2026 Team possibilities

[Top End Eagle]

I'd like to see a real clean out with DCE leaving, giving seibold a chance to have his own team or leave at the end of the year.

Koula
Saab
Hopoate
Turbo
Talau

Brooks
Fogarty

Navale
Ola
....?
Paseka
Simpkin
....?

Ben T (covers backs)
Jake (for forty minutes tightening up either side of halftime, can hopefully have a similar impact as his twenty minutes bules appearances last year where he tackled everything in maroon shorts
Bullemore
.....?

Hopefully the team gets a bit more direction and fewer kicks on the first, and sideline squishing with Fogarty instead of DCE.

Like to see what people's thoughts are. Especially with regard to the gaps.

That's not a top 4 team on paper but plenty of lesser names in teams doing well currently.

I will still watch the team go around but I have no confidence in them this year.

They looked great at the start of the year that feels like a lifetime ago now.

This will be a rebuild but a chance to set the club up for the juniors coming through in the halves and hooker and players like Willet etc to be blooded for a 2028/2029 window.





Koula adds more from fullback attack wise but Lehi is safe as houses, I could live with either but I think with Tom to play centre

 

[Eagle 1]

I'd like to see a real clean out with DCE leaving, giving seibold a chance to have his own team or leave at the end of the year.

Koula
Saab
Hopoate
Turbo
Talau

Brooks
Fogarty

Navale
Ola
....?
Paseka
Simpkin
....?

Ben T (covers backs)
Jake (for forty minutes tightening up either side of halftime, can hopefully have a similar impact as his twenty minutes bules appearances last year where he tackled everything in maroon shorts
Bullemore
.....?

Hopefully the team gets a bit more direction and fewer kicks on the first, and sideline squishing with Fogarty instead of DCE.

Like to see what people's thoughts are. Especially with regard to the gaps.

That's not a top 4 team on paper but plenty of lesser names in teams doing well currently.

I will still watch the team go around but I have no confidence in them this year.

They looked great at the start of the year that feels like a lifetime ago now.

This will be a rebuild but a chance to set the club up for the juniors coming through in the halves and hooker and players like Willet etc to be blooded for a 2028/2029 window.





Koula adds more from fullback attack wise but Lehi is safe as houses, I could live with either but I think with Tom to play centre

Definitely not keen on Tom being a front line defender at centre. It would be to nerve wrecking to watch.

 

[KNUCKLES]

You are right we need a big clean out. I dont see the fogarty/Brooks combination working either. In an ideal world I would look into getting Jake and Croker to both retire. Also I would try and release brooks, waddell, schoupp, matterson, gordon, sipley, James. Potentially Garrick depending on cap. We get an extra 250k back from Schuster also. Upgrade bullemor to be starting prop, extend tevaga, vaega, fualalo, arthur, talau, taukeiaho on minimum contracts or same value as currently on. I would then target young stowers Smith and Da Silva, go hard for fifita around the 600 mark with titans chipping in, Zac laybutt from the cowboys with the emergence of purdue, consider matterson and tevita pangai on 400-500 each. Give or take something like this could work given my estimates and reported salaries and obviously given we can move everyone on without chipping. (This is where Garrick may need to be shopped)

1.TOM TRBOJEVIC
2.JASON SAAB
3.TOLUTAU KOULA
4.REUBEN GARRICK *
5.LEHI HOPOATE
6.ONITONI LARGE
7.JAMAL FOGARTY
8.TANIELA PASEKA
9.TALLYN DA SILVA
10.ETHAN BULLEMOR
11.HAUMOLE OLAKAU'ATU
12.DAVID FIFITA
13.JAZZ TEVAGA

14.JAKE SIMPKIN
15.SIO TAUKEIAHO
16.RYAN MATTERSON
17.TEVITA PANGAI JNR

18.CLAYTON FAULALO
19.RAYMOND VAEGA
20.TOMMY TALAU
21.ZAC LAYBUTT
22.NAVREN WILLETT
23.JAKOB ARTHUR
24.JOEY WALSH
25.JOSH ALOIAI
26.ZAIDAS MUAGUTUTIA
27.NATHAN BROWN
28.BEN TRBOJEVIC
27.D'JAZIRHAE PUA'AVASE
30.TANNER STOWERS SMITH

DEV
1.CALEB NAVALE
2.SIMIONE LAIFAI
3.MATT LODGE
4.CHRIS PATOLO

Obviously the players coming in dont have to be like for like, but something close i feel could be possible given with fifita and matterson news, pangai, stowers Smith and laybutt all off contract etc.

