Reflecting on 2018 and Moving Forward

[SeaEagle007]

God its been hard seeing what we have become. I remember being a feared team , now we look like a shadow of what we used to be. To be honest , when Trent Barrett started I was willing to give him a go. I was still upset that Des left , only for then a Manly Legend in Tooves to be removed which to this day still doesn't make sense to me. In regards to 2018 I will put it down to a year of what ifs. In reality we lost a few games miserably , we also lost many games on our own. We also lost many games by less than 6 points. We had a horrendous injury list, we had scandals, cap dramas, a rookies coach who is more a Friend rather than a mentor. To tell you the truth if we didn't get hit by so many injuries, and the fact the NRL seemed to have an agenda against us , through the media , and making sure we never got an outcome on our salary scandal , I think the squad we had if went well we could of been pushing to be a top 4 contender. This is a year we need to forget and reflect however with a more stern coach. Barrett is too focused on being a mate , rather than dictating what he wants from the guys. Now when the going gets tough , he looking for a way out , so that it doesn't impact his coaching record , that's what I really think. This is where Des, and Tooves excelled, you could see the passion , you could see the hurt, you could see no nonsense. It worked, now all we have is excuses , its too hard... I guess our board doesn't help , but FMD on paper we don't have that bad a squad.. The right coach could have some real good results with this squad.. we need structure and dedication, and learn to play with that Manly heart. How we go about getting that I'm not too sure, I say bring back Tooves, or get in a hard head like Maguire, far out id even take Anthony Griffin over Barrett, look at how the Panthers have slid since his sacking, Kinda reminds me of the slide we have now with a rookie coach.. All in all I don't want to remember 2018 been a year of disappointment. Whoever the new coach will be lets get behind them and lets help get this team back into the 8 next year

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Hard to dispute any of that!!

Certainly it’s been one very very tough year.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I think we should also add that whilst we have some good players in our squad we also have some absolute duds, and to move on these players must / should be replaced.

Some aren’t being resigned , one is retiring, but there’s still more.

Broncos, Storm and Roosters aside look at most of the rosters and there’s some really good players and then some pretty fair players.

Ours are either superstars or absolute ****!!

If not constrained by the Cap we need to aggressively find another good quality forward and at least a good quality winger.

AND, be bloody careful about who we pick in the top 30.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Barrett is too focused on being a mate

I hear this comment and it always bemuses me, I've no idea what it is based on. I highly doubt players like Lussick, Hastings, Brown think he was too focused on being their mate?
Regardless, in hindsight this season was always a fair chance of turning to dust, starting as it did with the salary cap debacle and Green's ugly exit.
Next year will be better, how much better I suspect will have less to do with who is coach and more to do with which players we sign (and release!)

 

[Fluffy]

its been a good year:

 

[HappilyManly]

 

[Chip and Chase]

I thought last year we struggled when things got tough, but this year we took it to the next level. Mentally soft. Maybe a new coach will fix that.

 

[KNUCKLES]

A few players need to be culled, some brought in. Hopefully the new coach can make this happen. That would be the first move. In my opinion these players need to be looked at tapping on the shoulder:
JorgeTaufua
Brad Parker
Matt Wright
Trent Hodkinson
Lloyd Perrett
Brian Kelly / Moses Suli
Frank Winterstein
Players already leaving include uate, j wright, brown, croker, lane, hastings,myles and the lussick bros.
There should be plenty of room in the cap for smart recruitment. Another player reportedly already signed with us yet to be revealed.. im guessing hopoate or cartwright. Both would be handy depending on cost. Some names i think recruitment should look at include..
Clint Gutherson
Daniel Tupou
Corey Oates
Dean Whare
James Maloney
Ben Matulino
James Tamou
James Gavet
Ryan James
Manu Mau
Patrick Mago
Sio Taukeiaho

 

[Woodsie]

Anyone know how many positions we need to fill in the top 30 for 2019?

Starting 17 most likely:
Turbo
Suli
Walker
Kelly
Tafua
Elgey
DCE
Taupau
Api
AFB
Siro
Thommo
Jurbo

Fainu
Tanginoa
Paseka
??

To come out of top 30 $$$....?
Uate
Winterstein
Wright X 2
Croker
Brown
Myles
Perrett
Lane

Thank goodness Penn has given Barrett a first class recruitment officer and an astute salary cap manager to assist him in getting the best possible squad for next year .... OH **** ...

I forgot Penn hasn't bothered with those two positions ... Baz can do it in his spare time ....

 

[SeaEagle007]

I disagree on Brian Kelly, I reckon Kelly is a keeper, he will be another Matai in good time

 

[sheridanstand78]

Our seasons demise started in December last year, when we let Blake Green go and did not have an adequate replacement and our season ended when after Gladstone there was a total failure of leadership and discipline which ensured that we spent the rest of the season playing undisciplined and we were out of contention for the finals by the end of May.

