So what does the opposition really think??

[anthonyb1965]

Greetings from sunny Phuket!!!

Ran into the Bronc's halfback over here, having a couple of drinks and it was interesting his perspective on 2011 and 2012. While he talked up the Broncos chances next year he kept coming back to Manly saying (through a little prompting), "need to break their spirit" and "you need to meet them on their off day".

Nice guy but Mr Wallace, you can't break our spirit!!! 😀

 

[captainskin]

It is interesting what happens with body language and the the talk among teams when out on the field. Most of the time it is only the commentators giving us their opinion of the feel or tempo of a team.

It is a spirit of a team that needs to be broken first, unless the game is very one-sided, where a team like the Sharks are playing the North bundle Numbats, for example ;^). Given that most things are equal out on an NRL playing field (apart from how much money we are given by governments for our home ground), Manly seemed to develop this spirit very early in the season built on mongrel and fighting for each other.

Some supporters believed it was there even from the opening round against Melbourne, however many had given up from that game. However, we all saw it against the roosters, and most define that game as the day the 'spirit' (if I could sound Biblical) entered the team from on high when a depleted team turned up for 80minutes.

Manly's spirit was defined by Des with a siege mentality and a steely focus of what the boys needed to do on the paddock and how they lived for and with each other off the paddock; then, I think, we had more players than other teams who surrendered the 'me' attitude and sought the 'we' attitude; after that I believe, we had more individuals who shared in the spirit and led from the front, whom stood up to be counted, whom didn't let age, reputation, or experience hinder their focus on the game at hand.

This, in my opinion, was the spirit that regularly turned up all year and made us proud to be called Manly.

 

[bones]

To win a premiership you need your share of luck and I believe Manly had it in bucket loads this year. To play the Cowboys (with Thurston a passenger after his injury) then the Broncos (without Lockyer) and finally the Warriors (who rarely beat Manly) in the finals to win the premiership is a dream run. The two teams who i believe were the biggest threats to Manly winning the Premiership (Tigers and Dragons) were knocked out by other teams and Manly didn't have to face them. Not only did the Broncos knock the dragons out but Lockyer breaks his cheekbone in the process. Im not saying Manly wouldn't have won the Premiership anyway , but I definitely believe it would have been a LOT more difficult to win had we played a game against either the Tigers, Dragons or a full strength Broncos. Manly may well have still won it because they are definitely good enough.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

To win a premiership you need your share of luck and I believe Manly had it in bucket loads this year. To play the Cowboys (with Thurston a passenger after his injury) then the Broncos (without Lockyer) and finally the Warriors (who rarely beat Manly) in the finals to win the premiership is a dream run. The two teams who i believe were the biggest threats to Manly winning the Premiership (Tigers and Dragons) were knocked out by other teams and Manly didn't have to face them. Not only did the Broncos knock the dragons out but Lockyer breaks his cheekbone in the process. Im not saying Manly wouldn't have won the Premiership anyway , but I definitely believe it would have been a LOT more difficult to win had we played a game against either the Tigers, Dragons or a full strength Broncos. Manly may well have still won it because they are definitely good enough.

That's a good point really, and if you look back very similar in 2008.

We were still good enough to beat those others BUT it was somewhat a dream run.

 

[Pacman]

To win a premiership you need your share of luck and I believe Manly had it in bucket loads this year. To play the Cowboys (with Thurston a passenger after his injury) then the Broncos (without Lockyer) and finally the Warriors (who rarely beat Manly) in the finals to win the premiership is a dream run. The two teams who i believe were the biggest threats to Manly winning the Premiership (Tigers and Dragons) were knocked out by other teams and Manly didn't have to face them. Not only did the Broncos knock the dragons out but Lockyer breaks his cheekbone in the process. Im not saying Manly wouldn't have won the Premiership anyway , but I definitely believe it would have been a LOT more difficult to win had we played a game against either the Tigers, Dragons or a full strength Broncos. Manly may well have still won it because they are definitely good enough.

