Our approach

[47MVEagle]

It could , but wests had the cap space to get the right player at 7. We need a game manager prepared to come to manly, play the tough game, make cherry look good for 400k.

Last season i suggested we get reynolds .

Most half combos spend 1.6 ish for the duo, maybe munster and hughes if they resign munster will be the big exception, now hughes has hada big upgrade

Foran every week is doing more , but he has set sail, as our season looks to be doing the same. Besides his long kicking game is not too flash and we would miss his direct play

The only out i see is cherry kicks long all day, gets in closer to kick and runs to the line to kick , or gets the ball , passes to oku early or koula early . But he doesnt have the application to stick at it

He just loves the ball in his hands too much

Kick, pass back up
Kick, pass back up

Eventually other opportunities open anyway

And kick at the line, not this soft easy , 10 m behind play on the blind
He could still turn it around and deliver manly a title if he played a role and played for the team, but it seems its too big an ask

Strip his game back, take away his ego, reinvent him as a role player like townsend, and even id barrack for the bloke for trying.

But do you really think its a case of DCE's ego over-riding what Des tells him to do?

Surely if that was the case, he & Des would have reached loggerheads over it by now & he wouldn't have been re-signed.

 

[Darknstormy]

when you think about it our nursery is always spoken highly of…how many of those guys are 18 and over with potential

J Humphreys
K Weekes
Gordon T
J Sykes
V Fafita
Z Fulton
Alex T
Is there anyone else?

Then we have
J Schuster
H Olakuatu
B Trbojevic
C Tuipolatu
T Koula
J Saab
E Bullemor

Then
A Davey
K Lawton
R Garrick
T Paseka
T Sipley

Seniors
T Trobojevic
J Trbojevic
J Aloioa
K Foran
Dce

There are more than enough players for a good coach to get a balanced squad to work with…obviously a few changes over time and signings but for a team to build into a good consistent side you need to start somewhere and this list ain’t to bad

 

[Darknstormy]

Just looking at the list and see we are short centres but we let felody go who is highly regarded

 

[jbb/james]

But do you really think its a case of DCE's ego over-riding what Des tells him to do?

Surely if that was the case, he & Des would have reached loggerheads over it by now & he wouldn't have been re-signed.

When i say EGO, i dont mean the lairy kind but the stuff that drives us in how we act, like fishing for compliments, or having a subconscious vision of what a perfect game is and what role you expect to play

The stuff DCE is good at , are the things that command the greatest plaudits. He is one smoooooth mother ****er. NO DOUBT , but choking that chicken a bit and playing within himself is about control and temperament

You make a very good question in Des. Until recently the reality was DCE came with the job and had a kick arse contract, nor have cust, croker, elgey or whoever been really good enough to replace him

kicking in the NRl is a discipline and not a mood to be in. Often its his discipline that wanes , and that is our weak underbelly. Its the mental challenge we are yet to crack

In the press conferences that we see there is no super vibe between them. But i have no idea so im just trying to answer you best i can. But des is des and i love his ability to give nothing on tv. He is my hero at that stuff. ITs so manly.

KPI s get mentioned a bit. That **** distorts so much in employment, its up there with statistics

BUT he signed him again, what do i know

Happy friday

 

[Sheikheagle]

The DCE & Schuster halves combo fills me with dread. The are both rocks or diamonds.

