Worst side Ever. Congratulations

[EOL now nesting on the GC]

Yep just interesting reviewing the comments - lots of Silvertailers cringing right now as they re-read what they said and

Yep the deathriding and at times the outright hope of us losing and joy when we lost because in their small mind that proved Des could not coach, he was a dud, the Club management were hopeless etc etc was just completely pathetic. Gee I certainly had my say on which players I thought needed to be moved on at the end of the year and 7 weeks later I can admit that I was now wrong on most of those calls. But I always said we would come out of it and that Des knew way more than what we did. I always had hope and always believed the turnaround would come. I am a Manly man through and through and will always believe in this club. I do note that most of those deathriders have been very very quiet in their comments - many have disappeared altogether - hiding in the shadows waiting to "gloat" when we lose another few games in a row. This Club is not perfect, Des is not perfect and nor do I ever claim to know it all because I am a gibberer like the rest on here. But I will always support this club and when there is an experienced coach like Des... well as I have said many times... he knows far far more than any of us keyboard warriors.

Here here. Well said.

 

[EOL now nesting on the GC]

With the aid of injuries in critical areas as well it may be suggested

And perhaps not by just a much a chance.

 

[EOL now nesting on the GC]

Yep... makes sense....

He is getting older and obviously his thinking has slowed down... after all he had the last 12 rounds of 2020 to work out Suli, GoJetSki, Sirro and Boyle cant hold a candle to Harper, Guac, Schu and Sips but it took injuries to get him across the line...

If you get bored again you could trawl for the hundres of posts calling for those blokes inclusion... of cause that may not fit your narrative...

End of last year was tough yes. Beginning of this year was tough yes.

But if you think thise 4 kids you mentioned changed the season for us you are dreaming. Tom rerurning changed the season for us. The players starting to believe in the new defence structure changed the season for us. Combinations changed the season for us.

On the calling out point. Given ive had to listen to the perpetual moaning and bitching of some on here me pulling up a thread for discussion sounds fair doesnt it. If you are 100% behind your tboughts and comments then it shouldnt matter should it?

 

[EOL now nesting on the GC]

How do you know that the criticism from everyone didn't have an impact. Saab said it himself.. that all the criticism and even from his father.. made him man up and kick into gear. Make people own up to their actions. It's not always unicorns and rainbows.

You are having a laugh if you think playera respond to criticism from keyboard warriors and the like.
From his father Yes. From his coach yes.
From me or you? He couldnt give a rats arse.

 

[Kevinward777]

You are having a laugh if you think playera respond to criticism from keyboard warriors and the like.
From his father Yes. From his coach yes.
From me or you? He couldnt give a rats arse.

Really? Damn! I've been telling anyone who will listen that Croker's form reversal was the result of my posts on Silvertails. Croker lifted his game a week after I posted that he was the worse nine in the comp.

 

[frank stokes]

But if you think thise 4 kids you mentioned changed the season for us you are dreaming. Tom rerurning changed the season for us.

Tom has added a LOT in offence and defence - he has been immense... but those 4 kids have been huge for us, particularly Harper and Guac defending on the edge...

GoJetski and Suli were massive liabilities for us defensively - not just missed tackles but poor reads...

Anyways the team is playing with passion, the boys are defending like troopers and I have been proud of the effort put in by all 17 (and occasionally 18) players in our recent games so I dont really give 2 sh*ts how we got here, I am just happy that that Manly side from weeks 1-4 is a distant memory atm...

 

[Rosko]

To be fair... I dont think @KaZa was wrong at the time...

our team's effort weeks 1-4 was unacceptable and future results do not negate that imo...

I am happy to apologise, grovel, self flagellate or get flogged by @EoL, but not to agree @KaZa was wrong. He described exactly what we had seen for 14 games.
And hope like hell we never see again. Ever.

 

[eaglebuzz]

The thing that worries me is that if you take Tommy out of this team and throw players like Suli and Jetski back in, how excited will you be to watch them play?

The side we have running out week to week now is far better than the side that played rounds 1-4.

 

[master blaster]

The thing is, in the past if we copped a flogging like that, we would bounce back the next week. Well that aint happening anymore, the bounce has gone

Thank goodness I was wrong here. Hey I already posted that I ate humble pie and was to do it and be proved wrong. I love my Sea Eagles, always will through thick and thin, through the good times and bad times. I guess its the Maroon and White blood that rushes through my veins

 

[manlyfan76]

It was not just 4 games.

Tom got injured in Round 6 of 2020. Since then, until the end of Round 4 2021, we played 18 matches and lost 15 of them (!). We missed the finals. Tom got re-injured twice in that period without playing a whole game. Minimal team changes were being made especially at the start of this year.

Yes I get that some people went a bit over the top in their criticism... I personally found that calling for a massive clean-out was premature, because something was obviously wrong in the team that was making otherwise decent first-graders look like they never trained together, or continually drop the ball.

