I reckon everyone has laso everyone before the dressing room in 2022....
Some claim it's "Rainbow connection"....Tom is out (again)....The Fainu saga....and about 100 more conspiacy theories, well it's none of these things - yet all of these things.
It's a mix of just about every problem you could hope NOT to encounter, all rolled into 1 big Nightmare of a season.But here's my opinion on Des and DCE.
Personally find it hard to to blame Des as with the roster he has had to work with, been a tough gig, though I do find him stubborn with team selections and feel at very least, would be greatly beneficial if he had an assistant with some fresh idea's on the modern game.
Des is a great motivator to get his players to compete hard, but this even loses clout after many losses to slicker, well drilled opposition....to sustain that desire can be tough, so to have an extra footy mind to tweak and address obvious issues both in attack and defence has to be a good thing.
As for DCE, I reckon he is a good footy player who through poor management from Manly back at the Titans backflip time, is well over paid.
He is good when Manly are rolling through the middle and is forced then to play more direct, which has been rare in 2022 as the opposition generally owns the middle 3rd....as when the ruck is losing contacts and are slowed up, he tends to play very lateral and put pressure on his outside men, running players out of room and often leading to crazy desperation passes, or a kick noone knew about and worse still - Errors.
As a leader, when the heat is on, DCE has never had that cool head like a Lockyer or Johns to calm the team down and get into a smooth rhythm, in fact is very irratic and this then translates across the field where the team often seems to fade into a lost herd of sheep.
In saying this he has some great instincts and skills, or wouldn't be a Qld and Australian rep, but in these sides there are leaders (Munster, Cam Smith, Thurston) who more control the game and allow him to play his own footy without having to save the world, which it often looks like at Manly.
Even in Manly GF wins it was more the Stewarts, Ballin, Kite, Lyon type players who led the team and DCE could simply do DCE....but with the 2022 team he does not have this, so will fall back into the confused halfback trying for the magic plays and unfortunately, playing sideways.
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