Worrying signs of age at Manly

[Darren]

frigg, another 29 year old and who misses out? 20 year old Darcy Lussick, Gallen on form is a great buy but our squad just keeps getting older

Our forward line is quite old and a big concern as no one is 25 or under! 

Ballin 26, Choc 26, Rose 26, Glenn 26, Chris Bailey 27, Kite 28, Perry 28,
King 29 and Gulavou 33! Gallen is 29

I know all this talk about old heads etc but we have no young guys with enthusiasm getting stuck into it.

Our backline isn't the youngest with Brett 25, Matai 25, Lyon 28, Robbo 28,

We do have keiran to come in and maybe trent and hoppa which will help greatly, hoping Tony williams will kick on but older heads have older injuries and this could cause problems as season progresses!!

 

[Garts]

I would rather be stacked with players in their mid to late 20's than be stacked with players in their early 20's with no experience.  Having a number of players around the 26 or 27 mark is no issue at all. 

Besides Darren you are jumping the gun with Gallen, it is just speculation.  Start your crying if he does sign. 

 

[The Wheel]

He hasnt signed yet Darren

 

[Darren]

to be honest, I think he'd be a great signing, current rep player, similar to Choc, looks like Glenn won't play rep anymore so having 2 current rep backrowers in choc and gallen is brilliant, Lussick missing out is a shame, couldn't see us having those 3 plus a second rower in lussick on the bench, gallen is better than glenn, much more impetus and drive.

Have to admit its usually Manly vs Gallen, that game when we flogged them at shark park Gallen was the only one to stand up, would be a great buy but was keen to see Lussick get a start in nrl.

 

[gomanly]

flick gnulavo if we get gallen

 

[King]

frigg, another 29 year old and who misses out? 20 year old Darcy Lussick, Gallen on form is a great buy but our squad just keeps getting older

Our forward line is quite old and a big concern as no one is 25 or under! 

Ballin 26, Choc 26, Rose 26, Glenn 26, Chris Bailey 27, Kite 28, Perry 28,
King 29 and Gulavou 33! Gallen is 29

I know all this talk about old heads etc but we have no young guys with enthusiasm getting stuck into it.

Our backline isn't the youngest with Brett 25, Matai 25, Lyon 28, Robbo 28,

We do have keiran to come in and maybe trent and hoppa which will help greatly, hoping Tony williams will kick on but older heads have older injuries and this could cause problems as season progresses!!

Are you serious? prop forwards don't normally mature until their mid 20's.

Glenn Stewart and Watmough have plenty of time left in the NRL. If Glenn Stewart stays on he will be the future Captain of the club after Jamie Lyon.

My main concern would be re-signing our current squad, including Foran then worry about Gallen. Gallen would be a great asset, but not if we were to lose Glenn or Choco.

 

[Brookvale]

I'd prefer the late 20, the forwards mature and play better footy as they know they only have a few years left in them then play out of their skins.

 

[Darren]

i do understand about the 'older' forward but still think some more youth can help balance the team, Others have also said to me that Glenn's 2008 year was great but hasn't been able to produce that since, hence, his demotion from rep footy, Glenn had an ordinary year at 2nd row and I think we misswed his dynamic defence around the ruck (lock) everytime he ran wide you could see defences target his runners as he couldn't make the break himself so he became abit obvious, at lock he is much better suited but we signed chris bailey so that made it hard for Des, hard 2nd row runners like choc,pritchard, hoffman, gallen, creagh can create havoc out wide, I'm hoping Darcy Lussick can be the same,

I'm hoping for brett, robbo, matai, lyon, wolfman, foran, hodkinson, glenn, choc, lussick, kitey, perry and matt. bench of seuseu, rose, gulavou and king, plus cross/palau

I think that team has a good mixture of youth, speed and size, the bench seems very strong, rose and gulavou could be extra dynamic  

 

[Nutzcraw]

I don't think signing gallen will mean that lussick will miss out.

Gallen would slot straight into the run on side with choc and gifty. Lussick (if up to it) can plod around on the bench for a while. I mean he would anyway... with the calibre of players we have at the moment most young players will find themselves starting from the bench until they prove themselves.

All is not lost for Darcy Lussic if gallen is signed.


