So the team with no depth has selection issues

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Cameron

Make Manly Great Again #Hasler2019
besides the fact we were going to win our first spoon all we heard in the pre season was we lacked depth to complete for the 8th.

Now that brings me to the nice selection head Des has.

Suli, Parker walker and cust
Only 3 of them make the starting 13 next week.

Then when api is fit he’s gotta work out which 2 out of api, Nace and cust fit into our 17 while also having to pick who starts out of nace and api.

All the time while one of our better players all year Elliott can’t get a run with the Turbo back and firing.

Gees we have such issues with depth this season.

Amazing what 12 months and one of the best coaches in the game does.

I’m really curious to see what Des and Crusher do recruitment wise in the
Off season I think it will be awhile before manly sign big name players. I think we are going to see lots of signings like Shane Rodney, Glenn hall etc to add to our squad to develop and complement the kids we have coming through. Doubt we will win the comp this year but we will be challenging over the next few years.
 
The landscape has changed significantly since Des got the band back together. There has been significant individual improvement this year. The resurrection of Parker, Suli losing weight and coming good, Sirro firing injury free and young players coming good including Fainu, Garrick, Waddell, Elliott, Cust & Croker. A huge factor for mine is that Tommy Turbo's game has go to the next level and I expect that both Brett Stewart and Des have played a big part in that. If Turbo stays fit and keeps playing the way he is at present we will be playing well into the finals. In my opinion we have one of the best packs in the competition and we are only really lacking one big impact prop of the bench at present. It was a shame Sipley got injured as he was finally coming into his own. Paseka is slowly improving and Boyle has not shown too much in the limited minutes he has played. I was surprised with Walker's performance at 5/8 on the weekend which was pretty solid. So really I don't expect that we will have big bucks to throw at big names and I expect we are hoping some of the young stars will graduate to the first grade standard next year such as young Hoppa, Schuster, Olakau"atu. Sadly I expect will lose Joel Thompson at season's end and the cap freed up will be required to retain Big Marty. Waddell is looking like a capable replacement for Thommo. Who would have thought our future would be looking this good after 18 rounds.
 
Yep ... Trent did an outstanding job putting this roster together on a reduced salary cap over the past 3 seasons ....

Maybe he should be a recruiter. There is a big difference between putting a squad together and as coach getting the best out of them. Barrett rarely got close to getting the best from the squad even when he had most actually available and not out injured, and that has been one of the major differences.

Take Brad Parker as a perfect example. Now granted, he's a local junior so he wasn't brought into the club, he was already there just waiting to be added to the squad. But after last year, especially the final round game against the Drongos, he was labeled never to play first grade again. Yet this year Des has stuck with him in the centres for all but when he was injured and he has become one of the most improved players in the competition. His attacking game, while still not in the greatest, has improved. But where he has come on leaps and bounds is with his defence. Right now there are few better defensive centres in the NRL than Brad Parker.

For the most part, Des is getting the best out of the players right now. Unfortunately that's something Barrett mostly failed to do.
 
Yep ... Trent did an outstanding job putting this roster together on a reduced salary cap over the past 3 seasons ....
Pity Trent couldn’t coach them but at least the elements are there for a decent coach like Des to work with.

NYEagle
 
I think we are going to see lots of signings like Shane Rodney, Glenn hall etc to add to our squad to develop and complement the kids we have coming through.
Which is exactly the formula Bellamy uses. Sign up the underrated tradesman. Get them doing their job and they end up looking like superstars because of the superstars around them. With DCE, Turbos etc around them, these other unknown Manly players are now looking like stars. Hats off to Des and all involved.
 
Totally agree credit where credit is due to Barrett especially with Ruben, Waddell and Elliot etc he was just crap at coaching them to win games of footy

Thanks .... he does deserve credit for the roster ....

just on that other point ... I agree to an extend ... but at this same time of the year in 2017 he had us in 4 th spot .... I will say that he did not have the necessary experience to handle all the internal and external crap last year .... and unfortuneatly didn't have someone of the character of Donny to lean on ... or a Monners or Snake or a Sports Psycho or sprint coach or Matty or Crusher .... hahahah ... I know I am going to regret saying that ....but I also wouldn't write him off as a coach ....

I reckon Dan should pay me for stirring up the Indians ... must do wonders for the Interwebby traffic on the site ... all the outraged bum sore ... just kidding ... I luv youse all ...
 
That he coached all the way to a whisker off a wooden spoon.

The problem with not being too bright is generally a lack of perspective ..... in case you didn't notice .... the team that was equal with us last weekend was the team that won the wooden spoon .... so by your logic .... Brad arthur is in fact a better coach than Dessie ....

Sorry mate ... you need to judge on a different criteria than just ladder position ... and take the thorn of roses out of your bum ...
 
Yep ... Trent did an outstanding job putting this roster together on a reduced salary cap over the past 3 seasons ....
He did a fabulous job at setting this side up with the current crop of players, but not a great job at actually coaching. I think he needed a few seasons next to an old hard head like Des to see what a winning coach does. I’m not knocking Barrett as I think he has a good football brain, but man management wasn’t his strongest point. Hopefully he has learnt a thing or two on gardening leave and will come back a better coach for another club.

The dragons could be looking soon.
 
And on the original point of the thread ... selection headaches and depth ...

This year so far there has been 17 games .. our starting forward pack has remained almost intact for all of them .....

Jake .. 16 games
Siro .. 17 games
Thommo .. 17 games
Kapow ... 17 games
Api ... 14 games ... Fainu ... 13 games ..
AFB ... 13 games ....

and right there is one of the reasons we are going ok ....
 
One forgotten player is Jetski who must be close to returning from a groin injury.
He was a permanent fixture in our 17.
Api is, apparently, only two weeks away from returning.
Croker is in contention for a spot off the bench.
It's shaping as a strong squad.
 
Just watched the replay. I had been on the beers yesterday:)

I really like cust and think he’s the future.

But after yesterday. I think Walker Parker and Jorge on that left hand side could be deadly
 
The problem with not being too bright is generally a lack of perspective ..... in case you didn't notice .... the team that was equal with us last weekend was the team that won the wooden spoon .... so by your logic .... Brad arthur is in fact a better coach than Dessie ....

Sorry mate ... you need to judge on a different criteria than just ladder position ... and take the thorn of roses out of your bum ...

Perspective huh. Check out last year's ladder.
 
Thanks .... he does deserve credit for the roster ....

just on that other point ... I agree to an extend ... but at this same time of the year in 2017 he had us in 4 th spot .... I will say that he did not have the necessary experience to handle all the internal and external crap last year .... and unfortuneatly didn't have someone of the character of Donny to lean on ... or a Monners or Snake or a Sports Psycho or sprint coach or Matty or Crusher .... hahahah ... I know I am going to regret saying that ....but I also wouldn't write him off as a coach ....

I reckon Dan should pay me for stirring up the Indians ... must do wonders for the Interwebby traffic on the site ... all the outraged bum sore ... just kidding ... I luv youse all ...

Straight from the hand book of 1001 excuses.
 
Agree our depth overall is ok but our 15 to 17 is way behind the top sides. Boyle Paseka JetSki are average at best while Waddell has gone off the boil a little. Sipley is a huge loss. If we fail to put a dent in the comp it will be this that does it. Look for Des to put some cash into the bench positions in the coming seasons. Bench players need to bring some dynamic play to the table. Other than Manase we don’t. We are just marking time for AFB and Marty to return then give the 17 five minutes.

Hard to win big games doing that.
 
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