HoldenV8
Journey Man
A tough loss on Saturday, and somewhat controversial. We're still 5th though.
Brendon Elliot 6/10 - As usual when he plays fullback, he was safe as houses. Offers nothing in attack though.
Jorge Taufua 7/10 - Good running metres as usual and another sledgehammer hit in defence. But was part of a very shaky left edge defence, though it was more Walker than Jorge who was the problem. And when did he learn to catch a bomb? He hasn't dropped a single ball since the loss to St Merge.
Dylan Walker 3/10 - Defensively he is a liability, and he needs better service to get him running straight because he's having to run sideways way too much to be effective. Personally I think he's being wasted on the left.
Moses Suli 8/10 - Easily our best back on Saturday. Who knew he had that much toe to outpace the defence over 75 metres?
Reuben Garrick 6/10 - Really didn't do anything wrong, though not his best day with the boot.
Cade Cust 4/10 - Saturday was probably Cade's worst game so far in first grade. Wayward passes and missed tackles didn't help. Copped a broken nose for his trouble with a late hit that was let go by the refs and the MRC.
Daly Cherry-Evans 7/10 - Rocks and diamonds from Cherry. Laid on 3 of our 4 tries, but also put in some passes that didn't help.
Addin Fonua-Blake 6/10 - Good metres as usual, but Souffs usually hit him with 3 defenders and didn't allow him a lot of leeway.
Manase Fainu 6/10 - Solid without being spectacular. Thought he was gone midway through the 2nd half, but it was only cramp.
Martin Taupau 5/10 - Again, good metres and a few good offloads....except that one time near the end when it wasn't needed.
Joel Thompson 5/10 - Very much overshadowed by his back row partner on Saturday.
Curtis Sironen 8/10 - Our best on ground. Siro is arguably the form back rower of the competition right now.
Jake Trbojevic 8/10 - Massive effort to play the full 80 only 3 days out from Origin. Easily made a team high 45 tackles.
Corey Waddell 5/10 - Serviceable but didn't really stand out like he's done in earlier rounds.
Morgan Boyle 4/10 - Again not much game time. He seems to be our new Mr Plod.
Taniela Paseka 5/10 - Still doesn't have enough aggression in his game. Get that and he will be a beast.
Lachlan Croker 6/10 - Played the unfamiliar position of hooker when he came on and didn't do too bad. Solid defence which is why I think Des chose to have him defending in the middle rather than Cust.
We all know that we got refereed out of the game on Saturday. I mean, in 80 minutes Souffs only give away 2 penalties? And that's before we mention the dog shots from Knight and Murray. Yet we only lost by 1 point. But at the same time, we had our chances to win and did outscore them 4 tries to 3.
Our left edge defence is a big worry, especially if Dylan Walker is going to continue rushing up out of the line and creating a gap they could go through to start the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
The best thing about Saturday was that even when everything was going against us, the score, the referees, once again we didn't just roll over and die a-la 2018. We fought it out hard and almost pulled off a win.
I don't know about anyone else, but if I were Des I'd be very tempted to move Jorge to the bench as an impact forward (he can also cover the backs), move Suli to the wing and have Brad Parker back into the centres on the left with Walker moved back to the right where he will get better service from DCE and Siro. Although truth be told I really can't see that happening. The only change to the side for this week will probably be Tom coming in for Elliot. I'd also be tempted to have Croker in at 5/8 ahead of Cust who I think needs more time to work on his defensive game.
I honestly don't think we've yet seen the best from this Manly team. I think there is still better to come.
Brendon Elliot 6/10 - As usual when he plays fullback, he was safe as houses. Offers nothing in attack though.
Jorge Taufua 7/10 - Good running metres as usual and another sledgehammer hit in defence. But was part of a very shaky left edge defence, though it was more Walker than Jorge who was the problem. And when did he learn to catch a bomb? He hasn't dropped a single ball since the loss to St Merge.
Dylan Walker 3/10 - Defensively he is a liability, and he needs better service to get him running straight because he's having to run sideways way too much to be effective. Personally I think he's being wasted on the left.
Moses Suli 8/10 - Easily our best back on Saturday. Who knew he had that much toe to outpace the defence over 75 metres?
Reuben Garrick 6/10 - Really didn't do anything wrong, though not his best day with the boot.
Cade Cust 4/10 - Saturday was probably Cade's worst game so far in first grade. Wayward passes and missed tackles didn't help. Copped a broken nose for his trouble with a late hit that was let go by the refs and the MRC.
Daly Cherry-Evans 7/10 - Rocks and diamonds from Cherry. Laid on 3 of our 4 tries, but also put in some passes that didn't help.
Addin Fonua-Blake 6/10 - Good metres as usual, but Souffs usually hit him with 3 defenders and didn't allow him a lot of leeway.
Manase Fainu 6/10 - Solid without being spectacular. Thought he was gone midway through the 2nd half, but it was only cramp.
Martin Taupau 5/10 - Again, good metres and a few good offloads....except that one time near the end when it wasn't needed.
Joel Thompson 5/10 - Very much overshadowed by his back row partner on Saturday.
Curtis Sironen 8/10 - Our best on ground. Siro is arguably the form back rower of the competition right now.
Jake Trbojevic 8/10 - Massive effort to play the full 80 only 3 days out from Origin. Easily made a team high 45 tackles.
Corey Waddell 5/10 - Serviceable but didn't really stand out like he's done in earlier rounds.
Morgan Boyle 4/10 - Again not much game time. He seems to be our new Mr Plod.
Taniela Paseka 5/10 - Still doesn't have enough aggression in his game. Get that and he will be a beast.
Lachlan Croker 6/10 - Played the unfamiliar position of hooker when he came on and didn't do too bad. Solid defence which is why I think Des chose to have him defending in the middle rather than Cust.
We all know that we got refereed out of the game on Saturday. I mean, in 80 minutes Souffs only give away 2 penalties? And that's before we mention the dog shots from Knight and Murray. Yet we only lost by 1 point. But at the same time, we had our chances to win and did outscore them 4 tries to 3.
Our left edge defence is a big worry, especially if Dylan Walker is going to continue rushing up out of the line and creating a gap they could go through to start the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
The best thing about Saturday was that even when everything was going against us, the score, the referees, once again we didn't just roll over and die a-la 2018. We fought it out hard and almost pulled off a win.
I don't know about anyone else, but if I were Des I'd be very tempted to move Jorge to the bench as an impact forward (he can also cover the backs), move Suli to the wing and have Brad Parker back into the centres on the left with Walker moved back to the right where he will get better service from DCE and Siro. Although truth be told I really can't see that happening. The only change to the side for this week will probably be Tom coming in for Elliot. I'd also be tempted to have Croker in at 5/8 ahead of Cust who I think needs more time to work on his defensive game.
I honestly don't think we've yet seen the best from this Manly team. I think there is still better to come.
