Does anyone else find it bonkers that we are 1 win away from 5th?

[Harmless27]

Honestly - it just feels wierd. We have been bad. Really bad. We have internal problems (as usual) we lost to the bottom teams. We have injuries. Our coach should be sacked (according to some on here - not me).....

Yet SOME HOW we are within touching distance of fifth on the ladder.

Is it just because the top 4 are way better than everyone else? We've got a super tough draw ahead of us - surely we lose all of them and drop to 14th?

Heaven forbid we actually find some form!

 

[MW66]

A little but it is the tightest comp in years. That said, the next 4/5 weeks will go a long way to determine where we really sit as it is a very tough schedule and the losses to Parra/Knights/Titans I fear will come to bite us big time.

 

[Tragic Eagle]

Revisit that after we play a few top 5 sides on the way home.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Of the top 4
Raiders and Dogs have been outstandingly consistent.
Storm are Storm
Wahs have done well which includes very close wins over Saints and tiges (by 1 and 2 points) but now have lost key players...

I think all other teams have had some losses their fans might find embarrassing (and we certainly have)
As you say, very very open comp.

 

[manly al]

Honestly - it just feels wierd. We have been bad. Really bad. We have internal problems (as usual) we lost to the bottom teams. We have injuries. Our coach should be sacked (according to some on here - not me).....

Yet SOME HOW we are within touching distance of fifth on the ladder.

Is it just because the top 4 are way better than everyone else? We've got a super tough draw ahead of us - surely we lose all of them and drop to 14th?

Heaven forbid we actually find some form!

Just a very open comp without question but top 4 at present do seem [ or did in the Warriors instance ] to be above the rest performance wise on a consistent basis .
Bottom 4 for the eight could still result in any random outcome for most of the remaining and particularly considering the Sharks are just out of that grouping now .
As for Manly , probably only the Dolphins , Panthers and Broncs to leap frog , Warriors maybe too much of a start but is going to be very challenging of course just based as you mentioned on their remaining games and calibre of the opposition .
Still , will get Ola back in a few or some weeks time and maybe even Tent if they can somehow sneak into the finals .
Not into punting but not great odds unless the side can somehow have a good run on the injury front and really play consistently to their potential

 

[mave]

1 win from 5th you say?

Enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[JakeyB789]

We will find our true position after the bye when we play Storm away, Dogs away, Roosters at home & Raiders away. I'd be surprised if we won any of these games and we'll likely be closer to the bottom 4 than top 8 by the end of it.

A lot of people talk about how tight the comp is and how the teams around us are also struggling for consistency, but none of those teams have had the absolute dream draw that we've had. Already played 8 of our home games with the 9th coming this week against a Souths side that have lost their last 5. Played the bottom 3 sides over Origin, who were all more affected by it than we were and lost them all. If we couldn't capitalise on that, I don't see how it will get any better when our draw is about to get significantly harder.

In fact despite how close the ladder appears now, I feel the current top 8 teams won't change between now and the finals. Cronulla probably have the best shot if they can get it together but they have been pretty ordinary all year long. Still beat us twice though!

 

[manly al]

We will find our true position after the bye when we play Storm away, Dogs away, Roosters at home & Raiders away. I'd be surprised if we won any of these games and we'll likely be closer to the bottom 4 than top 8 by the end of it.

A lot of people talk about how tight the comp is and how the teams around us are also struggling for consistency, but none of those teams have had the absolute dream draw that we've had. Already played 8 of our home games with the 9th coming this week against a Souths side that have lost their last 5. Played the bottom 3 sides over Origin, who were all more affected by it than we were and lost them all. If we couldn't capitalise on that, I don't see how it will get any better when our draw is about to get significantly harder.

In fact despite how close the ladder appears now, I feel the current top 8 teams won't change between now and the finals. Cronulla probably have the best shot if they can get it together but they have been pretty ordinary all year long. Still beat us twice though!

Really would have to win and probably in practical terms , at least 2 of those four hard games coming up there after the bye and at a minimum also be very competitive in a then 2 loss scenario to be within range of a top 8 finish .
Then maybe some prospect of building from there if again can somehow slip or getting closer into the 8
Guess much will depend also on the resulting games for the likes of the Panthers , Broncs and Dolphins let alone the Sharks or Warriors

 

[eaglebuzz]

What annoys me is that we have lost 5 very winnable games, we could easily be in the top 4 right now.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

What annoys me is that we have lost 5 very winnable games, we could easily be in the top 4 right now.

When you say 'winnable' ... you may be failing to take into account that -

• we have the worst pack of forwards we've had in 50 years (according to respected experts such as former Manly premiership winner whats-is-name)
• plus a coach who cannot coach and should have been sacked before he even started (according to a number of vocal Silvertails)
• plus a star player who even when he plays can't play properly any more
• plus a captain who doesn't even want to be here.

 

[The '47ers]

"6 agains" doing their job, keeping the comp tight for entertainment purposes.