 

[double hoops]

Without trying to sound like a dick, for mine our biggest issue is DCE. Our right side has been a disgrace for years, both in attack and defence. Our game management is almost non-existent (this is what highly paid 7s are supposed to be responsible for). Our composure and mental toughness is horrendous (this is what a captain and on-field leader is there for). DCE plays for himself, his wallet and KPIs. The old manly boys knew this, so do the queenslanders. He has skills, and makes a great running ball-player when surrounded by a great team. The skewed salary cap since 2015, along with the things just mentioned are the biggest reason as to Manly's mediocrity. He's a great politician, but there is almost an emptiness that pervades our club culture. I also feel Des is somewhat stuck with him, as I honestly believe that if he had to choose between DCE and Foran, Des would go with Foz everyday of the week. As has been mentioned by many here, our edge defence is horrible but if you really look at it, it's mostly an issue with DCEs side as well as inevitable growing pains with youth and inexperience (Koula, Burbo, Tuipulotu, Ola'akautu, etc). Our middles can match it with most but the shocking performances from whoever is supposed to control our attack puts unreasonable pressure on them over 80mins. Injuries, bad luck, etc etc... realistically, it boils down to DCE.

Hard to disagree with any of that.

And the Shoe is far from a composed no 7 type either.

Humphreys may well be our most important junior

 

[mave]

Humphrey's will be 30 before Des would think about giving him a crack.

 

[Eagles4Life]

I agree

My belief is we are always trying to fix another issue.
Walker needs to be there to straighren the attack but it shouldnt be at the expense of a big bopper, but our attack needs it

We have too many attacking options because our attack is no good unless we stack the deck

Jake plays too many minutes as a playmaker , costing the forwards grunt although i see that less the last 2 weeks. But that leaves the pack unbalanced , then walker enters diluting the grunt minutes even more.

Tom almost plays half
Jake plays first receiver a lot
Walker almost plays half
Foran is playing half
Dce just hasnt defined his role in the team, in a way thats beneficial anyway.

We have too many halves in the seventeen (and forwards who think their halves), and not enough players who can actually run the ball. Those that can run the ball, are also consistently given **** ball, and are always standing too flat, when they see some occasional good ball.

When Walker and Schuster come on, they are effectively taking away almost 50% of our go forward in the middle. With Jake playing first receiver, we invariably end up with a complicated ****storm of disorganised ball players, getting in each other's way. This is not sustainable, and how we have arrived here is beyond my comprehension. Who is actually coaching this ****?

 

[mickqld]

I know you disagree with me ... but it all goes pear shaped when walker replaces a prop ... and 25 positional changes are made ..

Yes walker plays well ... but the competition for the middle goes to hell in a hand basket.

Last night Sipley and aloaia were competing and holding their own .. then 2 props replaced with one .. and let's go backwards.

It's dumb, stupid and doesn't work other than against bottom 4 sides if Turbo is on fire and making 50 line breaks as well.

This this this ^^^ every other day. It's madness. We suffer a total lack of go forward and any momentum we might have is lost. We should be rotating through (when not injured) Aloiai, Paseka, Taupau, Sipley the whole game. Walker should have been the center with Koula and Lawton the utility with Croker. Keppie is just a liability with his hands and his defensive reads. Davey/Bullemore the other bench spot now that Schuster is back.

 

[Darknstormy]

This this this ^^^ every other day. It's madness. We suffer a total lack of go forward and any momentum we might have is lost. We should be rotating through (when not injured) Aloiai, Paseka, Taupau, Sipley the whole game. Walker should have been the center with Koula and Lawton the utility with Croker. Keppie is just a liability with his hands and his defensive reads. Davey/Bullemore the other bench spot now that Schuster is back.

The only difference I would make is jake in as prop and taupau out

 

[mickqld]

The only difference I would make is jake in as prop and taupau out

Agreed on that for next year. Unfortunately I think Taupau has suffered badly post covid symptoms. He just can't seem to get his mojo back. Either that or him being shown the door has dulled his commitment which I don't think he would.

 

[KaZa]

Unfortunately we are poorly coached which is what brings on these errors. Whether it comes to Des or DCE.. we appear to have very little structure. We play off the cuff style football. Very rarely we put a backline movement on.. we got one yesterday for Taufua. Usually when we do it's Foran side.

DCE can't organise a ticket raffle. His attack is awful and it stunts out attack. Too many times he can't get the ball wide to the centres. He will cut and crab in field. Then the 4th Tom makes a barging run like a forward and we kick it long next play.

