2018 still a young team

[manlyfan76]

Looking at our team we are still really young. These guys have a good window to mould into that premiership force. I have only looked at those who have already played grade but we have 12 who are 25 and under!

Age at end of 2018 season:

Turbo 22
Taufua 26
Walker 24
Kelly 22
Uate 32
Green 33
DCE 29
Jake 24
Siro 25
Winterstein 31
Tapow 28
Api 26
Addin 22

Lussick 29
Perrit 24
Brown 32
Lane 23
Hastings 22
Cullen 24
Bainbridge 20
Parker 21

 

[Fluffy]

yep, we have a few players who started very young - Jake, Walker, TT and Parker were 19, Bainbridge 18, AFB, Lane and Siro 20.

You don't crack it that young without something, it just takes time for that something to become the norm for most.

 

[smithy]

There will be a few changes to that squad. Obviously we have pick up Gosiewski who fits that age bracket but have lost Bainbridge and will more than likely see Hastings move on.

 

[Harvies elbow]

There will be a few changes to that squad. Obviously we have pick up Gosiewski who fits that age bracket but have lost Bainbridge and will more than likely see Hastings move on.

We've lost Bainbridge???
Have heard nothing of it....

 

[Tragic Eagle]

If we don’t get Moylan I hope we keep Hastings! I think he oozes talent.

 

[Deleted member 26876]

There will be a few changes to that squad. Obviously we have pick up Gosiewski who fits that age bracket but have lost Bainbridge and will more than likely see Hastings move on.

Who'd Bainbridge sign with?

 

[Eagles2nv]

We gave Bainbridge a debut in Rd26, surely we intend on keeping him?

 

[maxta]

Good point - similar to Smokin Joes recent thread.
Have a young crop giving much optimism going forward...don’t leave our gate open looking for random big signings and lose ours who may well be better than them in the future.
The shrewd Marquee player is welcome, but only to fill a missing piece - not just because they are big name players.
For those who are not over 40 - like this old dog - in the 1980’s Manly had several internationals in reserve grade due to 2-3 rep players in every position...No Salary cap then.
Point is we were beaten Eels who had a solid willing pack and star backline...but little depth.
They simply had a better balance, with Quality in key positions blended with whole hearted solid players who played as a team for each other - the point is - buying big names - Titans/Hayne - can actually disrupt a team...and it’s a Team that wins - not a player.

 

[smithy]

We've lost Bainbridge???
Have heard nothing of it....

Bainbridge isn't being re-signed. Don't know if he has found a new club or not.

 

[Harvies elbow]

Bainbridge isn't being re-signed. Don't know if he has found a new club or not.

That's a shame. Was looking forward to seeing his game develop.
He's had some injuries, maybe something to do with that.

 

[sheridanstand78]

2017 was all about getting in some guys who wanted to be at the club and build a team that is aligned with the culture of our club. In a big way, this was achieved and you saw TB impose his style of coaching on an impressionable young group of players.

2018 is a different challenge, to improve the position of this season and for some of our younger players to lift and improve their performances. The team has some weaknesses and hopefully, the recruitment we see starts to address them, especially we some workers in our pack and improve our overall defence. I think that team needs to play smarter without the ball and we need to learn to hang in there when things are going against us and not leak the points we did in the last 2 months of the comp.

We need wingers who can deal with bombs and make us a threat when we are attacking, we don't score many tries from bombs but heck we concede plenty!!

I hope we learn soon about what the frigging NRL is going to do about this salary cap investigation as we are in the dark right now and its hard to do planning until we know the outcome.

I expect further improvement in 2018 and it will be a good achievement to get to the finals again. One thing for sure its a hell of a lot better than the 2015 and 2016 seasons!!