 

[Brookie1973]

"6 agains" doing their job, keeping the comp tight for entertainment purposes.

And State of Origin.

 

[Brookie1973]

When you say 'winnable' ... you may be failing to take into account that -

• we have the worst pack of forwards we've had in 50 years (according to respected experts such as former Manly premiership winner whats-is-name)
• plus a coach who cannot coach and should have been sacked before he even started (according to a number of vocal Silvertails)
• plus a star player who even when he plays can't play properly any more
• plus a captain who doesn't even want to be here.

Which suggests those games were;

1. Never winnable, in which case why not?
2. Winnable but not won because of …… “acceptable” excuses (eg owner)
3. Winnable but not won because of …… “unacceptable” excuses (eg coach)
4. Winnable but not won because of …… something other than excuses (eg bad luck/karma/a vengeful God)
5. All or none of the above

Confused? I sure am.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Which suggests those games were;

1. Never winnable, in which case why not?
2. Winnable but not won because of …… “acceptable” excuses (eg owner)
3. Winnable but not won because of …… “unacceptable” excuses (eg coach)
4. Winnable but not won because of …… something other than excuses (eg bad luck/karma/a vengeful God)
5. All or none of the above

Confused? I sure am.

But no need to feel bad about it, we're all ignorant to some degree.
Just keep reading the forums with an open mind, hopefully stumble across some hidden gems to help on your journey to enlightenment 🙂

 

[Brookie1973]

But no need to feel bad about it, we're all ignorant to some degree.
Just keep reading the forums with an open mind, hopefully stumble across some hidden gems to help on your journey to enlightenment 🙂

It’s comforting to know you will always be there to show me the way to true open mindfulness 🙂

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

Everything will be clear by season's end.

Right now, we can go one of two ways: find some form, string a few wins together (doesn't even need to be that many given current ladder positions) and end up inside the top eight, or continue to explore new levels of mediocrity and wind up missing the finals again. If I had to guess, I'd say it's more likely that our season still has new lows to find.

Mostly that's because, as @Harmless27 says, we have been diabolically bad. Like watching a team of journeymen strangers, some of whom have never played rugby league before, fumble their way through the basics of the game. "Inconsistent" doesn't cover it. Mostly, we have flat-out sucked.

Yet somehow other teams have managed to suck more than we have. Like, Kurt "They Put a Bloke on the Other Side" Capewell levels of suck. Which is good, because if they didn't, we wouldn't have got the majority of the seven wins we've collected so far this season. With the exception of a couple of games (the Panthers and the Broncos spring to mind), we haven't won because we played well on the night, but because the other team found a way to play worse.

Still, we are not out of contention yet - although who knows how long that will last. I never expect us to beat anyone these days (in fact, I have a strong suspicion that this week's Souths' team matches up way better against us than people realise), and once we get that final bye out of the way, the run home for us will be extremely tough.

We've dropped a lot of points already, and we just don't have the depth to cover the key forwards we have lost throughout the year. Add Tommy Turbo's bizarro season and the Cherry clusterf@#k on top, and it's easy to understand why we've had a challenging year.

Honestly, if we somehow do end up making the eight, I reckon I'll be happy enough. Right now, it's probably the best we can hope for, and it would mean the players at least gave us something to cheer about on the run home. But you generally get what you deserve over the course of a rugby league season, and as of yet we haven't deserved even three-fifths of f@#k all.

 

[Buddy Love]

This year has produced some of the worst football I've seen in years. Comps too thinned out not enough talent and now another new team coming in.

Manly 1st half was the worst footy I've seen us play since the Barrett days... the 2nd last only because parra were a little bit ****ter than us days. We have a run of teams that will cream us coming up. I think we'll be lucky to make the 8 and even if we do lol

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

It’s comforting to know you will always be there to show me the way to true open mindfulness 🙂

Lol I doubt I could teach you anything but there's others around here who have good insight at times 🙂

 

[ALinda]

Honestly - it just feels wierd. We have been bad. Really bad. We have internal problems (as usual) we lost to the bottom teams. We have injuries. Our coach should be sacked (according to some on here - not me).....

Yet SOME HOW we are within touching distance of fifth on the ladder.

Is it just because the top 4 are way better than everyone else? We've got a super tough draw ahead of us - surely we lose all of them and drop to 14th?

Heaven forbid we actually find some form!

Thank you @Harmless27 for posting a thread with a positive spin (to me anyway).

Where there's hope, maybe with a bit of luck, well there's hope 🤞

 

[Seagles68]

Thank you @Harmless27 for posting a thread with a positive spin (to me anyway).

Where there's hope, maybe with a bit of luck, well there's hope 🤞

I agree but whilst we can hope, it's going require some major intestinal fortitude from our forwards (whoever they might be on any given day) if we have any chance of beating the teams scheduled. And I include Souths in that coz they won't be anywhere near a pushover despite missing players. So yep, 🤞 but also gotta dig very deep.