Match Report

[The Wheel]

A beautiful night for footy at Brookie and around 3 to 4 thousand fans turned up.

First half saw the 2nd stringers from both sides take the field and David Williams was the only regular for Manly.  After a strong start Wolfman was the first to cross the line in 2011 after he gathered a grubber kick from Terrence Seu Seu - rookie fullback Scott Blanch converted from out wide to open the scoring.

The Eagles then dominated possession and field position and only some poor handling kept the Sharks in the contest.  Finally Michael Oldfield hung onto a spectacular high flying grab to score in the corner, Blanch duly converted from the sideline.

Players to impress in the first period were Kyle Lodge who put on some big hits and James Cunningham and Ray Majouli ran stronly when on the field - half time 12 to NIL.

The second half saw more NRL players take the field and Manly was under pressure in the opening stanza due to some dropped ball and penalities - the defence held and Manly then went onto dominate the final 15 to 20 minutes. Wolfman grabbed a double after some fine attacking play on the Sharks 20 metre zone.

Terrence SEu Seu was probably our best, while Kite and Trex ran stronly at times.  Bruhrer, Gulavou and Robbo tried hard all night when on the field but the defence was the standout for mine although it was hard to judge as the Sharks were dreadful - Albert Kelly was their only player to impress for mine.

Some solid performance for the new boys in Harrision and Robinson while we have a bit of a smokey in Majouli who could be a handy backup/ bench player this year.  Cunningham is a future NRL star while Oldfield has filled out of the off season and could be one to watch in 2011.

As for Cherry Evans it was a quiet start although he did some nice things close to the line, Liam Foran was solid - his kicking impressed at times.  Choc made his usual few mistakes and Hoppa split the pill as well at important times.

Manly were without many stars including Ballin, Matai, the Stewarts, Lyon, King, Rodney, Rose and K Foran so there is plenty of room for improvement. 

Final score Manly 18 Sharks 0 - a winning start to 2011.

 

[mickqld]

Thanks Wheel and bring on the season. I feel we are going to be up there again.

 

[Stevie]

I thought Trex  was again very disappointing, He still  wont run hard at the line ,props  and tries to bump guys off , a couple of times late in the game he passed it other than  hit it up, Looks the same old Trex from last year ,hopefully its only first game back jitters , I was impressed with Liam Foran he tried all night , Buhrer was good as was Scott Blanch , Cherry Evans  really  didn't get a  chance to see  what he can do team performance 7/10  for me

 

[DSM5]

As I saw it too Wheel.  I agree with your assessment of Ray Moujalli, a big aggressive strong guy who looked super fit.  He took the ball up strongly and made his tackles.  Hard to see a line through this game as Cronulla were not very good.  They'll go close to the wooden spoon on that exhibition.  Gallen wont be able to pull them out of the mire.  Tim Smith is still hopeless.  I thought Gary Riccardi was OK for us as was Harrison.  Hoppa has that lazy look about him.  No sense of urgency.  For a trial I was disappointed that the ball wasn't thrown along the back line enough.  Way to much tucking the ball and going for the line.  When  it was thrown wide, good things happened.  Seu Seu played the whole game.  Looks like he'll be used like LeStrange was.  Both Williams went OK.  I appears Tony Williams will be used on the wing.  To me, he didn't see enough of the ball.  David Williams went off five minutes from full time after stupidly running across field and getting belted.  Hope he's OK and learnt from that.  He's a much better front-on runner.  Michael Oldfield could slot into his position if he's injured.  He went well.  I thought the first half was more entertaining.  Junior P and Lussick and Cunningham are big guys, and after looking like they were struggling with Cronulla coming down the middle, tightened and had the better of field position.  On Cherry-Evans.  Not dominant, but did OK.  Early days.  Our kicking in the second half was not great, but at least went the distance.  On the whole, a reasonable hit out.  Opposition very average, but good to start with a win.  Held them out for nil was good.  Bad points, gave away a penalty in the first three minutes, we let a high ball bounce - dangerous, Kite still thinks he's a 5/8th and Choc's fumbles.  No beer served after half time.            

 

[manlyforever08]

was great to be back at brookie!!

very rusty performance and couldn't really evaluate the halves combo with DCE because he didn't play with Kieran..
Oldfield was great. Buhrer was AWESOME - that hit whoaaaaa.
Choc is back to normal.

