Does anyone see any improvement in Manly for next season

[deanm]

I do. The whole DCE drama was massive. We were off to a great start, then DCE ruined it. We had most of our forward pack on the sidelines. We will get Paseka and Olakauatu back next year along with some good signings in our pack like Hetherington maybe Moale for 26 and Bryan. We are getting a fresh start at halfback in Jamal, and everyone is going to want to play hard for Jake as captain. Definitely a team that could play finals.

Totally agree , Paseka is like a new recruit if he can string many games together .

 

[madmax]

We should improve a fair bit if we have a bit of luck with injuries. Recruitment has also been smart considering the lack of elite talent off contract for 26.

8. Paseka (will feel like a new signing having him back)
9. Simpkin
10. TKO
11. Ola
12. Ben
13. Jake
14. Navale
15. Bullemor
16. Hetherington
17. Moale (likely to get a early release for Fifita)

Compare that to our pack & bench that ended this season

8. Lodge
9. Simpkin
10. TKO
11. Waddell
12. Ben
13. Jazz
14. Walsh
15. Navale
16 Bullemor
17. Schoupp/Sipley

Our 2026 pack would beat the p*ss out of them IMO. Waddell, Lodge, Brown, Bryan, Laiafi are all solid depth. I said it on here a month or so ago but I also heard we are 1 of the teams keen on 21 year old back rower Harrison Hassett from Penrith. Australian school boy & won Penriths SG Ball player of the season a few years ago in a very talented team

Think we’ll be seeing a lot more of Laiafi next season!!!

 

[simon64]

Assuming we can catch a break with injuries, I can see a slight improvement. So 5th - 8th.

Rationale:

No $CE dramas. And I actually think Fogarty is a better fit for the team. He doesn't do the "headless chook" routine like Cherry Evans. (Hey that's funny...headless CHOOK....he's gonna fit right in.)

I bit more steel in our pack. Hetherington and hopefully Moale are a big upgrade on Toff and Jazz. And Tent and Ola, we should match it with most.

I have everything crossed. Being also rans is getting really old.

 

[Disco]

Picking teams performances this far out is a tough ask.

Many had Raiders bottom four nearly all missing the 8 and the won the minor prem, not many had the Warriors making the 8.

Likewise plenty had us and Souths for the 8.

Every year people say the 8 unlikely to change and evey yearteams surprise in either direction.

I think there is reason for optimism next year but all I could commit to atm is us finish between.....say 4th and 14th as it stands

 

[maxta]

They can
In fact had a team this season who could compete against the best...but need to maintain the team on the field and add consistency
The difference between Manlys Best and Worst is Massive, while the genuine contenders have a far smaller margin of difference
The squad (by 2026) will be stronger, but that means little if the Manly heirarchy are not galvinated and also if the players are not held accountable- from day 1 - for average performances....and I don't mean mistakes, more effort and energy, as talent has no bearing if the players are not putting in and feel they can get away with mediocre performances

 

[Tragic Eagle]

The addition of Fogarty will stabilise the ship. We looked so much better with Navale at 13 it would be a step backwards not to reward him with the number 13 jumper. I’d like to see Jake and Turbo co captains with Jake in the front row rotation. Seibold needs to use our young talent or we will loose them.

 

[jbb/james]

Most players bought to the club have been better than the ones let go since seibs arrived and i see that continuing but in only a slight way

The team needs to find itself without captain clutchplay steering the ship and i think it could take a little bit but we have some gifted backs that can help us out of a hole if given enough ball and space

But consistency will be the big winner even though it takes a little while to build but i see manly making strides in this area also as the season progresses

Oku and paseka possible origin

Feel sorry for the frog but it just doesnt look like it will work out , if it is still unclear and its the noggin, you would think it should be clear to him, probably just normal manly contractual stuff clouding it

 

[Rafferty]

They can
In fact had a team this season who could compete against the best...but need to maintain the team on the field and add consistency
The difference between Manlys Best and Worst is Massive, while the genuine contenders have a far smaller margin of difference
The squad (by 2026) will be stronger, but that means little if the Manly heirarchy are not galvinated and also if the players are not held accountable- from day 1 - for average performances....and I don't mean mistakes, more effort and energy, as talent has no bearing if the players are not putting in and feel they can get away with mediocre performances

This is pretty fair, consistency seems to be our Achilles heel as much as anything, still think our coach is pretty clueless in and around this, his pick and stick, culture, determination etc etc are all reflective, you can’t be proud of underachieving.

Galvinated, interesting word, but also true in context, our club is and has been run like a shambles, that has to change, everything flows down from the top, it’s not rocket science, do better.

Your last point is also interesting, especially listening to Yeo last weekend when asked about there year and coming last at the halfway mark, he responded by saying something along the lines, the playing group weren’t fair dinkum, not training hard enough and had just taken it for granted, team got together and made the call to work themselves harder, imagine that….our lads have to want it and that’s primarily back with the coach and the senior group.

I’m on the fence re improving as its back with the coach for me, our roster while improving is still a work in progress also, hopefully the team will come together and gel minus Daly, that’s one aspect I’m looking forward too, if we gel and that’s the million dollar question, who knows, a top 8 finish is what we all want to see, it’s about footy in September with the goal to get that October game.

 

[JakeyB789]

The Paseka injury and $CE drama papered over a few cracks this year IMO. The round 2 loss against NZ told me everything I already knew about this team and that was before each of those happened. Yes we beat NQ and Canberra at that time but both were at home with everything going our way, as soon as things slightly start going against us we fold. That’s happened for years even with Paseka in the team and before $CE did what he did.

Looking forward to next year regardless just to finally see us with a new captain and halfback, but can’t see much improvement to be honest. Without getting into Seibold too much it’s pretty clear he isn’t our long term coach and it feels we are almost just biding time until someone else takes over. That will play out in the media at some point next year and cause more distraction for a team that has already shown doesn’t respond well to outside noise. I don’t think we’ll be bottom 4 bad because our roster is pretty good on paper, but I’d have us in the 7th - 12th range and likely towards the bottom end of that.