 

[Top End Eagle]

You are right we need a big clean out. I dont see the fogarty/Brooks combination working either. In an ideal world I would look into getting Jake and Croker to both retire. Also I would try and release brooks, waddell, schoupp, matterson, gordon, sipley, James. Potentially Garrick depending on cap. We get an extra 250k back from Schuster also. Upgrade bullemor to be starting prop, extend tevaga, vaega, fualalo, arthur, talau, taukeiaho on minimum contracts or same value as currently on. I would then target young stowers Smith and Da Silva, go hard for fifita around the 600 mark with titans chipping in, Zac laybutt from the cowboys with the emergence of purdue, consider matterson and tevita pangai on 400-500 each. Give or take something like this could work given my estimates and reported salaries and obviously given we can move everyone on without chipping. (This is where Garrick may need to be shopped)

1.TOM TRBOJEVIC
2.JASON SAAB
3.TOLUTAU KOULA
4.REUBEN GARRICK *
5.LEHI HOPOATE
6.ONITONI LARGE
7.JAMAL FOGARTY
8.TANIELA PASEKA
9.TALLYN DA SILVA
10.ETHAN BULLEMOR
11.HAUMOLE OLAKAU'ATU
12.DAVID FIFITA
13.JAZZ TEVAGA

14.JAKE SIMPKIN
15.SIO TAUKEIAHO
16.RYAN MATTERSON
17.TEVITA PANGAI JNR

18.CLAYTON FAULALO
19.RAYMOND VAEGA
20.TOMMY TALAU
21.ZAC LAYBUTT
22.NAVREN WILLETT
23.JAKOB ARTHUR
24.JOEY WALSH
25.JOSH ALOIAI
26.ZAIDAS MUAGUTUTIA
27.NATHAN BROWN
28.BEN TRBOJEVIC
27.D'JAZIRHAE PUA'AVASE
30.TANNER STOWERS SMITH

DEV
1.CALEB NAVALE
2.SIMIONE LAIFAI
3.MATT LODGE
4.CHRIS PATOLO

Obviously the players coming in dont have to be like for like, but something close i feel could be possible given with fifita and matterson news, pangai, stowers Smith and laybutt all off contract etc.

That's good

 

[Disco]

"Getting" players to retire, simply releasing contracted players.

It's all pretty easy isnt it.

Tell me Kuckles, say you were a footy player, maybe late 20s, maybe 30. Still love the game, still feel you have plenty to offer. Have a contract for another season worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Maybe you have a young family, maybe one soon on its way. You know that an NRL career doesnt last forever and you wont be blessed to earn good money doing something you love and have the thrill to run out to packed crowds each week.

Maybe your not at your peak but your club comes along and says hey, you've been great, you've busted your body for us, you've given your all, but now we'd just prefer you retire so we dont have to pay you X dollars.........why.....oh why would you agree to that?

 

[Disco]

Also I would try and release brooks, waddell, schoupp, matterson, gordon, sipley, James.

Schoupp, Matterson, GCKT, Sipley and James are all off contract

 

[KNUCKLES]

I said in an ideal world..
These are just ideas and possibilities I think could be a discussion point. Regarding the release of players, brooks and waddell are the only contracted players that would be released rather than re signed. Around the retirement issue, for sure I get it and it's alot easier said than done. But certain clubs have urged players to retire in the past successfully. Broncos and dogs are two. The other angle could be to actually secure your families future whilst getting a longer deal elsewhere while there may still be some interest before ones get to long in the tooth persay. My point mainly is I think the club lately are very reactive than proactive. We need to try and make things happen. Anyways...

 

[KNUCKLES]

Whatever happens, I believe we need to make waves now if we want to build a premiership winning roster. Next year when our big contracts are up will be too late. The bears will be in, and any player will use them to ratchet up their asking price. And moving onwards, talent will be only harder to attract with more clubs in the league

 

[The Who]

Everyone seems to be trying to push Jurbo out. Have you all forgotten the most basic requirement of a player?
That is to get on to the field.
How often do Tent and Al play?

 

[sheridanstand78]

I'd like to see a real clean out with DCE leaving, giving seibold a chance to have his own team or leave at the end of the year.

Koula
Saab
Hopoate
Turbo
Talau

Brooks
Fogarty

Navale
Ola
....?
Paseka
Simpkin
....?

