jersey grabs. I actually think our "O", when we can get our hands on that damned ball (LOL) is pretty good.

It has been a problem for a few years now. Bigger sides mauling us at yhe start. Our D can be better. We run side ways even slide backwards in defense sometimes?? I was hoping the defense coach from Melbourne woukd fix that?