The lessons to learn are that never ever again should a player be isolated like we saw this year as the division that caused killed the team morale, we need a coach who is prepared to make the tough decisions and is committed to our cause and we need our owners to step up and end the dysfunction and create a positive environment where the team really thrives!

 

[Holmsey]

A few players need to be culled, some brought in. Hopefully the new coach can make this happen. That would be the first move. In my opinion these players need to be looked at tapping on the shoulder:
JorgeTaufua
Brad Parker
Matt Wright
Trent Hodkinson
Lloyd Perrett
Brian Kelly / Moses Suli
Frank Winterstein
Players already leaving include uate, j wright, brown, croker, lane, hastings,myles and the lussick bros.
There should be plenty of room in the cap for smart recruitment. Another player reportedly already signed with us yet to be revealed.. im guessing hopoate or cartwright. Both would be handy depending on cost. Some names i think recruitment should look at include..
Clint Gutherson
Daniel Tupou
Corey Oates
Dean Whare
James Maloney
Ben Matulino
James Tamou
James Gavet
Ryan James
Manu Mau
Patrick Mago
Sio Taukeiaho

Why are you getting rid of Kelly.

 

[KNUCKLES]

Why are you getting rid of Kelly.

Kelly or Suli. I think suli would make a better winger than kelly though. I dont think we can carry both if we were to recruit in that area. For eg. Id like to see
1. Tom Trbojevic
2. Daniel Tupou
3. Dylan Walker
4. William Hopoate
5. Moses Suli

 

[wombatgc]

Reflecting on this year....

 

[mave]

Agreed.
Fk this year.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I hear this comment and it always bemuses me, I've no idea what it is based on. I highly doubt players like Lussick, Hastings, Brown think he was too focused on being their mate?
Regardless, in hindsight this season was always a fair chance of turning to dust, starting as it did with the salary cap debacle and Green's ugly exit.
Next year will be better, how much better I suspect will have less to do with who is coach and more to do with which players we sign (and release!)

The last paragraph is 110% right, it probably doesn’t matter who is the next coach and all about who we sign / release.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

A few players need to be culled, some brought in. Hopefully the new coach can make this happen. That would be the first move. In my opinion these players need to be looked at tapping on the shoulder:
JorgeTaufua
Brad Parker
Matt Wright
Trent Hodkinson
Lloyd Perrett
Brian Kelly / Moses Suli
Frank Winterstein
Players already leaving include uate, j wright, brown, croker, lane, hastings,myles and the lussick bros.
There should be plenty of room in the cap for smart recruitment. Another player reportedly already signed with us yet to be revealed.. im guessing hopoate or cartwright. Both would be handy depending on cost. Some names i think recruitment should look at include..
Clint Gutherson
Daniel Tupou
Corey Oates
Dean Whare
James Maloney
Ben Matulino
James Tamou
James Gavet
Ryan James
Manu Mau
Patrick Mago
Sio Taukeiaho

Agree with most but Kelly & Suli will develop.

Kelly’s done very well for most of this year , a few errors but every player has those.

Suli has a heap of talent, he’s young , and was thrown into FG due to the injury issues , he’ll be ok with a good off season and not as much pressure on him ( the week in week out grind) if he’s kept to play occasional games.

As to the rest , can’t disagree!!

 

[nightster]

its been a good year:

some lovely touches by Croker in that game .... really unfortunate for the kid, and us that he got injured, he was improving with every game

 

[KNUCKLES]

Agree with most but Kelly & Suli will develop.

Kelly’s done very well for most of this year , a few errors but every player has those.

Suli has a heap of talent, he’s young , and was thrown into FG due to the injury issues , he’ll be ok with a good off season and not as much pressure on him ( the week in week out grind) if he’s kept to play occasional games.

As to the rest , can’t disagree!!

Yeah i see what your saying and i agree. I just feel if we are looking to recruit in that area ie. Hopoate, possibilty of a new winger. We can only afford to keep one of them. But if not im happy to keep both of them.

 

[The Who]

I'd like to see two new wingers. They need pace and height, not bulk. They need to be be able to catch and score tries. Our backline is the least effective in the comp this season. If you check the try-scoring records of our centres and wingers this season I'm sure they would be the least of any club.
DCE and Turbo are great; Kelly has deficiencies but is worth persevering with; Walker needs to commit to the team or go, he's got plenty of ability but is a big mouth and only puts in sporadically.
IMO Suli and Tafua are no longer backline players. Give them a try in the forwards. If they have the heart to tackle and graft for 80 minutes they may be able to resurrect their RL careers. I even think Parker could make a lock/second rower. If you are as old as me you'll remember that Terry Randall starting in the lower grades as a centre but wasn't fast or skilful enough.
In the forwards we need another 80-minute trier/tackler like Jake and Joel. I don;t care about their size as we already have too many big ball-carriers who are unable to sustain defence. We also have more than enough 15-minute players in Tango, Tent and Sippers. With Api, Aladdin and Kapow rounding out the pack it would be as good as any.
I like the look of Tevita Funa as a centre or winger. Tom Wright is an enigma. I can't decide if he'll make it in First Grade.