Ben T (covers backs)
Jake (for forty minutes tightening up either side of halftime, can hopefully have a similar impact as his twenty minutes bules appearances last year where he tackled everything in maroon shorts
Bullemore
.....?

Hopefully the team gets a bit more direction and fewer kicks on the first, and sideline squishing with Fogarty instead of DCE.

Like to see what people's thoughts are. Especially with regard to the gaps.

That's not a top 4 team on paper but plenty of lesser names in teams doing well currently.

I will still watch the team go around but I have no confidence in them this year.

They looked great at the start of the year that feels like a lifetime ago now.

This will be a rebuild but a chance to set the club up for the juniors coming through in the halves and hooker and players like Willet etc to be blooded for a 2028/2029 window.





Koula adds more from fullback attack wise but Lehi is safe as houses, I could live with either but I think with Tom to play centre

The problem is that Seibold is never going to get the team he wants! I think to be honest he is not being helped by our lopsided salary cap, a captain who is no longer invested in our club and our minor grades have not won any games in weeks.

 

[Top End Eagle]

The problem is that Seibold is never going to get the team he wants! I think to be honest he is not being helped by our lopsided salary cap, a captain who is no longer invested in our club and our minor grades have not won any games in weeks.

In Walsh and Large we trust.

Sad that a couple of 18 year Olds, miles away from first grade are the hope.

I like Fogarty but he's had three years of Ricky building a team for him.

I fear there won't be too many forwards to give the guy room, when he gets to Manly.

 

[Pete W]

Watching Tom hobble around all game, pull up before contact, and become a non factor for us was a depressing reminder that we have a serious issue. After years of missing large chunks of the season, the 2025 pre-season was him at his fittest and strongest going into Round 1. This is an untenable situation given the number on his jersey, the wider role he plays in our team, and the size of his contract. Of all the decisions to be made, what to do with Tom should be the first. Personally, I feel we have no choice but to reluctantly move him out of the spine to minimise such dramatic and frequent disruptions, and even then, until we are permitted to re-negotiate a reduced contract for him, we will continue to be massively disadvantaged.

No need to go into the narcissistic behaviour of DCE, and the disharmony he has caused, almost single-handedly torpedoing our 2025 season. The sooner he leaves the better - for team unity, but also for more cohesive game play. (It's also so bloody obvious to see how weak and frail our team's mentality truly is when you just have to look back over the last few years and see how many seasons have completely collapsed over a single issue challenging our club off the paddock. This team is the softest group of players in Manly history)

Aside from Tom and DCE issues, there really needs to be something done from our recruitment and retention team. I don't know if it's because our club is notoriously unstable, or whether Seibold is not seen as a coach that players in their prime are wanting to play for, or if it's purely about dollars and cents (or lack of), but our inability to recruit elite calibre players is quite shocking over such a long period of time. We are way off in our middle third, and not just by a player or two. Who's our next Kennedy or Kite? Compounding this is the fact that our juniors are not producing any serious talent at the moment (we hope the recently recruited teenies, the Larges, Walsh, Muagututia, Laifai all come through, but no one is kicking the door down, particularly in the forwards). I see powerful and athletic guys debuting regularly at other clubs, and often think, where's ours? Who's our next Choc coming through?

Finally, whilst I am certainly no fan of Seibold, this is actually not the time to be moving him on. Without a doubt he must drop the PR charade a little (with his insecurity), focus, improve our defence, and instill some fkn grit and ticker into the guys that are staying long term - certainly a new defence coach should be carefully scouted. He may be able to oversee a transition, and if he can't take us any higher within another couple of seasons, then the club should move on.

'2026 team possibilities' is a title that keeps our hopes alive as we see another year tank so early on. But truthfully, without some pretty big changes, that may not even be feasible any time soon, all we really do is shuffle the same names around the 1-17 like there is a perfect combination of mediocrity that somehow transforms into a consistent, match-winning team, or we throw in 2 or 3 sought after recruitment targets, when we all know we're never a realistic chance.

Apologies for the rant. That performance at Brookie has hit me hard, just when I thought we still might be in it this season. I have no faith in our club, from top to bottom. There is no plan. No direction. Reassuring words, few and far between, from our CEO, Coach, and Captain, are empty messages of propaganda. And if you can manage to stick your head into the driver's seat, you will see that no one is on the wheel. We are a group of professional players, coaches, and administrators with great salaries and cushy jobs who are happy to just turn up and get paid. Bozo's death was truly the end of the traditional Manly DNA.

