HoldenV8
Journey Man
Hoodoo schmoodo folks. We smashed `em like guitars 
Tom Trbojevic 10/10 - What else can be said that already hasn't? The only thing he lacked was match fitness. A fully fit Tom would have been under the posts with that last run. Safe under the bomb and St Merge literally had no answer to his running game. I know Elliot was good at fullback, but Tom's running and support game is in another dimension and we are a LOT stronger with Turbo in the #1.
Jorge Taufua 8/10 - Jorge is making it hard for those who want him dropped.
Dylan Walker 8/10 - Defensively a lot better and as always looked dangerous when he had the ball.
Moses Suli 8/10 - Finally starting to live up to the hype. And its bloody good to see.
Reuben Garrick 8/10 - Not only did he score a great try, but his speed proved invaluable in stopping a runaway try.
Cade Cust 8/10 - Cade is showing maturity beyond his 4 first grade games. He's going to make it hard for Croker to break back into this side.
Daly Cherry-Evans 8/10 - Long kicking was wee a bit off, but his short kicks were damn near perfect and gave the Dragons nightmares.
Addin Fonua-Blake 8/10 - Kinda looked quiet yesterday with others standing out. But then you look at his stats and realise that he was far from quiet with 150 metres, 22 tackles and 2 offloads. If he's not the first choice to replace Fifita as one of Tonga's starting props, they deserve to lose.
Api Koroisau 4/10 - Started off badly with some woeful passes from dummy half, but was starting to turn it around, then he got injured and spent the rest of the day smiling from the bench.
Martin Taupau 8/10 - New Zealand's loss is definitely Samoa's gain with Kapow. Arguably in career best form and its rare that he doesn't run for at least 150 metres per game these days.
Joel Thompson 9/10 - Thommo was massive yesterday. Nothing fancy, just ran hard and tackled hard. I hope stories of him flying off to the ESL in 2020 prove false. Would love to have him at Manly for at least another year.
Curtis Sironen 9/10 - Siro is starting to show why we missed him so badly in 2017 and 2018 when he was out injured. For mine he wouldn't look out of place in a sky blue jumper.....
Jake Trbojevic 8/10 - A rare missed tackle led to Hunt's try, but his combination with his brother is proving to be Stewart's Mk.II. Just about the only thing Jake lacks in his game is a consistent offload.
Manase Fainu 8/10 - Forced to play big minutes thanks to Api's injury and didn't put a foot wrong. His defence is a lot better than most want to give him credit for, and he is proving to be a great dummy half with crisp passing and great running.
Jack Gosiewski 5/10 - Not a lot from Jetski yesterday, but at least there was no sign of his usual brain snap.
Morgan Boyle 5/10 - Didn't get a lot of game time, but was OK while out there.
Taniela Paseka 7/10 - Paseka was strong yesterday and it was good to see. I hope we see a LOT more of it because he is capable of it.
Even though the game was at Brookvale and that we have most of our star players available, and despite the relative positions on the ladder before the game, most still expected Manly to lose yesterday largely based on our piss poor record against St Merge. But a team effort, for that's what it was, saw us beat them by 20 points. The Dragoons may have led 8-0 at one point, but once we got rolling (which I will concede coincided with McInnes going off - his defence is underestimated) they literally had no answer to the onslaught.
You know who I feel sorry for right now? Brad Parker. He finally cemented a spot in first grade with some great displays, especially in defence, yet he unfortunately got injured and if our backs continue like they were yesterday he might find it hard to break back into the side when he returns.
Who to leave out of a side is the best headache a coach can have. Des and his new assistant (Damien Imbruglia) have some good selection headaches coming up when Parker, Croker and Waddell return. Right now I'd say Waddell (for Boyle) might be the only certainty.
Speaking of Des' new assistant.....that topped off a great day for Manly and well done to Des and Manly for making that happen.
Tom Trbojevic 10/10 - What else can be said that already hasn't? The only thing he lacked was match fitness. A fully fit Tom would have been under the posts with that last run. Safe under the bomb and St Merge literally had no answer to his running game. I know Elliot was good at fullback, but Tom's running and support game is in another dimension and we are a LOT stronger with Turbo in the #1.
Jorge Taufua 8/10 - Jorge is making it hard for those who want him dropped.
Dylan Walker 8/10 - Defensively a lot better and as always looked dangerous when he had the ball.
Moses Suli 8/10 - Finally starting to live up to the hype. And its bloody good to see.
Reuben Garrick 8/10 - Not only did he score a great try, but his speed proved invaluable in stopping a runaway try.
Cade Cust 8/10 - Cade is showing maturity beyond his 4 first grade games. He's going to make it hard for Croker to break back into this side.
Daly Cherry-Evans 8/10 - Long kicking was wee a bit off, but his short kicks were damn near perfect and gave the Dragons nightmares.
Addin Fonua-Blake 8/10 - Kinda looked quiet yesterday with others standing out. But then you look at his stats and realise that he was far from quiet with 150 metres, 22 tackles and 2 offloads. If he's not the first choice to replace Fifita as one of Tonga's starting props, they deserve to lose.
Api Koroisau 4/10 - Started off badly with some woeful passes from dummy half, but was starting to turn it around, then he got injured and spent the rest of the day smiling from the bench.
Martin Taupau 8/10 - New Zealand's loss is definitely Samoa's gain with Kapow. Arguably in career best form and its rare that he doesn't run for at least 150 metres per game these days.
Joel Thompson 9/10 - Thommo was massive yesterday. Nothing fancy, just ran hard and tackled hard. I hope stories of him flying off to the ESL in 2020 prove false. Would love to have him at Manly for at least another year.
Curtis Sironen 9/10 - Siro is starting to show why we missed him so badly in 2017 and 2018 when he was out injured. For mine he wouldn't look out of place in a sky blue jumper.....
Jake Trbojevic 8/10 - A rare missed tackle led to Hunt's try, but his combination with his brother is proving to be Stewart's Mk.II. Just about the only thing Jake lacks in his game is a consistent offload.
Manase Fainu 8/10 - Forced to play big minutes thanks to Api's injury and didn't put a foot wrong. His defence is a lot better than most want to give him credit for, and he is proving to be a great dummy half with crisp passing and great running.
Jack Gosiewski 5/10 - Not a lot from Jetski yesterday, but at least there was no sign of his usual brain snap.
Morgan Boyle 5/10 - Didn't get a lot of game time, but was OK while out there.
Taniela Paseka 7/10 - Paseka was strong yesterday and it was good to see. I hope we see a LOT more of it because he is capable of it.
Even though the game was at Brookvale and that we have most of our star players available, and despite the relative positions on the ladder before the game, most still expected Manly to lose yesterday largely based on our piss poor record against St Merge. But a team effort, for that's what it was, saw us beat them by 20 points. The Dragoons may have led 8-0 at one point, but once we got rolling (which I will concede coincided with McInnes going off - his defence is underestimated) they literally had no answer to the onslaught.
You know who I feel sorry for right now? Brad Parker. He finally cemented a spot in first grade with some great displays, especially in defence, yet he unfortunately got injured and if our backs continue like they were yesterday he might find it hard to break back into the side when he returns.
Who to leave out of a side is the best headache a coach can have. Des and his new assistant (Damien Imbruglia) have some good selection headaches coming up when Parker, Croker and Waddell return. Right now I'd say Waddell (for Boyle) might be the only certainty.
Speaking of Des' new assistant.....that topped off a great day for Manly and well done to Des and Manly for making that happen
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