Seemed to be well exploited by Parramatta who almost played touch footy out there, winning the contacts & constantly testing the hold OR wrestle in defence & often getting away with it. At first I was happy to play the old card of double standards thinking the ref was giving extra lattitude to the Eels, but unfortunately it was a case of them earning it, basically bashing us up every contest. Bounces of the ball ect was a sign of 1 team far hungrier than the other, not Manly getting a hard deal, they played themselves into that position. Need to take a leaf out of the Parra book & raise the intensity by 300% - the tries looked pretty & were scored by the outside backs but make no mistake - the destruction was in that play the ball area where only Burgess & Mason went close to matching their fowards. Theres gunna be some massive scores this season when teams gain momentum & only Manlys ability to slow down their attack in the last 10 mins stopped a half century tonight...... BTW not convinced of the doom & gloom ...Yet - never judge a season on the 1st game.
