Optimist/Pessimist pulse .. UPDATE

[mickqld]

I still can't get off the fence here. We've only lost 2 games after Rd 8 which is great and not sure many of us thought that at start of the season.
YET we're battling injuries to our 2 star spine players Tom and Schu as well as Koula, we got demolished in 1 half by the riff and let in 30+ points to Parra, Knights, struggled to beat winless Tigpies.
YET we demolished the storm and dogs and were robbed by ref/bunker clowns vs the vermin.
We are totally bipolar at the moment and I don't think we'll see consistency till we get ,IF Ever, a fully fit Turbo,Schu and Koula.

 

[mickqld]

Started off the year optimistic but that is starting to fade with some of the absolute plodders in our side. The Woods trade and the fact he is part of our lineup now, when that could've just been Fifita has only added to that and really left a sour taste.

And yet somehow we are sitting in 2nd place with another likely win this weekend. It could definitely be worse but the bye and the Knights draw has inflated our position and I think we might get a truer reflection of where we're at Magic Round in a couple of weeks - might end up similar to last year's

I wouldn't be counting this weekend as a win at all. The Titans always give us grief at home. One of those bogey games. If their attack clicks again we won't hold them and if with Tom,Schu,Koula not there we will struggle for points.

 

[Shoe1]

According to Fox Manly have lost 2 games or less in the first 7 fixtures 11 times, and made the grand final in 6 of those years.

 

[Woodsie]

Optimism pulse 29th, April ...

26/10/22 .. optimistic 92.6%
09/11/22 .. optimistic 91.7%
29/11/22 .. optimistic 84.9% .. 152 votes
12/12/22 .. optimistic 83.5% .. 158 votes
01/01/23 .. optimistic 82.9% .. 170 votes
16/01/23 .. optimistic 82.7% .. 173 voters
01/02/23 .. optimistic 82.1% .. 184 voters
19/02/23 .. optimistic 82.3% .. 192 voters
05/03/23 .. optimistic 85.3% .. 197 voters
19/03/23 .. optimistic 83.8% .. 197 voters
06/04/23 .. optimistic 83.3% .. 198 voters
14/04/23 .. optimistic 80.8% .. 203 voters
29/04/23 .. optimistic 81.5% .. 205 voters

Optimism remains high at 81.5% ... a gutsy win without Tommy, The Shu, Koula and Parker might turn some of the pessimists ... or will a loss to the lowly ranked Tits at fortress Brookvale cause an avalanche of despair ?

 

[davohan123]

Well optimism people what do you have to say about that half of footy.

That was just purer pathetic play from us and we are torn apart by the titans.

 

[Disco]

Chill, its half time

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

I still can't get off the fence here. We've only lost 2 games after Rd 8 which is great and not sure many of us thought that at start of the season.
YET we're battling injuries to our 2 star spine players Tom and Schu as well as Koula, we got demolished in 1 half by the riff and let in 30+ points to Parra, Knights, struggled to beat winless Tigpies.
YET we demolished the storm and dogs and were robbed by ref/bunker clowns vs the vermin.
We are totally bipolar at the moment and I don't think we'll see consistency till we get ,IF Ever, a fully fit Turbo,Schu and Koula.

Yeah, I'm the same. The problem is there's just no consistency with this team, which makes them very difficult to judge. If we were consistently good or consistently ****house it would be a lot easier. But my gut feeling is we're closer to consistently ****house than consistently good.

 

[davohan123]

Chill, its half time

You were saying
This team has no backbone and the 2006-2013 era teams we are doing a disservice to them all, this club is now falling away badly.
That was putrid tonight nothing else but putrid

 

[Disco]

You were saying
This team has no backbone and the 2006-2013 era teams we are doing a disservice to them all, this club is now falling away badly.
That was putrid tonight nothing else but putrid

Yeah go for it.

Rough performance

 

[davohan123]

Yeah go for it.

Rough performance

It's like this group of players apart from a few events even care about our history of this great club.

If we are not careful we are going to be in for a a lot of lean years to come.

 

[Carl]

I will stay on optimist until we find out what is going to happen with Schuster.

If he is fit and playing in a few weeks time, I think we will have a good shot at a good season.

 

[Revilo85]

I've been pessimistic for a while now. Terrible signings, multiple injuries and poor depth don't help. But our biggest issue is inconsistency with the last two rounds and the Knights draw showing that we are struggling to beat even the bottom 8 teams. Players individually and the team as a whole are very inconsistent. Although we were in second place last week, the table is very very tight at the top and a couple of losses on the trot will have us out of the top 8 again.

 

[Woodsie]

and yet ... nobody has changed their vote ...

 

[Woodsie]

... spoke too soon ... Optimism now dropped to 80.5% ....

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Still optimistic , only because it’s a **** crazy season and as bad as we are going we’re still too 8.

If we lose the next 4 or 5 yeah I’ll change

But we are just as likely to come out and thump Brisbane as we are to get absolutely walloped!!

 

[Woodsie]

We have gone into freefall ... Optimism dropped to 78.3% and falling

 

[Seagles68]

We have gone into freefall ... Optimism dropped to 78.3% and falling

Someone break out the parachutes.

 

[Woodsie]

77.3% and falling ... Get the defibulator ..

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Fickle fans , FMD!!

 

[40 nil]

Today, I have changed my vote to pessimistic. I am very disappointed in the team's attack. I allowed time for this to improve, but after eight games, it is quite pedestrian - akin to Barrett's 2021 Bulldogs. Flanagan is the attack coach. With his commentary work, maybe he is not focussed enough on his Sea Eagles work?

Despite Schuster being unavailable for five games, there is little creativity in our attack - very few offloads, bodies not in motion, no 'shape' in the backline. It's a poor state of affairs when a backrower (Olakau'atu) is our main attacking weapon. Usually, when a team's attack is firing, the outside backs are scoring a lot of tries, e.g. Rabbitohs, Broncos, Sharks. In three games, we scored a total of 17 tries (2 wins, 1 draw), but in the other five games, we have only scored only 10 tries (2 wins, 3 losses) - not good enough!

I think the coaches need to change the strategy of using three bash & barge middles as this dumbs down our attack. I think we would improve if Jake reverted to lock to act a pivot and occasionally change the direction of the attack. Going forward, I think the team should be something like this:

Turbo
Vaega|Weekes
Garrick
Koula
Saab
Schuster
DCE
Paseka
Croker
Aloiai
Olakau'atu
Tuilangi
Jake

GCKT
Fainu
Sipley
Bullemor

I am a great fan of Schuster's and hope he can shine in the five eighth role this year. However, I am starting to concur with some others who think his best position may be lock. With his ball playing skills, power & evasive running, he has the potential to possibly surpass Isaah Yeo's exploits.

If Manly's attack improves significantly, I will change my vote back to optimistic. However, if there is more of the same, I will probably stop watching games for a for a while - it is just not enjoyable.