Game Day: Manly v Sharks [Round 11, 2016]

[Jerry1]

Barrett has said in the presser tonight that he will look to keep Lyon at 5/8th and Walker at centre. The experiment is over.

Yep... Run Forrest run..
Bit slow on the uptake...

 

[HK_Eagle]

Poor disciplined first half. We put ourselves behind from our starts and make our job so much harder.

That said, much better stuff in the first 20-30 minutes of the second up until Stewart's dumb play compounded by Darcy's discipline. That turned the game and that's where we lost our momentum.

We look so much better in attack with Walker in the centres. While Lyon was far from great at 5/8 it was the freeing of Walker that made the significant difference IMO. Lyon has enough composure and smarts to be serviceable at 5/8, and from there things started happening for our backline.

DCE played well in patches again, though he still looks lost too often for somebody who should be steering the team around. A few good kicks in the second but negated by too many poor and ineffectual ones. Nevertheless, some promising signs moving forward, it's just well-short where I would expect a team's superstar to be at.

Stewart was disappointing yet again. Showed a flash of his brilliance with that pass to put the winger over, but the negatives were costly to the team. I never thought I would see the day where Snake gets trampled over in defence, yet that's the second time it's happened in his short season. Not to mention anytime he ran the ball he was literally stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he came into contact with a defender. BUT, "organised the defence well from the back" [turn off tape recorder]

TT looked good in the centres and his future looks very bright indeed, whether that's fullback (most likely) or centre. It just felt like we had more attacking options and threatened much more with both him and Walker in the centres. TT made some yards with his runs and often popped his head through the line to put us on the front foot.

Buhrer was a significant improvement on the team. I was very impressed with his first game back and delighted to see him get through it. I truly hope he can stay healthy and build on his career from here. And Lewis was also very good tonight with some good hard running and getting us on the front foot (not bad for a little second rower... were you watching Myles).

Lussick... grrrrrrr. I defended him earlier in the season but that was a game to forget from him tonight. He ran hard occasionally, but also tended to take his foot off the petal when running at the line for some strange reason. His ill-discipline was very costly.

Vave was amazing after a disappointing game last week, and he brings impact and forward momentum when he comes off the bench. He's still showing the most promise for the 5/8 role. It's like he's decided if nobody else is going to step in and do it, then i will.

Anyway, saw enough in the first 20 minutes of the second to give some hope. I just wish we would address the discipline and show some improvement in that area. I mean c'mon, how far into the season and how much pain do we want to create for ourselves before we decide to fix it up..

 

[skull61]

Still would like to see more running from Parcell 5 runs for 35 meters not enough for me

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Buhrer makes a difference, he has been missed.

 

[Eagleheart]

Just got off the phone to my mum who lives a few hours away from me, as some of you may know she is an extremely passionate Manly fan like me. We have a bit of a game ritual, we talk before the game, then at half time and then after the game if we can.

Tonight after the game she was in tears and that breaks my heart. She can't stand the gummies (or any other team besides Manly) and thought they were very, very dirty, I agree. She also wanted to smash Gallen and Fifita.

I love the passion she has for our team, much like so many of you here. Thanks for sharing this journey fellow Silvertails, good to have somewhere to share the good times as well as the not so good times.

I know we had improved from last week at least, but far out I would have loved to have jagged a win tonight. Very, very disappointing not to....! 🙁

 

[The Wheel]

Still would like to see more running from Parcell 5 runs for 35 meters not enough for me

Have to agree - I think when Api is back he might need a rest in NSW cup. I think he has been very average in recent times

 

[Eagleheart]

Was great to have Buhrer back in firsts tonight, an awesome Manly man with a big heart.....!

 

[HK_Eagle]

Still would like to see more running from Parcell 5 runs for 35 meters not enough for me

Yeah, I agree. His timing of when to take runs was off tonight (and has been recently after such a promising start). And once again tonight he repeated the mistake of running and getting caught on the 5th, leaving somebody else to provide ball on the crucial last tackle.

 

[Sheikheagle]

Still would like to see more running from Parcell 5 runs for 35 meters not enough for me

Yep agree with that he has been solid without being spectacular. If we wanted solid we could have kept Matty Ballin

 

[wombatgc]

This year seriously reminds me of 2005, and people were crying for Des Hasler's head then as well.

Ahh it's the hair, both coaches have more hair that's fair on any mans melon. Bring in the shears I say, lop it off, and our luck will turn!