bones sounds like you think we were lucky and had a soft draw,what a load of b/s the dragons couldnt beat time with a stick at the end of the year,the broncos were full strength bar lockyer,the tigers were not up to holding off a rampant warriors unlike manly were,give the warriors some credit other than manly no one else was good enough to beat them when it mattered in sudden death,poor old brisbane no lockyer well we had glenn stewart wolfman and our captain missing the hole semi series so i believe we were lucky alright lucky we were so good.we looked good all year.my opinion warriors at the time were the biggest hurdle.

 

[bones]

To win a premiership you need your share of luck and I believe Manly had it in bucket loads this year. To play the Cowboys (with Thurston a passenger after his injury) then the Broncos (without Lockyer) and finally the Warriors (who rarely beat Manly) in the finals to win the premiership is a dream run. The two teams who i believe were the biggest threats to Manly winning the Premiership (Tigers and Dragons) were knocked out by other teams and Manly didn't have to face them. Not only did the Broncos knock the dragons out but Lockyer breaks his cheekbone in the process. Im not saying Manly wouldn't have won the Premiership anyway , but I definitely believe it would have been a LOT more difficult to win had we played a game against either the Tigers, Dragons or a full strength Broncos. Manly may well have still won it because they are definitely good enough.

bones sounds like you think we were lucky and had a soft draw,what a load of b/s the dragons couldnt beat time with a stick at the end of the year,the broncos were full strength bar lockyer,the tigers were not up to holding off a rampant warriors unlike manly were,give the warriors some credit other than manly no one else was good enough to beat them when it mattered in sudden death,poor old brisbane no lockyer well we had glenn stewart wolfman and our captain missing the hole semi series so i believe we were lucky alright lucky we were so good.we looked good all year.my opinion warriors at the time were the biggest hurdle.

Yeah i think luck was on our side, which may I add is in no way criticising Manly, they can only play who they are drawn to play. Manly won the premiership in a year where they did not beat the Dragons, tigers or the broncos when Lockyer played. Whether Manly would have beaten any of this sides in the finals is unknown. I would be quietly confident of beating them but I have to be honest and say I was a lot more confident playing the Cowboys, Broncos without Lockyer and the Warriors.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

I can't agree with the sentiment at all. Even teams such as Roosters & Illawarra who won comps after powerful rivals were eliminated for cheating the cap are deserved winners in my view.

There are any number of retired former stars who never made it and each will say just how hard it is to make a grand final, let alone to win one.

It is trite to say luck plays a part, but to extrapolate that truism and produce the statement that we were lucky to win is false logic.

Generally speaking every team suffers injuries and we did too. The fact Illawarra, Wests, and Brisbane were not strong enough to meet their various challenges does not make us lucky winners. It means they just weren't quite good enough.

I have no doubt we would have beaten anyone this year, and we did beat all those who were good enough to get in our way at the business end. Leave the excuses to the losers, but never try to take the gloss off our own triumph. Think back to february, and you'll realise this one was against the odds - literally.

 

[BOZO]

To win a premiership you need your share of luck and I believe Manly had it in bucket loads this year. To play the Cowboys (with Thurston a passenger after his injury) then the Broncos (without Lockyer) and finally the Warriors (who rarely beat Manly) in the finals to win the premiership is a dream run. The two teams who i believe were the biggest threats to Manly winning the Premiership (Tigers and Dragons) were knocked out by other teams and Manly didn't have to face them. Not only did the Broncos knock the dragons out but Lockyer breaks his cheekbone in the process. Im not saying Manly wouldn't have won the Premiership anyway , but I definitely believe it would have been a LOT more difficult to win had we played a game against either the Tigers, Dragons or a full strength Broncos. Manly may well have still won it because they are definitely good enough.

bones sounds like you think we were lucky and had a soft draw,what a load of b/s the dragons couldnt beat time with a stick at the end of the year,the broncos were full strength bar lockyer,the tigers were not up to holding off a rampant warriors unlike manly were,give the warriors some credit other than manly no one else was good enough to beat them when it mattered in sudden death,poor old brisbane no lockyer well we had glenn stewart wolfman and our captain missing the hole semi series so i believe we were lucky alright lucky we were so good.we looked good all year.my opinion warriors at the time were the biggest hurdle.