I just find it odd that we are now deciding that, at a point when we had lost 15 of our last 18 games... that the players and coach are not fair game for criticism on a football forum...

You cannot sugar coat those facts.
3/18
1/12

Horrible win /loss worthy of the label worst team ever.

 

[Waz13]

But again its impossible to know if it was just tommy returning or if the new blood made all the difference.

Say the team hadn't had those injuries and Tommy returned and we still went on this run. We will never know.

We also started the winning streak with Tom not in the side v a warriors side that wasn’t traveling the worst at the time. The losses we had were also against 3 of the top teams at full strength and a dragons team away that started fast and was high on confidence.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

You cannot sugar coat those facts.

I can confirm from personal experience that you can put sugar on pretty much anything.

 

[manlyfan76]

I can confirm from personal experience that you can put sugar on pretty much anything.

Lol. The kennel forum is proving that atm

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Because death riding and calling out mediocrity- well actually WORSE than mediocrity - are the same thing...

You accept 12 weeks of sh*t football and then having the same team trotted out for the worst 4 opening rounds of a season all you like....

I am gonna call it what it is... F*CKING EMBARRASSING...

This is a great point AND exactly what happened.

Let’s face it injuries forced Des’s hand in round 5 AND we won.

Tom returned round 6 I think.

and we weren’t “ death riding “ we were just understandably ****ing pissed off!

 

[Woodsie]

Because death riding and calling out mediocrity- well actually WORSE than mediocrity - are the same thing...

You accept 12 weeks of sh*t football and then having the same team trotted out for the worst 4 opening rounds of a season all you like....

I am gonna call it what it is... F*CKING EMBARRASSING...

I agree 100% .. my view at the time, and said so often ... was that unlike the rants saying that we had a shiite team with shiite players who should never play 1st grade ... I was saying that I believe we had a top 6 roster, and that I had seen all the players bagged play good 1st grade games previously ...

Therefore my point was always WHY are they ALL playing like shiite now. Not one or two out of form, but all of them along with our structures and patterns ... That was always the $64,000 question for me ... and one I still haven't seen adequately answered .. and no, I don't have the answer either ...

 

[Tragic Eagle]

I cannot understand how anyone can fail to see the monumental effect that Turbo has on this side. I have never seen a player that has the effect that he has on those playing around him. He is tremendous both on and off the ball. He is constantly terrorizing the the opposition defence close to the ruck and out wide. He works very hard communicating with our players in defence and sets a very thigh standard. He raises the players confidence and belief sky high. Yes players have improved and yes we now have the right players on the field but Tommy is the essential ingredient. We will become Melbourne like when we can perform at the high level in his absence. I haven't see it yet.

 

[frank stokes]

I cannot understand how anyone can fail to see the monumental effect that Turbo has on this side. I have never seen a player that has the effect that he has on those playing around him. He is tremendous both on and off the ball. He is constantly terrorizing the the opposition defence close to the ruck and out wide. He works very hard communicating with our players in defence and sets a very thigh standard. He raises the players confidence and belief sky high. Yes players have improved and yes we now have the right players on the field but Tommy is the essential ingredient. We will become Melbourne like when we can perform at the high level in his absence. I haven't see it yet.

I think EVERYONE realizes his impact... but whilst he may inspire his teammates that does not provide any excuse for what our side served up against the dragqueens or in rounds 1-3...

Personally I think one of the other posters nailed it when they said that the passion being shown currently is reminiscent of the R1 Blacktown game which many of our change players were involved in...

 

[Woodsie]

I cannot understand how anyone can fail to see the monumental effect that Turbo has on this side. I have never seen a player that has the effect that he has on those playing around him. He is tremendous both on and off the ball. He is constantly terrorizing the the opposition defence close to the ruck and out wide. He works very hard communicating with our players in defence and sets a very thigh standard. He raises the players confidence and belief sky high. Yes players have improved and yes we now have the right players on the field but Tommy is the essential ingredient. We will become Melbourne like when we can perform at the high level in his absence. I haven't see it yet.

I will happily concede that Turbo is a very big part of why we win games, and also why we lose games when he is absent ... but I can't accept his mere absence makes good footballers turn into park players, drop the ball, miss tackles, forget the defensive structures and become easy beats. ... not just one of them .. all of them .. for 15 games straight.

 

[Kevinward777]

I will happily concede that Turbo is a very big part of why we win games, and also why we lose games when he is absent ... but I can't accept his mere absence makes good footballers turn into park players, drop the ball, miss tackles, forget the defensive structures and become easy beats. ... not just one of them .. all of them .. for 15 games straight.

Thankfully that's in the past and we are back on track. Just like we were in 2019 during our Turbo-less finals run. Go Manly!

 

[47MVEagle]

Perhaps the players were still coming to terms with the loss of Keith Titmuss in the first few rounds?