We, as fans, members and supporters, are unable to see that this club is not the club we love.

Again, apologies to anyone for reading this dribble. I don't think I even have a point. Just needed to vent.

 

[Tragic Eagle]

Everyone seems to be trying to push Jurbo out. Have you all forgotten the most basic requirement of a player?
That is to get on to the field.
How often do Tent and Al play?

That is a real problem.

 

[Rocky]

Watching Tom hobble around all game, pull up before contact, and become a non factor for us was a depressing reminder that we have a serious issue. After years of missing large chunks of the season, the 2025 pre-season was him at his fittest and strongest going into Round 1. This is an untenable situation given the number on his jersey, the wider role he plays in our team, and the size of his contract. Of all the decisions to be made, what to do with Tom should be the first. Personally, I feel we have no choice but to reluctantly move him out of the spine to minimise such dramatic and frequent disruptions, and even then, until we are permitted to re-negotiate a reduced contract for him, we will continue to be massively disadvantaged.

No need to go into the narcissistic behaviour of DCE, and the disharmony he has caused, almost single-handedly torpedoing our 2025 season. The sooner he leaves the better - for team unity, but also for more cohesive game play. (It's also so bloody obvious to see how weak and frail our team's mentality truly is when you just have to look back over the last few years and see how many seasons have completely collapsed over a single issue challenging our club off the paddock. This team is the softest group of players in Manly history)

Aside from Tom and DCE issues, there really needs to be something done from our recruitment and retention team. I don't know if it's because our club is notoriously unstable, or whether Seibold is not seen as a coach that players in their prime are wanting to play for, or if it's purely about dollars and cents (or lack of), but our inability to recruit elite calibre players is quite shocking over such a long period of time. We are way off in our middle third, and not just by a player or two. Who's our next Kennedy or Kite? Compounding this is the fact that our juniors are not producing any serious talent at the moment (we hope the recently recruited teenies, the Larges, Walsh, Muagututia, Laifai all come through, but no one is kicking the door down, particularly in the forwards). I see powerful and athletic guys debuting regularly at other clubs, and often think, where's ours? Who's our next Choc coming through?

Finally, whilst I am certainly no fan of Seibold, this is actually not the time to be moving him on. Without a doubt he must drop the PR charade a little (with his insecurity), focus, improve our defence, and instill some fkn grit and ticker into the guys that are staying long term - certainly a new defence coach should be carefully scouted. He may be able to oversee a transition, and if he can't take us any higher within another couple of seasons, then the club should move on.

'2026 team possibilities' is a title that keeps our hopes alive as we see another year tank so early on. But truthfully, without some pretty big changes, that may not even be feasible any time soon, all we really do is shuffle the same names around the 1-17 like there is a perfect combination of mediocrity that somehow transforms into a consistent, match-winning team, or we throw in 2 or 3 sought after recruitment targets, when we all know we're never a realistic chance.

Apologies for the rant. That performance at Brookie has hit me hard, just when I thought we still might be in it this season. I have no faith in our club, from top to bottom. There is no plan. No direction. Reassuring words, few and far between, from our CEO, Coach, and Captain, are empty messages of propaganda. And if you can manage to stick your head into the driver's seat, you will see that no one is on the wheel. We are a group of professional players, coaches, and administrators with great salaries and cushy jobs who are happy to just turn up and get paid. Bozo's death was truly the end of the traditional Manly DNA.

We, as fans, members and supporters, are unable to see that this club is not the club we love.

Again, apologies to anyone for reading this dribble. I don't think I even have a point. Just needed to vent.

In terms of recruitment and retention we haven't had the money - hence the Moneyball style approach, hoping some veterans can contribute.

The Salary cap is 11.4m and Tom, Jake and DCE take up close to 1/3 of that. That's not unusual having 3 really high paid guys, but as you know we are getting little return on them.

Any decent money that has come available in the last few years has been spent on upgrading or extending core young guys like Haumole, Paseka, Hopoate, Koula etc.

I don't think we can answer the are we capable of attracting elite talent until the Tom and Jake contracts expire. But signing Fogarty is not nothing either. He was the best talent out there at the price range, and we got him.

And you could also argue we have attracted some of the cream of the young talent around in the Large brothers and Joey Walsh and a couple of others.