What's needed to get us to the next level??

[Eagles4Life]

What's needed to get us to the next level? Promoting from within, further developing young talent from outside (Bullemore, Myers et al), pretty much what we are doing right now actually. What we don't need to do is pay overs to outside "guns", for minimal or zero gain.

 

[manly al]

going to struggle to win any game with less then 40 % possession , as occurred in particular in some crucial games last season Getting into the grind is a great aim but not going to manage it with only limited possession and regularly or consequently then on the back foot

 

[jbb/james]

my opinion on next level

the jake at first receiver is dying or at least killing us. im not against it but it gets flogged too much as he does not inspire fear in the defence as he ambles across the park picking up runners, giving defence time to settle and fan out. It doesnt make our halves hungry enough either as they wait there turn. just too pedestrian in the crucial ruck areas

the pack is young and finding itself but will need to quickly as its mainly the same pack. bullemore is no certain starter jn the 17 with des the loyal. i would like to see maybe jason king come in and talk to the manly pack every couple of months about adding aggression to the game. he is the classic example of reacting to criticism of being a little light weight but went crazy WWE **** for a few years to improve his starch. i think this pack is staying together so it needs to be a pack decision rather than 1 or 2 players. a wall of aggression is best

our play

there is always the argument of free flowing footy v structure with a solid combination the most favoured of all. in my opinion we are neither. Tom provides us with free flowing unencumbered freedom to play but the other 16 guys develop quick sand shoes when he is not in control. our structure as an attacking unit , cohesive, all on the same page stuff is pretty awful. despite having the best kicker our overall kicking game is pretty average also with way to many mid field bombs offering nothing to the ends of our sets. to me this doesnt give us much of an identity as a team other than opportunists and we need to introduce more plays that make us likely to decide our own outcomes against other contenders

more control, repeat sets , and more respect for ball and field position overall. as well as a kicker prepared to take on the defence to improve our kicking options to gain advantage for the defence. this is the single biggest issue. we harp on that defence target DCE because its predictable that he get the ball but i offer his kick prep is predictable as he searches for a cosy option to hoik up the bomb uncontested to often.

our kick game often looks 3rd option after kitchen sink doesnt work and probably is our best untapped weapon as well as a way for DCE to stamp his mark on the teams fortunes in a calmer more reliable way

imagine nathan cleary running us last year. our pack would have been tested less under fatigue and faired far better id suggest overall. if we cant buy him we need to introduce more of the skills sets he has to the manly table as we lack them . all teams do . This mentality is the grind we speak of. its like test match cricket to T20 and we have glen maxwell opening bat in the test team and while he is freakish......................eh

look tbh des looked like he was coaching for his top 4 bonus as we never really started playing like the big boys do. we were the entertainment to the main spectacle and everyone got a piece of cake

 

[lsz]

For me it what the “other” players do when teams focus on turbo

 

[##fanboy88]

Attack given the opportunity we are as good as any team. Perhaps you could argue our game plan against all teams including top team of trying to out score our opponent and playing risky free flowing footy lead to more error and that's what cost us.

Again attack we are good
Slow defense out wide (tied forwards moving out wide) is a problem
Too many handling error to win big games is a problem

 

[Ralphie]

We need a Hooker & a Josh Perry. It was the addition of Josh Perry in 2008 that took the forward pack to another level. We just need Fainu free to play and we need to find that Josh Perry player.

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

A blue chip middle forward and strike centre

Would love it if young guys like Sione Fainu and Tolutau Koula stepped up to fill those roles.

 

[manly al]

Paying Marty and Josh Alioia big money to lead from the front and provide that vital platform from the start but based on last season's outcome , would have to be some concern for next season . Marty down on intensity and Alioia injury issues and while quite good briefly , a bit inconsistent at other times when available . Would like to think that Keppie and Paseka at their best and consistent could go close to matching Kite 's and Perry 's efforts around the 2008 era . A bit hopeful but not out of the question .

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

We need a Hooker & a Josh Perry. It was the addition of Josh Perry in 2008 that took the forward pack to another level. We just need Fainu free to play and we need to find that Josh Perry player.

Paseka has been coming along bit by bit over the past few years. Now just needs to find that dominating mindset when he runs on the field. I think he has it in him, if so it's time to let it all out.
Keppie has an aggressive approach and he's also not far off being a dominant front rower.
Neither is quite there yet though.

 

[manly al]

We need a Hooker & a Josh Perry. It was the addition of Josh Perry in 2008 that took the forward pack to another level. We just need Fainu free to play and we need to find that Josh Perry player.

Been out of circulation for a while and good to see you back . How is the mustang going ?