I wasn't too sure on Wolfie, especially towards the end.. he just didn't look certain.

 

[Dan]

Not sounding great about the dropped ball that has been our downfall in far too many games. Hopefully we can clean that up.

Great to hear about all the young fellas having good games though

 

[Mybludog]

Just got home. my take on it...

Choc....more drops than metres
Riccardi, Blanch, Wolfy, Joe, Seu Seu all good

Cross, Cunningham, Oldfeild, DCE, L Foran all solid.

Kitey....yep, trying to be a 5/8

Buhrer's hit was a corker

T-Rex...still lost when a high balls up. did a couple of good runs...but, it's gonna be another long year

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Me too, just home.
Largely agree with the others, except I thought T Rex was a handful for the defence and I expect he'll stay at centre until Matai returns. Depth might be a plus for us this year, judging on the first half players. Majouli also caught my eye, I'd never even heard of him. Cunningham also did very well and might make an NRL debut this year, depending on injuries. I like Buhrer the more I see of him, and Seu Seu got plenty of time and did some good things.

Cherry-Evans looked sharp (after his 1st couple of kicks went dead). Looks pretty light on his feet, and a burst of speed. Other teams will definitely try to hammer this kid.

 

[willstyles]

I must really be losing my touch, I thought T-Rex was good. Palmed the heck out of Sharks on every run, he always makes 7-8 metres before he reaches the line and then another 3-5 metres after the palm. I seriously love watching him run the ball.

Overall, good first hit-out. Wolfman scored two tries but definitely the best thing was that he tested his shoulder out in defence and it came up solid.

Also thought Buhrer looked a LOT bigger than last year. Can only be a good thing for him.

 

[Garts]

I thought Rex was fine. He gets bagged as everyone expects him to trample players every run he makes.

 

[Jonesyv2]

T-rex was very solid tonight and did put a massive hit on among other good ones, we can't expect him to trample 2 players every time he has the ball and score a try.....

My trial Rpeort....


They ran out of beer, let's hope thye learn from this trial and don't run out of beer at any home games this year!

 

[SwornEagle]

Pics from the match if anyone's interested..

http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/rugby-league/league-news/wolfman-bags-double-in-return/20110211-1aqrh.html

http://www.gettyimages.ca/Search/Search.aspx?query=z.i.H4sIAAAAAAAEAOy9B2AcSZYlJi9tynt_SvVK1-B0oQiAYBMk2JBAEOzBiM3mkuwdaUcjKasqgcplVmVdZhZAzO2dvPfee--999577733ujudTif33_8_XGZkAWz2zkrayZ4hgKrIHz9-fB8_In7dfLn91etf49f4NX6PX_dskV3kvyb9-pj-_-susmV5_WuO8PeNj2n0ayZ1VbUvszpbNL-2fvZr4f-7O_j1NzPtf3f88xvT_3-9d6-vm9N3Bsav6f3N72bn5tdfU38HuF87O59avMwf-D_6_DV3uMdF6950v_861Li0X9i_8N6vS3_UCws2_PPXR_Nd_PXr8ecTC6PzN792HkKxfzKUHQvlvAPF_c2v1SEU-ydD2bNQ6g4U9zdRJjcv_Zr4w0wJk2kXv_2Gpi0mg2lLNMlX5tNfk_8yMH4TfLLHAPJJY9uYP5jsucPG-_3Xyl1z7_dfu1mt7Of4w_T0W9kXL6fuRff7r1PVHtPYv_irSe5_Zf7C82vPrpbm91_T_PHr4P_N2htP8NevnWcOA_8P-n3lf2H_-HWbAFr456_97tlzNyX0h_0iqz3cvD9-o2ZarfIn6-Ws9IgYfGoA_jjgPNi5j99_HeKmtW0e_PXrzGv5QyiEvwyEj-n_v9a9h_iV-MVJkP_Hr_civ8qb9v8JAAD__9caVOY4BAAA&rid=108028469&rcat=Event&rt=AUS%3a+NRL+Trial+Match+-+Sea+Eagles+v+Sharks

 

[bones]

Looks the same old Trex from last year

I'd be happy with that because he had a good year last year.

 

[Rusty]

[quote author=Stevie link=topic=186425.msg315175#msg315175 date=]


Looks the same old Trex from last year

I'd be happy with that because he had a good year last year.
[/quote]

Come on lets not over-rate the guy, its not like he was top try scorer for the mighty sea eagles or anything.