I don't think our side is "old" at all.... I believe we are getting to a near perfect mix of youth and experience. Kite, King etc are at the peak of their careers (age wise) IMO props don't do their best work til they are near 30.

With We are going to need the experience of lyon and robbo more than ever this year as we will almost certainly have a rookie 7 and maybe 6.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

lol, 1 over 30 and we are an old side Darren ?

Most of the squad have a good 4-5 years left in them at least at a good level

Personally I would prefer to see a group with a bigger majority of mid twenties players still playing good footy than chopping them for a token 19-20year old that isn't ready for it yet

 

[Darren]

but not all 'older" players hit their peak, kite and perry all year were ordinary, glenn hall the same, yet king had a great year, in our top 13, we have 1 definite player under 25, david williams and then probably Foran, I think we are a tad top heavy with age, as injuries affect older players more harshly, as we saw this year eg king, matai, lyon, I think it's a concern but we will see. 

 

[SilentBob]

Maybe we could be like Canberra, they've been rebuilding since Stuart and Clyde went to the Dogs, worked well for them.

 

[Pepi]

Age and injuries do not necessarily correlate.
Our older players - Kite, Perry, King, Orford barely missed a game last year. Brett Stewart on the other hand (a young player) nearly the whole season, not to mention Hopoate who was injured regularly in the Toyota cup.

Guys like Ballin, Choc, Gift all have a good 5 or 6 years in them.


Edit - Lussick looks like he could be a special player, under the right guidance. Looks like a real athlete with a huge motor. Would rather see how he goes before signing any more backrowers.

 

[Moops]

Maybe we could be like Canberra, they've been rebuilding since Stuart and Clyde went to the Dogs, worked well for them.

Yeah but Canberra haven't been able to hang on to their young stars as living in Canberra is not at all inviting. Each time they bring in a good, young kid, he is poached by another club. What can you do about this as a club?

 

[Matabele]

[quote author=SilentBob link=topic=182203.msg247968#msg247968 date=1261454638]
Maybe we could be like Canberra, they've been rebuilding since Stuart and Clyde went to the Dogs, worked well for them.

Yeah but Canberra haven't been able to hang on to their young stars as living in Canberra is not at all inviting. Each time they bring in a good, young kid, he is poached by another club. What can you do about this as a club?
[/quote]  Relocate to Gosford.

 

[Shire Eagle]

Darren,
          Not sure why you are worried about age when most of these guys are only 26. Its young when it comes to prop forwards and back rowers. In 3-4 years time it may be an issue, but you cant beat experience. Look at guys like Webke, Petero & pricey. These guys only hit their peak at 30.

Yes the young guys might have the enthusiam but usually not the brains. Look what happened as soon as beaver left the eagles.

You cant have enough experience these days. Im 32 and far from old but when I look at these footballers who are only 26 I feel old.

 

[Darren]

some great points, I just looked at our 2010 team and felt it looked a tad old, I do agree the Menzies experience has been a huge loss and we haven't really recovered

 

[Darren]

well after tonight, the speed of the tigers got to us in the end, some of our older players went quiet in the 2nd half, matai, kite, perry etc. We need some youngsters in there to give more enthusiasm. Consider Hokko, lussick, buhrer, hoppa, we don't look look like we could attack like tiges did, made us look slow and pedestrian, we were trying to hang on in 2nd half, not a good sign!!

 

[Garts]

We are not a old side.  Only need one of those players in the side in Hodgo.  Maybe Hoppa if Stewart is out for a while.  They were tired as they kept giving a penalties and field position.  If you think some younger players would have stopped that you are dreaming. 

 

[Darren]

I've never seen us capitulate like that tonight, and against the Tigers who ain't premiership contenders, when you look at our attack, matai cant score, nor can tony w, nor will lyon and farrar, leaves robbo, stewie and maybe foran.

When the pace got stepped up tonight, we were left floundering, 4 tries in 18 minutes doesn't sound like a team on the ball in my opinion. We are full of experienced older players and are lacking in some youth, our 2 centres would be the slowest for many years in our club, and you can pull out any of our 4, matai, lyon,tony and farrar.  I don't reckon these 4 would score more than 12-15 tries combined all year.