Smith quote still spurs Manly

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Rusty

Bencher
It was little more than a throwaway line from a rival coach but they are the words Manly are using as their blueprint for their push towards claiming the NRL premiership.













The Sea Eagles got their season going with a bruising 27-16 win over the Roosters in Round 2 despite missing four representative stars and fielding a host of rookies.
Nobody gave Des Hasler's side a chance against last season's grand finalists on that day but they pulled off a huge upset and one of the gutsiest wins in the club's history.




Roosters coach Brian Smith said of the Sea Eagles after the clash back on March 20: "They bend everybody. They bend themselves, they bend their backs and work hard, they bend the rules, they bend the referees and they bent us right over today."





 
"They play hard and (find) any way to win, which is a good, hard professional attitude to have."
"It was very grim from our point of view. I thought we were outmuscled and outsmarted, with no real excuses. We knew it was coming, because that's their trademark."
It's a quote that's now plastered all around the Sea Eagles' training base inside the team's meeting room at the Sydney Academy of Sport at Narrabeen.
A reminder of just what style of football Manly want to play and what it's going to take to challenge the likes of Melbourne and St George Illawarra for this year's title.
When asked about the quote on Wednesday, Sea Eagles prop Brent Kite admitted: "Des (Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler) probably wouldn't have liked you to see that."
"But it just shows the brand of footy that we want to play."
"Even though you don't care what other people think it's nice to hear things like that from a respected guy as Brian (Smith)."
"It's a positive to hear that if we're doing some of those things that were quoted that we're going okay as a team."
And that is certainly the case with the Sea Eagles who have gone on to win 13 of their next 16 matches to sit comfortably in second spot and one of the favourites to take out the premiership.
While much of the focus has been on the form of young halves Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans and the comeback of flyer Brett Stewart, Kite said it was the team's defence which deserves the credit for their lofty position.
"It's something that we've really addressed this year and wanted to get right," Kite said.
"We're back up close to the top in terms of tries conceded throughout the competition so we're where we want to be."
"We're fortunate enough to have had a pretty steady season."
"We haven't put too many losses together at all and we're just looking for more of the same, consistent footy."
Sea Eagles hooker Matt Ballin added: "Things are going well at the moment but we've just got to keep winning this time of year and try and cement that spot in the top four and get a home semi."
"It's an old cliche but one game at a time is what we're focusing on. The Tigers are a very dangerous team at the moment and they're coming off two good wins."
"We can only focus on them because the minute you start looking too far ahead is when you fall off track."
Meanwhile eight Sea Eagles players, including Kite and Ballin, have shaved their heads in aid of the Little M Foundation, which supports children with the movement control disability Secondary Dystonia.
The haircuts were organised by the Manly prop, who was inspired by meeting a young sufferer of the condition, Michaela Rodrigues.

Photograph Copyright : Getty Images





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