 

[Fluffy]

Yeah, I agree. His timing of when to take runs was off tonight (and has been recently after such a promising start). And once again tonight he repeated the mistake of running and getting caught on the 5th, leaving somebody else to provide ball on the crucial last tackle.

2 of his last 3 runs would have earned penalties if he was wearing his old jersey colour. when the markers are shoulder to shoulder and the hooker spots it then he should run and Parcell did. Just the old blind farkers with the whistle screwing us again.

 

[HoldenV8]

After being woefully out of form in the centres, Killer playing 5/8 tonight had his best game of the year. And conversely Walker in the centres saw him have his best game for Manly.

The only negative on Killer tonight was his goal kicking which is a shame as he had been near perfect until this game. The sad part is had he continued his good kicking form we could well have led 18-12 going into the last 10 minutes. The result might have been different had he kicked even 2 of his 3 attempts.

I don't blame DCE for that kick in the dying minutes close to our line not coming off. We were 15 metres out with 2 minutes left and needed to score twice to win. We needed an immediate score and if Walker had a clear passage to the ball he may well have beaten Barba to it. For mine it was worth a try.

Ferris and Brown were very good in the back row. Ferris didn't make a lot of metres, but his ball playing is what we've been missing. Brown surprisingly ran for over 100 metres and was quite good. Interestingly though, both missed 4 tackles each, though Ferris in only what, his 3rd game all year I can understand.

Overall there were positives out of the game despite the loss. Tom proved very good in the centres running for 177 metres and coming up with some brilliant defensive reads and tackles. Jake is just a machine and is the new Glenn Lazarus. Snake ran the ball well tonight and his pass for Wiliame's try was the Snake of old. But what has gone wrong with his defence?

The Sharks are on top of the ladder after this win and we almost had them. Of course, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, but it showed that we aren't all that far off the pace. We just need to get rid of the slow starts which see us playing catch up footy and we need to cut out the ill-discipline (see Darcy Lussick).

 

[Ryan]

After being woefully out of form in the centres, Killer playing 5/8 tonight had his best game of the year. And conversely Walker in the centres saw him have his best game for Manly.

The only negative on Killer tonight was his goal kicking which is a shame as he had been near perfect until this game. The sad part is had he continued his good kicking form we could well have led 18-12 going into the last 10 minutes. The result might have been different had he kicked even 2 of his 3 attempts.

I don't blame DCE for that kick in the dying minutes close to our line not coming off. We were 15 metres out with 2 minutes left and needed to score twice to win. We needed an immediate score and if Walker had a clear passage to the ball he may well have beaten Barba to it. For mine it was worth a try.

Ferris and Brown were very good in the back row. Ferris didn't make a lot of metres, but his ball playing is what we've been missing. Brown surprisingly ran for over 100 metres and was quite good. Interestingly though, both missed 4 tackles each, though Ferris in only what, his 3rd game all year I can understand.

Overall there were positives out of the game despite the loss. Tom proved very good in the centres running for 177 metres and coming up with some brilliant defensive reads and tackles. Jake is just a machine and is the new Glenn Lazarus. Snake ran the ball well tonight and his pass for Wiliame's try was the Snake of old. But what has gone wrong with his defence?

The Sharks are on top of the ladder after this win and we almost had them. Of course, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, but it showed that we aren't all that far off the pace. We just need to get rid of the slow starts which see us playing catch up footy and we need to cut out the ill-discipline (see Darcy Lussick).

Good write up mate. I hope we have the two weeks off, and not including Taupau, we may actually be full strength !

 

[Simonmyers11]

Poor disciplined first half. We put ourselves behind from our starts and make our job so much harder.

That said, much better stuff in the first 20-30 minutes of the second up until Stewart's dumb play compounded by Darcy's discipline. That turned the game and that's where we lost our momentum.

We look so much better in attack with Walker in the centres. While Lyon was far from great at 5/8 it was the freeing of Walker that made the significant difference IMO. Lyon has enough composure and smarts to be serviceable at 5/8, and from there things started happening for our backline.

DCE played well in patches again, though he still looks lost too often for somebody who should be steering the team around. A few good kicks in the second but negated by too many poor and ineffectual ones. Nevertheless, some promising signs moving forward, it's just well-short where I would expect a team's superstar to be at.

Stewart was disappointing yet again. Showed a flash of his brilliance with that pass to put the winger over, but the negatives were costly to the team. I never thought I would see the day where Snake gets trampled over in defence, yet that's the second time it's happened in his short season. Not to mention anytime he ran the ball he was literally stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he came into contact with a defender. BUT, "organised the defence well from the back" [turn off tape recorder]

TT looked good in the centres and his future looks very bright indeed, whether that's fullback (most likely) or centre. It just felt like we had more attacking options and threatened much more with both him and Walker in the centres. TT made some yards with his runs and often popped his head through the line to put us on the front foot.