Yeah i think luck was on our side, which may I add is in no way criticising Manly, they can only play who they are drawn to play. Manly won the premiership in a year where they did not beat the Dragons, tigers or the broncos when Lockyer played. Whether Manly would have beaten any of this sides in the finals is unknown. I would be quietly confident of beating them but I have to be honest and say I was a lot more confident playing the Cowboys, Broncos without Lockyer and the Warriors.

You must remember bones that the tigers only beat us with a forward pass and when Brisbane beat us we had half our side out. We were the ones that were very unlucky there . The dragons were lucky to have beaten us on our off day. We were clearly the form team come semi final time , We were without our best forward and captain and still humiliated the cowboys by 42 - 8
and smashed the broncos 26 - 14 . .Let us also not forget the turmoil the club was going through with the shocking timing of Zorbas termination . Luck ??? no ****ing way . We won the comp through sheer COURAGE AND CLASS!!!

 

[Pacman]

To win a premiership you need your share of luck and I believe Manly had it in bucket loads this year. To play the Cowboys (with Thurston a passenger after his injury) then the Broncos (without Lockyer) and finally the Warriors (who rarely beat Manly) in the finals to win the premiership is a dream run. The two teams who i believe were the biggest threats to Manly winning the Premiership (Tigers and Dragons) were knocked out by other teams and Manly didn't have to face them. Not only did the Broncos knock the dragons out but Lockyer breaks his cheekbone in the process. Im not saying Manly wouldn't have won the Premiership anyway , but I definitely believe it would have been a LOT more difficult to win had we played a game against either the Tigers, Dragons or a full strength Broncos. Manly may well have still won it because they are definitely good enough.

bones sounds like you think we were lucky and had a soft draw,what a load of b/s the dragons couldnt beat time with a stick at the end of the year,the broncos were full strength bar lockyer,the tigers were not up to holding off a rampant warriors unlike manly were,give the warriors some credit other than manly no one else was good enough to beat them when it mattered in sudden death,poor old brisbane no lockyer well we had glenn stewart wolfman and our captain missing the hole semi series so i believe we were lucky alright lucky we were so good.we looked good all year.my opinion warriors at the time were the biggest hurdle.

Yeah i think luck was on our side, which may I add is in no way criticising Manly, they can only play who they are drawn to play. Manly won the premiership in a year where they did not beat the Dragons, tigers or the broncos when Lockyer played. Whether Manly would have beaten any of this sides in the finals is unknown. I would be quietly confident of beating them but I have to be honest and say I was a lot more confident playing the Cowboys, Broncos without Lockyer and the Warriors.

with due respect to you bones i cant agree with that in any form,there are no question marks over this premiership, you are giving way to much credit to sides that finished 5th & 6th.as for not beating the broncos 3 times we played and lost once in an even match with 7 of our top players missing,i would suggest the writing was on the wall prior to that performance after the way manly crushed storm.give us glenn stewart and king and wolfman all fit and the dominance over all sides would be even greater.at the end of the day we simply had more quality players across the park than any other team.

 

[bones]

Not once have I said there are question marks over the premiership. I'm simply saying that a team needs luck to win the premiership and Manly certainly had their share of it. I was always confident Manly could win the Premiership. But the teams that worried me the most heading into the finals were the Tigers and the Dragons and the Broncos. The broncos lost Lockyer and we didn't have to play either of the other two. If I could have chosen who Manly were to play each week to help them win the GF I would have chosen the Cowboys in week 1 of the finals, the broncos in week 3 (once Lockyer was injured) and the Warriors in the GF. I'm not trying to take anything away from the win it was a great win and an awesome season. I must stress that I am NOT saying we would have lost against the Dragons, the Tigers or the Broncos with Lockyer playing. I just think they would have been tougher games, but ones Manly were definitely capable of winning.