I'd like to see Foran and DCE combine more rather than playing left or right. When Turbo was playing, we didn't have any set plays for him or even when heavily marked to utilise HIM as the decoy and run another option to mix it up. You can go on all day with what's wrong with our side. Too many slow play the balls.. slow line speed. Only two in the tackles..

Comes down to coaching. DCE could fix his issues if coached or not allowed to play 'his' way.

 

[Rafferty]

Well, no, hence my "lack of consistency" bit.

We're no better or worse off than other teams when it comes to players missing via injuries, suspension, rep duties so why can't we play consistently well once we click, instead of showing up one week & looking clueless the next?

I don't know what the problem is but it's frustrating for sure.

Pretty simple mate, we are clearly invested in the wrong caliber of people, either too old, stale, not hungry enough for success, the list is long, I don’t have the actual answer, nor can I do anything about it, that’s up to those involved to dig deeper and solve, or move on.
Do you really think DCE and Des will lead the club to another premiership? If that’s the case then you are a comfortable with what’s happening, I on the other hand don‘t believe we can, it’s that simple for me, time to reinvest in our future. Signing a 33 year old half and captain to lead our side until his 35, won’t end well, his game and leadership is under huge pressure. Pretty dejected with the whole situation.

 

[Snake]

I know you disagree with me ... but it all goes pear shaped when walker replaces a prop ... and 25 positional changes are made ..

Yes walker plays well ... but the competition for the middle goes to hell in a hand basket.

Last night Sipley and aloaia were competing and holding their own .. then 2 props replaced with one .. and let's go backwards.

It's dumb, stupid and doesn't work other than against bottom 4 sides if Turbo is on fire and making 50 line breaks as well.

Im sure there’s some truth to what you’re saying.

 

[Snake]

Thanks all for the very measured and thoughtful responses. The common thread here is DCE and the use of too many ball players in the middle. We need a composed 7 to guide us around and a better prop rotation. Hard to argue with that.

 

[KaZa]

Thanks all for the very measured and thoughtful responses. The common thread here is DCE and the use of too many ball players in the middle. We need a composed 7 to guide us around and a better prop rotation. Hard to argue with that.

easy fix right? DCE contract expiring soon... oh wait.

Going to be a long four years.

 

[Chip and Chase]

Hard to disagree with any of that.

And the Shoe is far from a composed no 7 type either.

Humphreys may well be our most important junior

Will he be willing to hang around for another 3.5 years before he is even a chance of getting a sniff at the 7 jersey ?? Still can't believe we extended DCE for another 2 years. Crazy.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Fittler comes off as a goose sometimes but he has some very astute observations.
Many have been critical of our defence and lack of ability to win the contest.
He made a comment in the first half which is spot on,we commit 2 people to the tackle in the middle a lot rather than 3,this is a coaching tactic from Des' and maybe is something that needs to be looked at to control the contest more.

 

[double hoops]

Will he be willing to hang around for another 3.5 years before he is even a chance of getting a sniff at the 7 jersey ?? Still can't believe we extended DCE for another 2 years. Crazy.

Amazing what change happens when a teams not winning games though. 3.5 years may be a long time, and so it might well be if with out any game manager, a spine just always going for glory with high risk low percentage play.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Fittler comes off as a goose sometimes but he has some very astute observations.
Many have been critical of our defence and lack of ability to win the contest.
He made a comment in the first half which is spot on,we commit 2 people to the tackle in the middle a lot rather than 3,this is a coaching tactic from Des' and maybe is something that needs to be looked at to control the contest more.

Yes that has been very noticeable for quite a long time. Maybe it is something that needs to be changed... Or ... maybe it is something that when we finally perfect it, gives Manly a winning edge over the 3 man tackling sides? That is the $74 question. (allowing for inflation here)