HoldenV8
Journey Man
Another gutsy win yesterday at Endeavor Caltex Ronson Toyota Remondis Shark Southern Cross Group PointsBet Field Park Stadium.
Brendan Elliot 9/10 - Easily his best game for Manly and probably of his 49 game first grade career. Was safe at the back, involved in attack and pulled off at least 2 try saving tackles. In a lot of ways its a shame that when Turbo returns and with Walker back and Garrick, Parker and Jorge playing well, Elliot might be the odd man out in the backline.
Jorge Taufua 7/10 - Jorge hasn't dropped a catchable ball in weeks, and his early tackle runs yesterday caused headaches for the Sharks defence.
Dylan Walker 7/10 - Obviously missing some match fitness, but he looked a lot like he'd never been away.
Brad Parker 7/10 - Hank Scorpio is growing in confidence each week. Kept the much faster Bronson Xerri mostly quiet yesterday with another great defensive display and his hit ups were quality.
Reuben Garrick 6/10 - Didn't get involved a lot other than when his ricochet kick through put Walker in. His goal kicking is proving to be a winner though. How did Mary McGregor think this guy was not a top 30 player at St Merge? Oh well, their loss is our gain.
Cade Cust 8/10 - Great debut from the kid. Didn't look overawed or star struck at all.
Kane Elgey 8/10 - His kicking game kept on turning the Sharks around and put Dugan under a lot of pressure, and his defence is getting better. I noticed he was taking a lot more charge of the team yesterday in attack which is good to see.
Addin Fonua-Blake 8/10 - The Sharks couldn't handle AFB and he made his fellow Tongan Andrew Fifita look second rate. I bet Fittler was sitting on the sidelines for Nein yesterday wishing that NSW had got to AFB before Tonga did.
Api Koroisau 6/10 - Strangely injured his shoulder when throwing his arms in the air when Elliot scored. Was going well until then.
Martin Taupau 8/10 - Marty and AFB are arguably the best front row combination in the NRL right now and Mr. Kapow is having his best season by far.
Joel Thompson 8/10 - Thommo was enormous yesterday both in attack and defence. A great game from the old man.
Curtis Sironen 8/10 - Like his back row partner, Siro had a great game yesterday. He's a lot better player when he gets himself involved rather than just hiding out on the edges.
Jake Trbojevic 9/10 - Can someone check to see if he uses Duracell or Energizer batteries? He just keeps going and going and going. Opposition players should have learned by now not to run at Jake Destrojevic. Most times when a big tackle was pulled off, the blonde haired Manly leader in the #13 jumper was the one doing the damage.
Manase Fainu 6/10 - A bit flat in attack, but his defence was strong.
Jack Gosiewski 6/10 - Didn't notice Jetski a lot, but when I did see him (mostly defending), he went well.
Corey Waddell 7/10 - Could this guy turn out to be the Dally M Rookie of the Year?
Morgan Boyle 7/10 - Much maligned in previous weeks, but he went better yesterday.
All credit to Des and the boys for bouncing back from last weeks loss to the Drongos. Once again we won a game off the back of very strong defence, especially on the goal line. We overcame not only the Sharks who were throwing everything they could at us, but we overcame the whistle happy Ashley Klein who did his best to try and get them back into it.
Interesting to hear Cade Cust's interview with Darren Lockyer after the game, saying that he knew on Thursday that he was in the side. Mind games from Des making everyone think that Croker was going to play right up until the 1 hour before kickoff deadline for non-emergency (i.e someone injured in the warm up) changes.
I like it, but I don't envy the headache Des will have in the next few weeks when Turbo, DCE, Croker and Suli return to the field. Who to drop? Who to keep? Especially in the halves. Some are going to miss out when they really don't deserve to given their form. When fit both Turbo and DCE will be automatic inclusions, but players like Elliot, Suli and two of Elgey, Croker and Cust will probably miss out which is a shame because for the most part they have been bloody good.
We have the Tits at Brookie in the early game next Friday, which in itself despite any weather will probably keep the attendance down (it probably wouldn't have been great anyway given that its only the Gold Coast). I don't want to take them lightly because no team are easy beats in the NRL, but that is one game we should win and win comfortably.