 

[winnyason]

Would love it if young guys like Sione Fainu and Tolutau Koula stepped up to fill those roles.

Ben Turbo another one. Hope nsw cup up and running next season. Alot of these kids Koula, Weekes, Ben turbo,sione fainu, Humphreys need senior game experience

 

[Tragic Eagle]

The grind , that’s where we need to improve , currently we don’t do it !!

WE did it once last year against Parra in Round 1 at Westpac Stadium. But after that they didn't show the ability to grind out a win.

 

[eaglebuzz]

It's all been said, but in order:

• Need a better hooker
• Need to get more out of Jake
• Need more from our centres
• Another good prop wouldn't go astray

 

[davohan123]

It's all been said, but in order:

• Need a better hooker
• Need to get more out of Jake
• Need more from our centres
• Another good prop wouldn't go astray

And that's the reasons you listed I can't see us doing any better in 2022 than what we did this year.

2023 with some free cash is the year I can see us truly contending.

I hope I am proved wrong but we are still too reliant on a few players.

 

[Will on the hill]

P A T I E N C E.

Croker will get better with certainty around his role

Schuster is refining his role on the edge

Foz's confidence in his body in growing

Guac's new found self belief will push him to the next level

Paseka has bought 3 new mirrors and now knows how big he is.

Keppie is about to find the balance between aggression and consistency

Bull and Davey off the bench will light a fire under the entire forward pack

This team has so much improvement in them it's not funny. It's not a matter of how we go to the next level but how many levels we will go up.

 

[court83]

I'm not overly excited going into next year's comp with basically the same team...
You cant win with an average hooker, average 5/8 and basic centres ..
The wingers look great when Tom allows them too and do literally nothing when he's not playing..

We did great to get to 4th spot and spectacularly collapsed when it came down to the business end .
Foran is solid but nothing more
Croker did a solid job nothing more
Parker was solid for 3/4 of the season and below average the other 1/4
Harper was solid for 3/4 of the season and diabolical the other 1/4

We won't be easy beat, but we won't improve on 2021 without the changes needed..

This is all on the condition Tom is fit.. lose him, were cooked...

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I'm not overly excited going into next year's comp with basically the same team...
You cant win with an average hooker, average 5/8 and basic centres ..
The wingers look great when Tom allows them too and do literally nothing when he's not playing..

We did great to get to 4th spot and spectacularly collapsed when it came down to the business end .
Foran is solid but nothing more
Croker did a solid job nothing more
Parker was solid for 3/4 of the season and below average the other 1/4
Harper was solid for 3/4 of the season and diabolical the other 1/4

We won't be easy beat, but we won't improve on 2021 without the changes needed..

This is all on the condition Tom is fit.. lose him, were cooked...

I sort of agree but then disagree slightly.

Croker improved dramatically in 2021 and there’s more improvement I reckon. Does that make him a top 4 hooker, no.

Parker is largely there for defence , and goes ok.

Harpur will be better for the run this year.

Foran doesn’t have to be too shelf , just has to take the pressure off DCE.

I expect an improvement, especially as I see some movement the other way from this years top 3.

Roosters will improve dramatically.

We could easy finish top 2, but yes we need Tom there for the entire year.

 

[Eagle 1]

WE did it once last year against Parra in Round 1 at Westpac Stadium. But after that they didn't show the ability to grind out a win.

We probably didn't need to MT, we dominated so many teams in attack courtesy of Tom and other attacking options in the team. The trouble is, we come unstuck when we make to many errors, and have a low possession %.

 

[madmax]

I sort of agree but then disagree slightly.

Croker improved dramatically in 2021 and there’s more improvement I reckon. Does that make him a top 4 hooker, no.

Parker is largely there for defence , and goes ok.

Harpur will be better for the run this year.

Foran doesn’t have to be too shelf , just has to take the pressure off DCE.

I expect an improvement, especially as I see some movement the other way from this years top 3.

Roosters will improve dramatically.

We could easy finish top 2, but yes we need Tom there for the entire year.

Mark….disagree about Roosters. Too reliant on Keary, Tedesco & Manu. As for Walker & Sualii I have no idea what the hype is about these guys. Sualii did swfa this year after the carry on about him. Walker played a few good games. For mine Roosters might scrape into 6…..

 

[manly al]

Bullemor could well make a difference coming on with opposing packs tiring a bit and if he can measure up in other departments also . Both Walker and Bullemor coming on as X factors may be the way to go ., Like Lawton and would expect two props on the bench as well but in terms of adding another boost for next season , a combination including Walker and Bullemor and coming on at different stages into the mix could be the right ingredient .