Sea Eagles stars Brett Stewart and Steve Matai say five-day turnarounds motivate the team
March 28, 2016 3:33pm
Jon GeddesManly Daily
Nate Myles, Brett Stewart and Dylan Walker celebrate after defeating the Roosters at Allianz Stadium. Picture: AAP
THEY may be getting pushed to the limit with two five day turnarounds in a row, but Sea Eagles elder statesman Brett Stewart and Steve Matai say it just provides the players with added motivation.
Controversy surrounds the physical toll on Sea Eagles players who faced Cronulla last Monday, the Roosters on Saturday and now must back up to take on Souths this Thursday night at Brookvale.
“You could see the game on the weekend was a little bit flat, whether it was because of that I’m not too sure,” Stewart said.
“It’s not ideal but we just need to get on with things and prepare best we can.
“All you can do is get the massages, the ice baths and plenty of recovery, that seems to be what every club is doing and I can’t see any other way around it.
“We are not going to use it as an excuse, if anything it probably gives us a bit motivation.”
Stewart said going the Roosters game people were saying no team had won after a five-day turn around before.
“That was driving me a little bit and I suppose it had the same effect on the other players.
“We spoke about it during the week that we would be the first team to do it and we did.”
Matai said the players just have to cop the tough schedule on the chin.
“It’s not ideal, we’ve got guys with bumps and bruises,” he said.
“We’d have liked that extra couple of days but there is nothing we can do, that is the just the way of the draw.
“We spoke leading into the game (the 22-29 win over the Roosters) that everything is against us but we just have to put that into the back of our head and play footy.
“The boys did and I’m so proud we defended well. For the last 15 minutes they had all the ball.
Yesterday the Manly squad had a light gym mobility session, did some video work and had massage.
atai will have a scan on his injured neck today before he is cleared to play Souths.
“Hopefully they can do something with a cortisone injection and help it settle more quickly,” he said.
The candidates to replace injured Daly Cherry-Evans at halfback on Thursday are Isaac John, Tom Symonds, Jamie Lyon, Feleti Mateo and Tim Moltzen.