As I said in the Game Day thread......MANLY IS BACK BITCHES.
Brendan Elliot 9/10 - Easily his best game for Manly and probably of his 49 game first grade career. Was safe at the back, involved in attack and pulled off at least 2 try saving tackles. In a lot of ways its a shame that when Turbo returns and with Walker back and Garrick, Parker and Jorge playing well, Elliot might be the odd man out in the backline.
Jorge Taufua 7/10 - Jorge hasn't dropped a catchable ball in weeks, and his early tackle runs yesterday caused headaches for the Sharks defence.
Dylan Walker 7/10 - Obviously missing some match fitness, but he looked a lot like he'd never been away.
Brad Parker 7/10 - Hank Scorpio is growing in confidence each week. Kept the much faster Bronson Xerri mostly quiet yesterday with another great defensive display and his hit ups were quality.
Reuben Garrick 6/10 - Didn't get involved a lot other than when his ricochet kick through put Walker in. His goal kicking is proving to be a winner though. How did Mary McGregor think this guy was not a top 30 player at St Merge? Oh well, their loss is our gain.
Cade Cust 8/10 - Great debut from the kid. Didn't look overawed or star struck at all.
Kane Elgey 8/10 - His kicking game kept on turning the Sharks around and put Dugan under a lot of pressure, and his defence is getting better. I noticed he was taking a lot more charge of the team yesterday in attack which is good to see.
Addin Fonua-Blake 8/10 - The Sharks couldn't handle AFB and he made his fellow Tongan Andrew Fifita look second rate. I bet Fittler was sitting on the sidelines for Nein yesterday wishing that NSW had got to AFB before Tonga did.
Api Koroisau 6/10 - Strangely injured his shoulder when throwing his arms in the air when Elliot scored. Was going well until then.
Martin Taupau 8/10 - Marty and AFB are arguably the best front row combination in the NRL right now and Mr. Kapow is having his best season by far.
Joel Thompson 8/10 - Thommo was enormous yesterday both in attack and defence. A great game from the old man.
Curtis Sironen 8/10 - Like his back row partner, Siro had a great game yesterday. He's a lot better player when he gets himself involved rather than just hiding out on the edges.
Jake Trbojevic 9/10 - Can someone check to see if he uses Duracell or Energizer batteries? He just keeps going and going and going. Opposition players should have learned by now not to run at Jake Destrojevic. Most times when a big tackle was pulled off, the blonde haired Manly leader in the #13 jumper was the one doing the damage.
Manase Fainu 6/10 - A bit flat in attack, but his defence was strong.
Jack Gosiewski 6/10 - Didn't notice Jetski a lot, but when I did see him (mostly defending), he went well.
Corey Waddell 7/10 - Could this guy turn out to be the Dally M Rookie of the Year?
Morgan Boyle 7/10 - Much maligned in previous weeks, but he went better yesterday.
All credit to Des and the boys for bouncing back from last weeks loss to the Drongos. Once again we won a game off the back of very strong defence, especially on the goal line. We overcame not only the Sharks who were throwing everything they could at us, but we overcame the whistle happy Ashley Klein who did his best to try and get them back into it.
Interesting to hear Cade Cust's interview with Darren Lockyer after the game, saying that he knew on Thursday that he was in the side. Mind games from Des making everyone think that Croker was going to play right up until the 1 hour before kickoff deadline for non-emergency (i.e someone injured in the warm up) changes.
I like it, but I don't envy the headache Des will have in the next few weeks when Turbo, DCE, Croker and Suli return to the field. Who to drop? Who to keep? Especially in the halves. Some are going to miss out when they really don't deserve to given their form. When fit both Turbo and DCE will be automatic inclusions, but players like Elliot, Suli and two of Elgey, Croker and Cust will probably miss out which is a shame because for the most part they have been bloody good.
We have the Tits at Brookie in the early game next Friday, which in itself despite any weather will probably keep the attendance down (it probably wouldn't have been great anyway given that its only the Gold Coast). I don't want to take them lightly because no team are easy beats in the NRL, but that is one game we should win and win comfortably.
As I said in the Game Day thread......MANLY IS BACK BITCHES.
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