Manly v Tigers Trial match report and Photos

Photos added

 

Nice report, Byso. I was also at the game, although only made it for the Premier League and NRL trials. Sat up in the stands (paid the extra ten bucks) because it absolutely bucketed down. The wind and rain whipping over the trees was very impressive. Then there was the lightning and all the friggin'' planes that flew overhead . . .
But I digress. Conditions for the Premier League game were horrible and the game wasn't much as a consequence. We fell behind early, levelled it up, gave away an intercept try just as were were starting to show some promise, and were never really in it after that. Team looked pretty solid as a whole but overall fairly uninspiring - lots of one-out hitups and not much else. The only players that really caught my eye were Jordan Macey at fullback and Mailangi Styles in the second row. Styles worked very hard in attack and defence and looks like he might have that little something extra. One to keep an eye on. The Tigers halfback, Jamie Nolan, is another.
The NRL trial had a lot more to offer. Our first half team did really well. Let the first try in and then scored 24 points in reply. Lennon looked a handy replacement for Brett Stewart, Stephenson was heavily involved (I've said elsewhere I reckon he was our best centre on the night), Burns and Ballin were great and Witt was superb. Burns is only a little bloke but he's a very willing defender and showed good skills with the ball. Did very well, especially considering he was up against Scott Prince and Prince was having a good game.
Best player in the first half (and probably the whole game) was Glenn Stewart. He was everywhere in attack and defence. I'd love to see him get more time this year. Kylie Leuluai was strong and Daniel Heckenberg was even better: fearless runner, lots of hitups, always making a dent in the opposing line. He was my pick of the front rowers.
In the second half we brought on the big guns and it took a little while for combinations to get going. Kennedy and Kite were strong, Menzies were good and Terry Hill was solid. Kennedy and Hill both have an aura about them on the field: everybody knows they're there, both sides of the field. The only downer was that we fell away towards the end of the game - probably a lack of fitness as much as a lack of heart - and let in a couple of soft tries.
All of our tries came as the result of building pressure; most of the Tigers' tries were runaways. You might take that to mean that our backline defence is still an issue (and it is, generally because of poor reads rather than missed tackles), but most of the problems were caused by some class attack from Prince and Hodgson, both excellent players. Still, it was good to see the attitude in the defence was right. With any luck they'll iron out the kinks with a bit more match practice.
Other positives include Witt's goal-kicking (his kicking game in general was great but his conversions from the sideline were awesome, especially given the conditions) and the new jerseys. I wasn't convinced when I first saw them but they look great on the field. Maybe they wouldn't have looked so good if we got flogged . . .
Sitting in the stands proved to be a good move too. We (girlfriend and I) ended up right behind the Manly players - Hicks, Beaver, Harris, Monaghan, Travis Burns and Karl Johnson - when the rain came tumbling down during the Premier League game. They all looked very relaxed and fit. Burns looks about fourteen years old but it was good to see him fitting in with the big boys. Johnson's shoulders are huge.
When the NRL trial started a lovely Tongan woman sat next to us, asked us if we were Manly supporters and turned out to be Brent Kite's mum. She'd travelled up from Canberra to watch the game. She told me that Brent is very happy at Manly, says it's a real good club and that he likes everyone there. He's also very happy to be living at Newport. She also said he's known Ricky Stuart since he was a kid, and that Ricky rates him highly. Let's hope he has a good year for Manly and gets to play Origin again.

 

thanks for the photos mate. new jersey looks awesome!

 

Damn Gibbs that a great report....you would've got such a good perspective up in the stands....Sadly photos don't come out the best from the stands.

Very informative and I can't dissagree with any of your statements. Does Tezza look the goods?
We know he didn't let any tries in!

Next time your around say g'day to the lads!

 

Shame you didn't come along you managed to side step us :lol: :lol:

 

Tezas side wasnt attacked much.. when they did attack that side we looked very shaky but thankfully they threw the ball into touch and dropped it.. :lol:

The play that they threw it out, Teza got caught out bad and didnt have the pace to get back into position. Other than that he didnt do much. Hoppa was causing Johnson problems in the first half. Running to the other side in defence looking for a big hit leaving Johnson alone when they spread it wide, forcing Willow to the centres and Johnson on the wing. Hicks and Donald isnt a great combination either. No real size there. But then again thats what happens when two wingers play together. :mrgreen:

 

Excellent work Byso

 

Good reports lads and once again Byso good pics.

My thoughts from the Jye Mullane stand are:

Mark Lennon - very good game especially in 1st half, will be a good back up to Brett.

Donald - Typical game from Duck, seems a bit stronger and scored a great try
Karl Johnson - Pretty good for a 1st game - seemed to 'grab" a bit in defence though.
Paul Stevo - Very Good game, only played 1st half but look dangerous everytime he touched the ball.
Tezza - Didn't make any mistakes, took the ball up strongley - OK!
Hicks - Great game , will be one of the centres in opening game.
Hoppa - Typical game, gone into a couple of blues
Witt - Great game, kicked goals from everywhere
Hecks - good strong match, a bit one dimenstinal though , did pass the ball once
Kylie - Very strong match
BKs - very good match from both big guns
Willo - Typical game, got stood up by Prince though
Burns - Very good in first half
Ballin - excellent game, outshined Chad
Dunley - Strong in defence, looked dangerous in attack

Overall good start to the year, although I am tipping Tigers for the spoon. Lokking forward t next week, hopefully Dragons will give us a decent workout.

 

Damn those jerseys look guud!! :twisted:

 

Good stuff guys thanks, it was a great afternoon even from the stand

 

Top committment lads!

 

How beefy are the Tigers cheerleaders?

They must have hit the weights over the off season too. They've bulked up a lot.

 

I thought he had changed the picture width or something

 

Matabele do you like your favourite players Mullet