What's exciting and what's a concern for season ahead ?

[winnyason]

Mine first off
Exciting - Tom t fully fit and at fullback, a genuine 6, Dce with point to prove, Dylan walker in centres and Jake only getting better.
Concern - wingers that come across as flakey, seem to hoping for bj turn back clock 4 seasons, a lot of young blokes not genuine first graders as yet siro, perrett, lane, hastings, centre spot who plays there and a number 9 who got serious question marks

 

[manlyfan76]

Exciting is the turbo brothers and DCE having a half partner and ( hopefully) some forwards.
Concern is Barrett's coaching. Is he going to be a good tactician? Will he be able to gel the new players and pick the best 17 each week?

 

[winnyason]

Exciting is the turbo brothers and DCE having a half partner and ( hopefully) some forwards.
Concern is Barrett's coaching. Is he going to be a good tactician? Will he be able to gel the new players and pick the best 17 each week?

Agree he coaching came across as poor

 

[HoldenV8]

My biggest concern is the thought that Api is the #1 hooker / dummy half. I really hope he proves me wrong and brains them this year, but after seeing his woeful attempts at passing last year....I am worried, very worried. I'm not doubting his heart as a player, but I do hope like hell that he has spent the pre-season working on his passing from dummy half.

What am I excited about? There are a few. I'm hoping to see DCE return to the form that took him to a premiership, the Churchill Medal and an Australian jumper. Having a proven 5/8 in Blake Green beside him rather than a converted centre like Dylan Walker should go a long way towards that.

I'm also excited to see what Tom Trbojevic can do at fullback with 2 good legs. He brained them last year on one so what will he do on two? Unfortunately that would mean that we've seen the last of Snake in the #1 jumper, but I think by now most of us expect him to retire within a month or so.

Just on Barrett, I think he can be a good coach IF he is actually allowed to coach the side the way he wants to.

 

[Dan]

exciting is I may be able to be present for the first game of the season 🙂 if my schedule puts me in Sydney rather than Perth or Auckland then I might see a few of you on the hill!

 

[maxta]

Authority up front
Jake a genuine champion, but young.......
Can't see too much intimidation bar 2 maybe 3 & you can bet opposition coaches will send the troops straight down the middle early.....
It's a given the shining lights wil be T Bros & DCE with a handy 5/8 now here....but the X factors imo are Hastings who can add old school mongrel & competitive spirit & Lane, who will add much needed thrust on the edges, also Uate who still has more in the tank.

 

[davohan123]

Excited: That summer is coming to an end and the footy is back on.

Also just excited that we get to see manly run around at brookvale oval again this season.. I think a lot of us supporters take this for granted, getting to at least one game at brookvale oval live makes the season for me.

Concerned: I think the whole season scares me. I can see us being more competitive than previous 2 years but still falling way short 10-12th finished position... Anything higher on the table would be a bonus for me.

Think we are still 2-3 years away from really being competitive again and being top 4 material, missing 2 quality props and a decent centre.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Excited: That summer is coming to an end and the footy is back on.

Also just excited that we get to see manly run around at brookvale oval again this season.. I think a lot of us supporters take this for granted, getting to at least one game at brookvale oval live makes the season for me.

Concerned: I think the whole season scares me. I can see us being more competitive than previous 2 years but still falling way short 10-12th finished position... Anything higher on the table would be a bonus for me.

Think we are still 2-3 years away from really being competitive again and being top 4 material, missing 2 quality props and a decent centre.

Pretty much nailed what I'm thinking as well.

I'm happy that the cricket is over ( although I do watch the Big Bash every night so it's no wonder), and looking forward to the " real" footy starting in about 6 weeks.

But very concerned at the fact I think we will have ( by our standards) another disappointing year, 10th to 12th at best I feel.

 

[pjayz]

Exciting:
Depth in the halves. Last year we had one genuine half and when he went down we had Api and Walker together. This year we have Green who will control the team and allow DCE to play a more ad-lib running game. If either go down, we have two genuine halves to take their place in Hastings and Cullen - this is a massive plus in my book.

Forward depth has improved (not perfect, but better) with some big bodies and I expect an even better year from Lussick, Tapau and Jake.

Concerns:
The improved forward depth is with either hit or miss players. We have already lost one, and are left with Perrett, Lane, Sironen, Hoppa, Kennedy, Bainbridge and even Amone - surely two or three can come good.

Centre/wings - one of the biggest weak spots we have had over the last 2/3 years. Teams have attacked our edges, running or bombing constantly with great success. Whoever we put here will need to be able to do a better job than in the past. Jorge and Uate are known to be weak under the high ball - so do Parker and Kelly (or possibly Schuster) get a shot instead at some point in the year?