Buhrer was a significant improvement on the team. I was very impressed with his first game back and delighted to see him get through it. I truly hope he can stay healthy and build on his career from here. And Lewis was also very good tonight with some good hard running and getting us on the front foot (not bad for a little second rower... were you watching Myles).

Lussick... grrrrrrr. I defended him earlier in the season but that was a game to forget from him tonight. He ran hard occasionally, but also tended to take his foot off the petal when running at the line for some strange reason. His ill-discipline was very costly.

Vave was amazing after a disappointing game last week, and he brings impact and forward momentum when he comes off the bench. He's still showing the most promise for the 5/8 role. It's like he's decided if nobody else is going to step in and do it, then i will.

Anyway, saw enough in the first 20 minutes of the second to give some hope. I just wish we would address the discipline and show some improvement in that area. I mean c'mon, how far into the season and how much pain do we want to create for ourselves before we decide to fix it up..

I would keep pretty much the same side going forward.

Kapow back in. Buhrer to bench. Afb in for darcy. Leary to drop off.

 

[HoldenV8]

Once we get a backline that is Snake, Jorge, Walker, Skivy, Tom, Killer and DCE we should be right.

We're almost right in the forwards though I would like to imagine that both Lussick and Leary are on notice.

 

[Fluffy]

I would keep pretty much the same side going forward.

Kapow back in. Buhrer to bench. Afb in for darcy. Leary to drop off.

Surely you mean Brown to the bench rather that Buhrer?

 

[wombatgc]

After being woefully out of form in the centres, Killer playing 5/8 tonight had his best game of the year. And conversely Walker in the centres saw him have his best game for Manly.

The only negative on Killer tonight was his goal kicking which is a shame as he had been near perfect until this game. The sad part is had he continued his good kicking form we could well have led 18-12 going into the last 10 minutes. The result might have been different had he kicked even 2 of his 3 attempts.

I don't blame DCE for that kick in the dying minutes close to our line not coming off. We were 15 metres out with 2 minutes left and needed to score twice to win. We needed an immediate score and if Walker had a clear passage to the ball he may well have beaten Barba to it. For mine it was worth a try.

Ferris and Brown were very good in the back row. Ferris didn't make a lot of metres, but his ball playing is what we've been missing. Brown surprisingly ran for over 100 metres and was quite good. Interestingly though, both missed 4 tackles each, though Ferris in only what, his 3rd game all year I can understand.

Overall there were positives out of the game despite the loss. Tom proved very good in the centres running for 177 metres and coming up with some brilliant defensive reads and tackles. Jake is just a machine and is the new Glenn Lazarus. Snake ran the ball well tonight and his pass for Wiliame's try was the Snake of old. But what has gone wrong with his defence?

The Sharks are on top of the ladder after this win and we almost had them. Of course, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, but it showed that we aren't all that far off the pace. We just need to get rid of the slow starts which see us playing catch up footy and we need to cut out the ill-discipline (see Darcy Lussick).

TT's reads in defence were brilliant. He's just bloody brilliant were ever you put him. I have no doubt if TB slotted him in at 5/8 he'd carve that up too. He's too good to be left out on the wing. Stewie's going to have to pull his finger out, otherwise that ESL contract may be fast forwarded.

 

[HoldenV8]

Imagine how good Tom could be going if he wasn't hobbling on that ankle?

 

[HK_Eagle]

Once we get a backline that is Snake, Jorge, Walker, Skivy, Tom, Killer and DCE we should be right.

We're almost right in the forwards though I would like to imagine that both Lussick and Leary are on notice.

Yeah, i tend to agree. However, we really need Snake to lift, IMO. He is a key piece and been right off the pace so far this season. If he can get back to some semblance of his good form from last year, that backline could be anything. (And that's assuming we leave Walker in the centres)

 

[mickqld]

That was such a better performance. We showed heart and grit something I haven't seen so far this year. The changes Barrett made worked and with Skivvy, Taufua and Taupau to come back we aren't dead yet. There is a shift coming in the comp because of Origin and the NRL will want to manipulate the comp to stop the dominance of just a couple of teams. I can see origin killing the Sharks and Cows chances. By August those teams will be fatigued and hopefully the horror injury toll that we've had will transfer to the current top 4 especially the cheats from donkey town.