My Two Cents - ok more like 10 cents worth (apologies for the length)
Geoff Toovey:
I have great respect for Toovey, and like most, see him as a club legend. His best qualities are his loyalty, toughness and passion - these can never be questioned.
Taking in the period he has been coaching, the team he inherited and the results we have seen, I'd suggest Toovey is a decent coach. I don't think he will ever be a great coach and would suggest his talents lay elsewhere. He has impressive experience at board level with NRMA etc, and tertiary qualifications in finance. Two things that Manly are in need of - so I am hoping we can make the most of these skills, along with the fact he bleeds maroon and white.
If board members are angered about him denying he has been told (that he won't be coaching next year) - it goes to show our dysfunction at this level. It is not the coaches job to announce he has been sacked and is another example of this club's stance on communication.
The Club and Bozo:
The best thing the club has done recently is have Bozo involved to inject new life into Manly and use his significant influence and experience to address some key concerns - namely recruitment and coaching structures.
The club's negotiations and communications have been nothing short of amateurish - I've never witnessed anything like it since I've been following the club over the last 30 odd years. We got DCE in the end, but it cost us more than it would have if we stood by the original offer that he was happy to accept. The extension of Ballin and the resulting backflip (if true) is very poor; however, this is more than likely a pre Bozo v post Bozo conflict.
As for communication, I'd suggest the club look to bring in someone that is an expert in this area that they are actually willing to listen to rather than overrule and ignore. We have appointed Wayne Cousins as Media Manager and either he is out of his depth, or his advice has been ignored. To have a situation where signings of not one, but three players have been confirmed by their former clubs, and now by the players themselves, with nothing being said by our club, is just unacceptable. It is incredibly unprofessional, disrespectful (to the fans and players) and has brought great frustration - nothing positive has come from it.
They have done the same thing with the coach and have players speaking in the media (both new signings and existing) saying that they have no idea who the coach will be and are confused as to whether it will be Barrett or Toovey - once again, unacceptable. We have constant speculation in the media that is not going away until the club addresses it directly (albeit all to late).
Now we have the list of 14 - which I'm happy about in terms of a restructuring of our team, but extremely unhappy that once again we are hearing this via a leak. We have more leaks than a 1980's breast implant - again, nothing good comes from this and must be addressed.
2016 Prospects:
I hope we all give Trent Barrett a genuine go. He is rated highly by Bozo and Gould, has played at the highest level and has had nothing to do with the way things have been handled with Geoff. Instead, he has stayed right out of it and given the media nothing - which is exactly the right way to handle this from his perspective.
Yes, Barrett has no runs on the board yet, but neither did Bennett, Bellamy or Des before they were given their shot. Everyone has to start somewhere and nobody becomes successful without being given an opportunity - he is no different and time will tell whether he makes a success of this or not.
As for our player recruits, I think it is a good start. I am hoping Myles wants to re-invigorate his career and get back to his best. Should he do this, we are in for a 'BK' like experience, should he not....well let's assume he will. I really like Api Korisou and think he could be a revelation for us, especially given the new interchange rules. Brown is a solid signing that brings experience and energy and again is suited to the interchange reductions. Lussick - he is the only signing I'm concerned about. For him to prove a valuable addition, he will have to turn his career around and show us something that has eluded him in his career to date - controlled aggression and a high work rate. Let's hope he can do this.
In my opinion we are still one or two signings short of what we need - more so in the forwards than in the 6 position. We have a top backline and halves this year, yet we are at the bottom end of the table - we need hard, meter eating forwards that can dominate opposition packs to get the most out of our backline. We need a Moa or Tamou or someone of that ilk - which means we get someone with time remaining on their contract or we target 2017 as the year we finish off our recruiting. By then, we may also have a couple in the lower grades ready to step up - let's hope so.