 

[Bearfax]

I'm excited that we seem to be heading towards having far more speed out wide, and fast players with good steps and clever styles. I'm hoping Kelly is good enough for firsts, though they may try him initially on the wing. I'm hoping young Tom Wright moves up towards years end as a winger initially when Kelly adapts to centre. I'm hoping Uate gets some of his brilliance back. At 29 he's got a few years left. Maybe even Omar S. out wide. Along with Tom T. and Walker, that group could make us the fastest outside backline in the comp with a much better halves combination with Green and DCE setting them up.

 

[Frank]

I find it difficult to get excited about our season when I'm too concerned about our coach. I have absolutely zero faith in his ability.

I won't be slitting my wrists any time soon though. That concern is slowly dissipating as apathy for the upcoming season starts to set in. In almost 50 years supporting this club I have never not given a fucek about our seasons as much as i have about last season and the upcoming one.

In case you're wondering. That includes the Northern Eagles era.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I find it difficult to get excited about our season when I'm too concerned about our coach. I have absolutely zero faith in his ability.

I won't be slitting my wrists any time soon though. That concern is slowly dissipating as apathy for the upcoming season starts to set in. In almost 50 years supporting this club I have never not given a fucek about our seasons as much as i have about last season and the upcoming one.

In case you're wondering. That includes the Northern Eagles era.

I think those days were far more grim mate, we had Beaver and virtually no one else of note.

I understand your concern over Barrett, but he experienced the perfect storm in 2016, if we can just get a run with mostly the same side on the paddock for a month or two he might go ok.

I think you need to reserve judgement until that happens.

We've got some stars , some potential stars and some good kids coming through, it's way different to NE days!

 

[Woodsie]

Exciting.

Given that I am not expecting to win the comp this year, what is exciting me is the potential for 4/5 of the new recruits to stand up and cement themselves as the backbone we need to add a couple of stars to in 2018 to be contenders. We have Tom/Jake/DCE/Kapow we just need the support staff.

Concerns.

None, any failures will be quickly moved on.

Expectations.

7th to 10th.

 

[Chip and Chase]

Excited - Tommy Turbo at full fitness - keen to see what this kid can do on two legs.

Concerned - The complete lack of experience in this squad. We've lost Killer, and from all reports Snake and Skivvi look unlikely to play - there's 700+ NRL games worth of experience we won't have. Who provides the cool head and the leadership ? DCE has shown that he struggles with that part of his game, so I don't know who is going to step up. Nate Myles ?? Lewis Brown ?? they are the only ones to play 150+ games.

 

[Bearfax]

I'm expecting 5th to 10th. I think they can meld into a competitive outfit and when you consider last year with a weaker squad, injuries and a new coach and yet they were a slight chance of reaching the 8 late in the season, I think with this squad, another injury plagued season will take them out to 10th and a top season to 5th. I expect 7th or 8th

 

[The Who]

I'm super excited about sitting in the luxurious new stand on the eastern hill that has been promised.
It will be ready for the start of the 2017 season, won't it?

 

[Ralphie]

I find it difficult to get excited about our season when I'm too concerned about our coach. I have absolutely zero faith in his ability.

I won't be slitting my wrists any time soon though. That concern is slowly dissipating as apathy for the upcoming season starts to set in. In almost 50 years supporting this club I have never not given a fucek about our seasons as much as i have about last season and the upcoming one.

In case you're wondering. That includes the Northern Eagles era.

I completely agree Frank. We will field a team over $1 million less than other teams with Snake & Skivvy on the sidelines. We also will have lost Killer & I am very pessimistic. Barrett can't coach & the squad is weak. My goal for 2017 is to avoid the spoon & get rid of Barrett.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Somewhere between 10th-14th is probably the best we can hope for , we don't have the experience to really get any higher.

Thoughts of 5th-7th I think is being very very optimistic, but stranger things have happened.

 

[BOZO]

I'm so EXCITED, and I just can't hide it
I'm about to lose control and I think I like it !!!
I like to see the Turbos fully fit and firing
I like Walker at his brilliant best at centre
I like DCE and believe will thrive with the captaincy
I like Green a proven 5/8
I like the Katastrophic Kapow and all the young up and coming forwards and backs that have been given an opportunity by our club to unleash their potential and fly high like Sea eagles
I like that our team will be out to prove all the pessimistic people wrong
I like being a proud Manly Sea eagle true believer supporter

 

[BOZO]

I couldn't help but read that to the tune.... 🙂

Good to see that you have rhythm feathered friend 🙂