good post. Nice footy talkYea I agree, the problem with Manly for the past few years is that we have selected to many "meatheads" of forwards who just try to run hard and tackle hard without adopting to the new style of play through rule changes with an emphasis on ruck speed and mobility. For teams to be successful these days you need a mobile and speedy hooker, lock and at least 2 bench forwards.
I know there is minimal top quality mobile locks currently on the market but the only options currently is ryan matterson who suits manly style of attacking mindset but we probably won't have salary to purchase him so a swap would have to occur.
But the ideal signing that would be most likely would be Connor Watson to play as a ball playing lock off the bench who's currently off contract. I know doubt from signing Watson maybe that it distracts from the minutes Gordy and Croker, as well as you won't want these 3 playing together at the same time because one would basically have to be playing front row.
But this is an estimated prediction of how they can play together.
8. Paseka - 40 mins
9. Croker - First 50 mins at hooker
10. Lodge - 35 mins (Aloiai) -
11. Olakuau'ata - 80
12. Schuster (burbo) - 80
13. Jake - 60 mins - First 20 mins at lock then 20-40 and 60-80 at front row
14. Gordy - Last 30 mins at hooker
15. Sipley - 20 mins 60-80 (Brown, James)
16. Bullemor 25 mins (Waddell) - Both can play backrow if there is injury
17. Watson - Next 60 mins at lock - Can play centre if there is injury to outside backs.
The problem of Manly lately has been that they don't maximise the use of their bench and they rely to heavily of their starting 13. This is where players like Jake have been playing 80 mins where he is fatigued and gives sloppy set restarts and can't effectively engage defenders when playing first receiver in attack - he should be playing 60 minutes.
Additionally, for the bigger forwards like Paseka, lodge, Sipley, Aloiai, potentially Brown and James if they play is that we need to take them off earlier giving them maximum 40 mins giving them short sharp stints.
The focus here is gaining faith in the team that players can play at a higher intensity and play shorter minutes and we utilize our bench more in games instead of 2 people playing less then 10 mins every game.
Doing this combined with signings of more athletic and mobile forwards will help with our line speed and reduce errors through less fatigue by tiring forwards.
Overall, I like Seibold's coaching style and believe he is striving towards this plan through his focus on creating "competition for spots". I know fans out there are frustrated that we aren't signing many marquee stars but instead a lot of solid players that will battle out of spots. Because Ultimately the standards in the team are driven by the players who are missing out resulting in all players motivated to maintain or earn a spot instead of a large gap between starting squad and NSW Cup team.
Keen for thoughts...
i believe manlys playing style and pack of forwards have been at odds for years and have mentioned it a fair few times. something had to change and while i figured our style would be quicker than mass personal changes, finally something is starting to give
Is there enough cap space and talent available is still to be determined to make this effective in the short term i suppose. Im not sure that matters as we had done 13th to death
Let me start by throwing my weight behind a hooker that is in line with the NRL standards in the twenty twenties. . i like the thought of another attacking threat but we are pretty stacked with attacking threats,if we get our game in order, we just rarely convert into competition points, and in turn the confidence and belief a string of wins brings a side.
manly also need a clutch of gutsy wins against decent opponents to rid itself of the flat tack bully tag that it owns with distinction for the same reasons
my main concern is after watching manly for the last 5 years i feel the fans are a little hoodwinked in that we believe more points is the only way to progress and convert goodgame positions into wins. we throw away great leads far too often by throwing all the winnings on red hoping the opposition crumbles rather than showing a resilient front
A sharp hooker that engages may help us put the sword to teams when we have the foot on the throats but our underbelly is tontine soft.
we lack players that can steer the ship , when they hear the footsteps chasing them down. a player that knows the journey to success through resolve.
good hookers cost coin and IMO we need a leader who can steer that ship more. If gordon progresses we should be able to afford him and frog for a few seasons but i wouldnt be chasing a harry grant as example
frog only having one more season and only signing a 1 year extension makes you wonder about his future at the eagles though