MK Eagle said:
Technical Coach said:
joeboy said:
1. Snake. All the better for a relatively injury free 2012. So vital to our campaign, hoping for 18 plus tries and impeccable timing from the back.
2. Choc. Would love to see choc running off forans hip on the left edge. We forget how dynamic he is with all the grunt work he has been doing the past 3 or 4 seasons.
3. Foran. Hopefully primed for a big one, I'm expecting some more variation in his attacking kicks, and the vision and timing that comes with experiance. He has the competitiveness I would live o see an expanded repotoire this year, which under joey, I think is a given.
The days of expecting B. Stewart to score 18 or more tries a season are almost nearing its end for a variety of reasons. What you will see and has already been the case is that his defensive composure, positioning/reading will save more tries to address the balance.
Hopefully he is used as a decoy more or builds up his ball playing skills to a classy composed assist level beyond his fantastic array of tip ons, the over-used no look face ball to wingers and the spectacular highlight reel flamboyance we know he is capable of on a frequent basis.
To score 18 or more tries he is going to need to play over 20 games and require our attack to improve it's variety through the middle.(which will help his inside runs and hold the inner hip defenders giving him more room on the outside also with our standard edge plays) Defensive up and in structures read plays better than in his sharp explosive days of 04-08 on top of a closer competition standard all round.
I will not put it past him to prove me wrong though but it's highly unlikely we will see those 18-22 tries a season again--- unless he bags a massive hall in one or two games.
Picked him in my top 3 also TC & as you have touched on its his defensive ability as well as his presence these days, not just his attack which in the past has overshadowed these factors.
Heres the thing though TC - he will still jag 15 + tries in 2013.
Sure his exceptional pace is now down a notch effecting those freakish long range efforts, but have noticed his ability to score close range tries he would not have been able to in his earlier days. The ability & awareness of dummy half push overs or to carry 2-3 defenders over the line from close range due to extra strength & confidence helps almost level his tryscoring ability imo.
At least we agree on 1 thing TC- hope he proves you wrong & cracks the 20 mark in 2013...
Like i've stated before B Stewart has built up nicely with good upper body strength and improved lower body drive and does occasionally bust tackles or at least half win the tackle with his kick returns these days.In the attacking red zone he has improved his busting through momentum type efforts also.
I'm not saying it's impossible but too many things have to fall in place to make it a likely outcome from
1) Halves improving
2) More attacking creativity and sharpness up the middle not an over reliance on setting up the edges.
3) Brett plays 20 games minimum
4)We are a top 2 team not a borderline 4th spot team
5)Lots of dry fast decks and more day games
and the list goes on and on, 15+ possible 18+ and it's time to watch the 2008 highlights DVD and brainwash ourselves it's actually 2013.
Defences have improved big time from his sharp days, teams are learning from Manly,Melb, Dragons etc and your standard F/Back link plays are harder to pull off for simple overlap tries or wrong defensive reads.
MWSE said:
Does B. Stewart turn into our version of Minichello by the time his contract finishes in 2016?
Might be the case, paying for class, experience and composure which is at times sometimes over-valued and under-valued very fine line.(hate being a fence sitter though so i think in general it is over-valued)
The last 2 seasons Manly have managed B.Stewarts playing time well i think he has played 20 games each season the last 2yrs so hopefully he can pull it off again. My prediction 20 games 13-15tries max 24 games 15-18max.
joeboy said:
Fair points tech. Coach.I'd just love to see him have an injury free run, his backing up would jag him 6-8 tries a year alone.
Do you think watmough should move back outside foz? How would and who would you play as. Our five back rowers?
He can occasionally play outside Foz as a hole runner in the red zone but these days playing the edges is more about getting good mobile size one on one with a smaller outside defender or flat footed defender.(yes overlaps and quick hands still exist but tend to get cut off more than the past) If Manly can improve their sharpness and creativity in attack i would like to see Watmough improve the spark and penetration up the middle which will help our outside attacking options also.
Our decoys and sleight of hand need to improve also to create a conducive hole running environment otherwise you can have all the hole runners in the world and not make good use of them.
I want Watmough to continue and improve his direct hard step back in lines behind marker after a quick play the ball being more sharp and direct with our go forward which he has been improving in his game.
One of the biggest highlights for me last year was actually Toovey being interviewed after a Brookie game i think it was Newcastle or Parramatta where we scored a heap of points in the first half. The reply was something along the lines of "It was not just about all the points we scored but how they were scored all over the park"---suggesting he was looking for more penetration and creativity up the middle and saw this as a weak point in Manly's overall attacking set up for years.
We still have a long way to go but i sense Toovey is building and trying to improve on Dessies attacking structures and wanting more output, more options and less reliance on just setting up auto pilot edge plays.
