2017 - Improvement and memorable moments!

Mitch

Bencher
After a loss like that and the realisation that we won't see the maroon and white until next year, reflection on this season is a natural place to go and I think this season can be one we look back with reasonably fondly.

We had improvements across the park, our new recruits that came with little fan fare played their part admirably, most notably Sironen, Uate and Kelly. But importantly there was improvement from our high profile players in DCE, Taupau, both Trbojevic's (Tom will get even better by tightening up a few things) and Walker.

We leave the season as well with some absolutely brilliant memories - heart stopping wins and demolitions of opposition teams which left us all with a feeling of excitement and hope.

Some of the games below had me absolutely jumping for joy on the hill or in the lounge room.

* Our first win of the season against the Cows. Down on troops and a feeling of absolute relief to get our first points of the season with such a gritty win.

* Thrashing of the Bulldogs at Brookie. The calibre of some of the tries that day showed the talent within this team, and nothing better than beating Des and his dogs.

* The last minute win against the Roosters. Wow. Two centres linking up with less than two minutes to go, I'm sure the jubilation from the team after that try was matched by all of us.

* Golden point in the nations capital. I vividly remember the ups and downs of this game. Rapana going in with 10 to go with what looked like a match winning try only for Tommy to go in and leave Walks with an easy conversion to win it at the death. He misses...Then 40 metres out with the pressure on, off the post and in!

* Pummeling of Souths. After being embarrassed early in the year by them it felt bloody good to hit back at them two fold!

* Golden point at Brookie. Another tight one against the Raiders only for our captain to grab the two points for us with a golden point field goal.

* Victory at Shark Park. Arguably our most complete game of the season, that showed we had a real footy team with some potential on our hands.

* A victory against the Roosters just when we needed it. After beltings from the Dragons and Storm we had to bounce back and we did, emphatically on a glorious Sunday at Brookie.

* Get out of jail against the Warriors. With 5 minutes to go our season was done, finished with disappointment. I'm not sure how we did it but DCE showed his abilities to close out a game with those field goals against the wind.

* Ruthless against the Panthers. After five minutes of watching this game, you knew we were going to take the points. The boys were up for it and they wanted to book their spot in the finals which they did in style.

Yes, I'm disappointed this morning but after it settles, I'll roll the tape and watch a few of these games back and think, bloody hell this team made me happy through much of this season.
 
Good post Mate, still getting over last night but this season gave us some really memorable moments that we haven't had in a long time.

Hopefully some signing news comes in soon so that we have some idea what we can expect next season. Top of the list would be TB, wasn't sure about last season but this season he rode the emotional rollercoaster with the fans and the players are all 100% behind him. The look of hurt on TB's,DCE's and Jake's faces summed up how we felt. That was proper passion and hurt on behalf of Manly
 
Well said Mitch .... my over whelming thought this morning has been excitement about next year .... this wouldn't be the case if I had any doubts about the direction Baz and the boys are going.

Also keen to see if we have any "pick-ups" during the silly season.
 
A very inconsistent team, capable of great patches and woeful capitulations. However, they overachieved for the roster they had, and the lack of quality replacements.
Two things are clear if we are to go further in 2018:
1. We need a reliable goal-kicker
2. We need the Penns to stump up more cash to bribe the off-field officials.
 
Good post Mate, still getting over last night but this season gave us some really memorable moments that we haven't had in a long time.

Hopefully some signing news comes in soon so that we have some idea what we can expect next season. Top of the list would be TB, wasn't sure about last season but this season he rode the emotional rollercoaster with the fans and the players are all 100% behind him. The look of hurt on TB's,DCE's and Jake's faces summed up how we felt. That was proper passion and hurt on behalf of Manly

How could I forget TB, spot on mate. Really impressed with him this year, he obviously is a great leader of men which you can see from the praise he receives from the players. He was hurting just as much, if not more than them last night and hopefully that really drives the club next year.
 
The thing that really improved this year was the team's resilience, week in and week out it was much better. We averaged 6 points a game more and our defense overall was better. Big wins against Easts x 2, Cowpokes away and Sharks away were great performances. Our younger players have another year under their belt and that will help them. I loved the attitude I saw for most of the season and to see them improve after the dire 15 and 16 seasons was wonderful.
 
We all know it's unrealistic to win the competition every year, most years, and even every so often...it's bloody hard to win one. We might get one every 10-20 years...hell, the Eels have gone 30 years without one.

Therefore, you can't approach supporting the club from a premierships won point of view, or just about every year leaves you feeling empty. It's the ride along the way that is most important and when the planets align, you get the icing on the cake (a Premiership).

This years ride has been really enjoyable...winning those tight games is always really satisfying and exciting. It's been a great season. Bring on 2018.
 
I went to 4 home games for 4 wins, including thumping the roosters and Penrith, golden point v Canberra, and a decent win v tigers. So a good brookie experience this year for me, and importantly for my kids, the future fans and Silvertails.
 
This was a great season for a Manly fan, began with such little expectation and produced a number of uplifting results.
In the end we deserved to be in the finals but weren't quite good enough to go on, despite rotten luck last night.
Our team is on the up, I'd say next year we'll be satisfied with nothing less than top 4.
 
Seemed like the whole squad came together down at The Newport today after last nights game for a few quiet drinks.

They really seem like a tight unit, I think this year could be the making of a lot of these players.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Members online

Latest posts

2020 Ladder

Team P W D L PD Pts
1 Bulldogs 10 9 0 1 110 20
2 Warriors 10 8 0 2 5 18
3 Raiders 11 8 0 3 64 16
4 Storm 10 6 0 4 135 14
5 Sharks 11 7 0 4 70 14
6 Sea Eagles 10 5 0 5 38 12
7 Rabbitohs 11 6 0 5 -52 12
8 Cowboys 10 4 1 5 -32 11
9 Broncos 11 5 0 6 42 10
10 Dragons 10 4 0 6 -11 10
11 Roosters 10 4 0 6 -46 10
12 Tigers 11 5 0 6 -54 10
13 Panthers 10 3 1 6 -2 9
14 Dolphins 11 4 0 7 6 8
15 Knights 10 3 0 7 -74 8
16 Eels 10 3 0 7 -99 8
17 Titans 10 3 0 7 -100 8
Back
Top Bottom