Personally, I gave us a 10% chance of winning tonight, so although I understand the disappointment in the final 10 minutes, I have to remind myself that it’s a massive win...
We haven’t beaten Melbourne in years. We haven’t beaten a genuine top 4 side in donkeys. We couldn’t beat good sides with Tommy, but we beat one without him tonight. We kept the Brookie record in tact...never before have we lost 6 in a row to an away side at the fortress.
If you thought we’d lose tonight, remind yourself that it’s a gift!
Manly were almost certainties in my eyes as we performed better than it showed against Melb in Melb, Origin period Melb look flat and fatigued.(plus Melb have a softer underbelly this year and far easier to expose)
The small periods where Melb showed spark and energy Manly looked poor in attack and defence but we have improved big time generally speaking.
Prior to the NZ game i was actually hopeful Manly would win all these games in this period, that is why i mentioned "Manly might surprise themselves" prior to the NZ game if they believed in themselves and played with good intensity.
Been disappointing Manly have lost a lot of close encounters we could be well entrenched in the 8 after the last month or so since the Parra game.
There is still a lack of self belief within the squad to beat the top teams, this is evident in the unforced errors that come from nerves and lacking confidence against the big teams. Once Manly build belief and a healthy level of arrogance i feel the drop balls and mistakes will reduce, hands become softer, you don't look up at the defensive line before catching the ball, you are not thinking "i can't make a mistake we will get punished" you are thinking with a relaxed mindset and confident in your abilities.
We still lack the fitness levels of the top teams to always have confidence we can stay in the grind and compete, that we won't drop off the cliff too quickly when things go against us, but in saying that we have improved in this department also.
I think if Manly can go injury free(almost impossible) for the rest of the season we can win most games if the energy levels can hold up, but i fear the drop off in about 2-3 game time and Manly will resemble the early season form again.
Garrick is a danger now at FB and not just filling in, Davey hole running, Foran looking comfortable ballplaying as ever on the left and taking the line on often, Haumole a danger on the right, Paseka running with gusto and unstoppable with this mindset, Walker threatening the middle and offering ballplaying variety also, Croker strong in defence and building some running game off the back of better go forward, there is a lot to like about the improvements.
Now if we can get DCE to keep improving his directness, Schuster to build some fitness and spark off the bench and the forwards running with continued direct punch the season is not lost just yet, the players just need to believe a bit more in themselves.
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