SMH
Just like Jake Trbojevic scything those shoulders of his through yet another unsuspecting ball-carrier - and whispering an apology afterwards - the timing was almost too good to be true.
Manly’s pre-game “Golden Eagles” barbeque invited some of the club’s finest front-rowers down to Brookvale for a Friday lunch with Anthony Seibold’s squad.
Among the old warhorses, including Jason King, Peter Peters and current Sea Eagles CEO Tony Mestrov, were David “Cement” Gillespie and Solomon Haumono - Eagle Rock has never been as intimidating as when those two took it literally in the mid-90s.
Two games is a small sample size. But Andrew Johns, Billy Slater and Wade Graham are just a few to have noticed ahead of Saturday’s clash with South Sydney. Manly are hitting with “old school” intent and technique in defence, as Johns puts it.
Shots on Maika Sivo, Viliame Kikau, 124kg Eel Wiremu Greig and most everyone else running the ball for Parramatta or Canterbury have stuck out like the proverbial in a modern game where catching a ball-carrier and wrestling them into a slow play-the-ball have become the norm.
“We’ve been bashing each other all off-season,” Haumole Olakau’atu, one of Manly’s main heavy-hitting exponents, tells the Herald. “And we’ve got a saying now about our ‘Manly Mentality’. You don’t take anyone lightly and when they come to our home ground, we just... bash them. We want them thinking, ‘I don’t want to be going to Manly’.”
South Sydney, wearing John Sattler’s half-rabbit jersey no less, offer a fair litmus test at Accor Stadium.
When Manly’s ball and all defensive approach goes to plan, rival ball-carriers are rattled into error.
In the opening 10 minutes of round one, Canterbury’s Max King was belted around his midriff by Brad Parker. The very next carry, Ryan Sutton followed up and was smashed in the same vein, shoulder to the Steeden, into a mistake by Parker again.
Less than two minutes later, the same two Bulldogs were given the same treatment, this time by Trbojevic and Olakau’atu, who unceremoniously dumped Sutton square on his back. The next play Matt Burton looked to kick his team out of trouble, overcooked a 40-20 attempt and sent it out on the full.
“Hearing the noise and hearing the noise that comes out of the [opposition’s] guys and being able to have a team on their tryline and getting excited to make one of those tackles, it’s a nice change for us,” hooker Lachlan Croker, who is replaced by Karl Lawton against the Rabbitohs due to a shoulder injury, says.
“I think the last couple of years we’ve had that perception that we just want to score tries and not really defend. Seibs has really brought in that steely focus and defensive edge that has been lacking the last couple of years.”
When the defensive assassins miss their mark though, it can be spectacular.
Tolutau Koula’s rush up on Clint Gutherson last Friday saw him shrugged off as the Eels skipper scored his second for the night. Gutherson’s first came after Koula and winger Christian Tuipulotu failed to launch in similar circumstances.
Rival teams, no doubt Cody Walker especially this weekend, will already be considering kicks in behind the line to keep them honest, while Manly’s defence flagged badly and still conceded six tries against the Eels.
“If we are going to keep playing that way, we do need to find a way to finish halves and finish games,” Croker acknowledges.
For Seibold, a deliberate focus on smashing opponents out of a contest is as much about using his best assets as it is reinventing, or rediscovering, the wheel.
Manly still conduct gruelling weekly wrestling sessions overseen by assistant Jim Dymock and his brother Milton.
Full story link.....
By Dan Walsh
March 24, 2023 — 7.30pmJust like Jake Trbojevic scything those shoulders of his through yet another unsuspecting ball-carrier - and whispering an apology afterwards - the timing was almost too good to be true.
Manly’s pre-game “Golden Eagles” barbeque invited some of the club’s finest front-rowers down to Brookvale for a Friday lunch with Anthony Seibold’s squad.
Among the old warhorses, including Jason King, Peter Peters and current Sea Eagles CEO Tony Mestrov, were David “Cement” Gillespie and Solomon Haumono - Eagle Rock has never been as intimidating as when those two took it literally in the mid-90s.
Two games is a small sample size. But Andrew Johns, Billy Slater and Wade Graham are just a few to have noticed ahead of Saturday’s clash with South Sydney. Manly are hitting with “old school” intent and technique in defence, as Johns puts it.
Shots on Maika Sivo, Viliame Kikau, 124kg Eel Wiremu Greig and most everyone else running the ball for Parramatta or Canterbury have stuck out like the proverbial in a modern game where catching a ball-carrier and wrestling them into a slow play-the-ball have become the norm.
“We’ve been bashing each other all off-season,” Haumole Olakau’atu, one of Manly’s main heavy-hitting exponents, tells the Herald. “And we’ve got a saying now about our ‘Manly Mentality’. You don’t take anyone lightly and when they come to our home ground, we just... bash them. We want them thinking, ‘I don’t want to be going to Manly’.”
South Sydney, wearing John Sattler’s half-rabbit jersey no less, offer a fair litmus test at Accor Stadium.
When Manly’s ball and all defensive approach goes to plan, rival ball-carriers are rattled into error.
In the opening 10 minutes of round one, Canterbury’s Max King was belted around his midriff by Brad Parker. The very next carry, Ryan Sutton followed up and was smashed in the same vein, shoulder to the Steeden, into a mistake by Parker again.
Less than two minutes later, the same two Bulldogs were given the same treatment, this time by Trbojevic and Olakau’atu, who unceremoniously dumped Sutton square on his back. The next play Matt Burton looked to kick his team out of trouble, overcooked a 40-20 attempt and sent it out on the full.
“Hearing the noise and hearing the noise that comes out of the [opposition’s] guys and being able to have a team on their tryline and getting excited to make one of those tackles, it’s a nice change for us,” hooker Lachlan Croker, who is replaced by Karl Lawton against the Rabbitohs due to a shoulder injury, says.
“I think the last couple of years we’ve had that perception that we just want to score tries and not really defend. Seibs has really brought in that steely focus and defensive edge that has been lacking the last couple of years.”
When the defensive assassins miss their mark though, it can be spectacular.
Tolutau Koula’s rush up on Clint Gutherson last Friday saw him shrugged off as the Eels skipper scored his second for the night. Gutherson’s first came after Koula and winger Christian Tuipulotu failed to launch in similar circumstances.
Rival teams, no doubt Cody Walker especially this weekend, will already be considering kicks in behind the line to keep them honest, while Manly’s defence flagged badly and still conceded six tries against the Eels.
“If we are going to keep playing that way, we do need to find a way to finish halves and finish games,” Croker acknowledges.
For Seibold, a deliberate focus on smashing opponents out of a contest is as much about using his best assets as it is reinventing, or rediscovering, the wheel.
Manly still conduct gruelling weekly wrestling sessions overseen by assistant Jim Dymock and his brother Milton.
Full story link.....
Manly mentality: Why Sea Eagles have gone back to the future with ‘old school’ hits
When Manly’s defensive assassins miss their mark, it can be spectacular. But if the Sea Eagles keep landing heavy shots like we’ve rarely seen in recent years, it’s a winning formula.
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