Thanks all

  • We had an issue with background services between march 10th and 15th or there about. This meant the payment services were not linking to automatic upgrades. If you paid for premium membership and are still seeing ads please let me know and the email you used against PayPal and I cam manually verify and upgrade your account.

Patatkop

Member
Yep it's come and in a flash it's gone, over for me that is. I do have fonder memories of this season, and am glad that at least we made the finals.
I guess as I am in Adelaide and didn't get to see the Mighty Sea eagles live as many of you have, my season came in a box. My comments will also come from what I have seen on this box. Firstly I would like to thank all of you guys for your thoughts and threads, as this is a great site with great debates.

Now for my assessment if I may.

The Players:
I feel that all the players gave their very best. There were those who’s best were not up to First grade standard, but they do not pick themselves to play week in and week out. There is no person I know who has yet to knock back a promotion with a promise of adulation and big bucks. Should we have dropped them?

Well if we had, did we have the people to replace them? Who would’ve replaced Witt, King, Randall, Monas, Harris, Donald and to a lesser extent our problem in the centers. Are we that bereft of talent, that we had to continue with these players, or, was it right to resort to the makeshift stopgap measures we resorted to.
Now you must understand that the reason I am asking this question is because I am from Adelaide and honestly do not know.

Other than the bleeding obvious I think the rest of the players performed as we expected and in certain circumstances beyond expectations. For this I salute you.

The Coaches:
I believe that they will hopefully learn that this is top grade and being that, we can ill afford to get on the park with no back up plans when things go wrong. I am yet to be convinced that we have sound structures in place, in case we flounder with plan A.
Once we seem to be outwitted, we seem to run around like headless chooks. We do not seem to have players in motion near to the attacking zone. This leaves us easy to defend against. Do we have a back line coach? If not, then Cliffy Lyons is a must at all costs. I do wholeheartedly agree that Mark Carroll must be brought into the fold also. I also feel that a call to Malcolm Reilly as a coaching advisor is an option. Dessie is green and it showed.

The Supporters:
The Adelaide Hills were alive with the Manly Chant week in and week out. That ladies and gentlemen was worth more than gold to me. You kept our dreams alive. For this I thank all of you.

Until next year Go the Mighty Sea Eagles.
 
King - I feel that Bryant and Heckenberg could both have been preferred to King in the last 1/3rd of the season.

Randall - We looked far better when Dunley and Williamson shared the hooking role.

Monas - I would have given Witt an extended stretch at number 7. I believe he would have performed better than Monaghan, given the same opportunities.

Donald - Stephenson proved to be a better option.

Harris - I consider his season more highly than others and personally believe we will regret letting him go to the Tigers. He may well be lifting silverwar in 13 months' time.
 
Hard to argue with much of what you have said. Very considered. There have been some great moments this season and yet some down times as well. It is a known fact that Manly has spent to the level of the salary cap for the first time in ages in 2005. We have not spent to the limit of the secondary cap and that is an aim for next year.

It is worth noting that some of the younger talent is being brought on slowly and that may be a good thing in the future - though doesn't help the first grade cause at the present. Hopefully the patience with the younger players will pay off in seasons to come.

I agree with Mata's summation above though the jury is out on Sam Harris - he always looked likely but has not really lived up to his wraps for the Sea Eagles.
 
Sam Harris was a lot better the two years preceding 2005 as was shown by his selection for City last year. But hopefully releasing him will open up room better players and maybe a premiership
 
Harris's problem is between the ears. He has the size and skills but appears to lack the mongrel and desire to apply them for an extended period while on the field.
Whether we miss him or not will depend a lot on Sheens ability to improve his mental fragility.
 

Latest posts

Team P W L PD Pts
3 3 0 48 6
3 2 1 45 4
3 2 1 28 4
3 2 1 22 4
3 2 1 15 4
3 2 1 14 4
2 1 1 13 4
3 2 1 10 4
2 1 1 6 4
3 2 1 -3 4
3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
Back
Top Bottom