Seriously folks, glad to see us win, unfortunately couldn't get the night off work and be there myself, so I appreciate all the reports and look forward to seeing the team progress over the next few weeks. I am sure that there is plenty of improvement left in them, but its true that you don't win anything in March, let alone February.

 

[cf2 is back]

Thanks for the reports guys.

Can someone who knows our junior depth and perhaps who was at the trial last night please report on our BIGGEST problem for 2011 - front row.

Of the names mentioned are there any potential 1st grade props for 2011? Majouli? Cunningham? Anyone?

And what is the actual position for Buhrer who had a few nervous starts off the bench last year? I thought he was a small backrower or even dummy half but was interested to see one report here that he is - quote - "a LOT bigger".

There is no way on earth we will make the 8 let alone be a true contender if we think our 2011 front row is going to be King, Kite and Four n Twenty George with only aging Guluvao and reserve grader Cross on bench.

We DESPERATELY need to unearth a couple of young gun props.

 

[Fluffy]

On last night from my point of view.

Our 4th prop is Cunningham, looked fine when he came back on against the sharks first graders and made a semi bust through a couple of them for about 20m. On the flip side Cross was crap and looked very unfit out there. After 10 minutes on the field was walking back to the line and not even making it there for the play the ball some times.

Blake Davey was super impressive in defence, i thought it was Lyon, looked just like the way Lyon reads the play and shuts things down. Made 2 awesome hits in our 10 coming in to stop certain tries, 1 causing them to spill the pill and when they had the overlap and got around wolfy they both kept their players and chased them down within about 20m.

Burher also had a few nice touches, very nice set up to put wolfy over for his second and a couple of good hits, still looks like he will offer that workaholic terrier type back rower.

DCE was quiet but alright. Liam wasnt any better and given we were without Lyon, Foran, Stewy 1 & 2 our attack was never going to be all that great.

I liked our defence, we looked keen and fit compared to the sharks, much better than last year.

Cant really take too much out of it based on that performance the sharks will add another spoon to their trophey cabinet

 

[ayjay007]

T-rex was very solid tonight and did put a massive hit on among other good ones, we can't expect him to trample 2 players every time he has the ball and score a try.....

My trial Rpeort....


They ran out of beer, let's hope thye learn from this trial and don't run out of beer at any home games this year!

You're kidding,aren't you?

 

[Duff]

I'm excited Moira!

Cunningham is already a 1st grader. Moujali is a healthy backup. Honestly, all the off-season complaints have been about props and they can now be put away. Even Vic looked huge.

I thoght DCE was pretty classy with limited opportunity. One little kick in behind the line was better than anything I've seen in a Manly jersey since Cliffy. We didn't even score from it. Liam looks like his brother, very similar style so having them together may be a litte predictable but he's certainly worth whatever we paid for him.

Buhrer looks like he's ready to step it up a notch.

Please, please, please Des, pick Davey in the centres until Matai or Whare come back. T-Rex will be good as a free running impact player but Davey wont be a liability in defence.

My bench for round 1;

Rose
Cunningham
T-Rex
Buhrer, with Blake Davey in the centres, the rest of the 13 picks itself.

 

[cf2 is back]

Thanks for the excellent info Fluffy and Duff (sounds like an old cartoon).

Really good to hear Cunningham could be a valuable bench prop.

The one thing that dumbfounds me is reading reports of unfit players. How can Cross be slow and unfit? Des is supposed to be renowned for being gruelling with training.

One thing certain is that Des MUST take some calculated risks this year and blood these new young forwards like Cunningham, Moujali, Harrison and by the sounds of it Davey too. Buhrer was the only young forward given a chance last year (and pretty limited at that including the ridiculous 2 games left on the bench). If Whare, Hoppa jnr and Oldfield were worth a risk (and look how fast they came on in 2010) we must do the same with forwards.

As I've said before we won't make the top 10 team let alone 8 let alone compete for the comp relying on Kite/King/George. They've been good in the past but they will be left in their wake by younger fitter bigger opposition front rows. Guluvao should only be an emergency and Cross punted meaning we definitely need two young gun props.

 

[Garts]

Just read a trial report from a sharks fan, a couple of them were raving about Cunningham and saying Manly need to lock him up. Others clearly noticed him as well.  I suspect he will get a shot this year but I doubt it will be Rd 1.