MANLY coach Des Hasler has declared his team is ready to shake the minor premiers off their pedestal, but he could be doing it without star forward Anthony Watmough.

The powerful Sea Eagles second-rower failed to complete a training session at the Sydney Sports Academy in Narrabeen yesterday.

Watmough has not trained all week and gave his troublesome ankle a little test yesterday morning, but it didn’t go to plan, placing him in serious doubt for tomorrow’s daunting semi-final against the Dragons at Kogarah Oval.

“Watmough pulled up short ... he’s 50-50,” Hasler revealed yesterday afternoon. “He didn’t get through the session.”

The coach said Watmough and young five-eighth Kieran Foran (shoulder) will be given until Sunday morning to prove they can get through 80 minutes tomorrow.

Foran has also not trained all week and is expected to give his shoulder a workout today.

“They are still long shots, but we’ll give them as long as we can,” Hasler said.

“Everyone else is OK.”

Which is a blessing for Hasler, who is still coming to grips with the casualty and suspension tally disrupting his team, with a long line of representative players unavailable or in doubt.

Among them are Brett Stewart, David Williams, Jason King, Steve Matai and Glenn Stewart.

When asked how he could prepare a team with such a terrible lead-up, Hasler said: “They have been training together all year, they know what’s going on.

“They are up for it, we are still fielding a pretty competitive side.”

Winger Michael Robertson, fit as the day he scored three tries in the 2008 grand final win over Melbourne, agreed with his coach.

“The squad has been around ... it’s business as usual,” he said.

“No one is expecting us to do much, we’ll see what happens. No one likes to be written off.”

Not even distant outsiders.

http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/watmough-in-doubt-for-showdown-with-saints/