 

[The Eagle]

Lockyer wouldn't have beaten us

 

[mickqld]

The Tigers were a bull**** overhyped team that could not match it when the going gets tough. They are great when the opposition defense is unstructured and ball watching Benji but does anyone seriously think they would have beaten us in the semis the way we played. No chance we would have strangled them out of the game with our defense then teared them appart with our attack against their mediocre defense the same with the Goons who were playing like **** for the back end of the season. Neither of those 2 would have worried us. The team I feared the most was the Warriors with their style and look what we did to them. True champions are Manly we are well deserved premiers.

 

[Brookie4eva]

At risk of being slammed, I agree totally with Bones, we deserved our premiership, but things could have been tougher.

However, all that matters is we beat the teams that were put in front of us, that's all you have to do.

 

[Fro]

i Think thats exactly what Bones was saying, that the way the cards fell worked out for us.

nowhere did he say they didnt deserve it or that he wasnt going to savour it.

get in the conga line if you reckon we did it overly tough (on the field) off field we were a shambles, but that is pretty standard for manly.

agree 100% bones, and if you dont like that Ms Pacman, tough.

 

[eagles2win]

Most teams hate playing us, the Storm and Warriors funny that they were the last three teams playing

 

[Dessy]

It is a lot to do with luck, both years 08,11. we had dream runs in the semi finals. I have no doubt that we would have won the 09 comp if we had not met melbourne in melbourne in the first semi final. i remember us absoloutley flogging the gold coast (who i think were placed in 3rd position) the week before at brookie and having the belief that we had what it took to go back to back.

 

[Pacman]

i Think thats exactly what Bones was saying, that the way the cards fell worked out for us.

nowhere did he say they didnt deserve it or that he wasnt going to savour it.

get in the conga line if you reckon we did it overly tough (on the field) off field we were a shambles, but that is pretty standard for manly.

agree 100% bones, and if you dont like that Ms Pacman, tough.

now that really hurts getting called a woman from such a tuff guy like you fro,i guess i should just crawll back into my hole and rethink how stupid ive been,i will do that when you front all the manly players and tell them your thoughts on how easy it all was,How on the field it was not overly tough.manly showed great heart and toughness to win if you dont think so,tough

 

[bones]

now that really hurts getting called a woman from such a tuff guy like you fro,i guess i should just crawll back into my hole and rethink how stupid ive been,i will do that when you front all the manly players and tell them your thoughts on how easy it all was,How on the field it was not overly tough.manly showed great heart and toughness to win if you dont think so,tough

That's not what I said and you know it. You might not agree with my view but don't change what I said entirely to suit your argument. I never said it wasn't tough or that Manly didn't deserve it. But answer me 3 questions.
1. What do you think would be the harder game to win? Against the Cowboys with Thurston a passenger, or against the Cowboys with a fully fit Thurston?
2. Against the Broncos without Lockyer, or against the Broncos with Lockyer?
3. A Grand final against the Warriors, or a GF against the Dragons or Tigers? Keeping in mind the Warriors is the team that Manly has the one of the best recent records against. The Warriors were beaten by 30 points in week 1 of the finals by a Broncos team that included Lockyer. Keep that in mind when answering Q 2.

 

[lsz]

Bones stop tying to use logic and sound reasoning....

 

[Berkeley_Eagle]

Yes I agree would have been a tougher GF against the Tigers, Broncos or Dragons but you play who is put in front of you and go from there, perhaps if we had the AFL top 8 system it may have been different but we will never know, Manly lost 6 games in 2012 and that was equal with the Storm who I think we would have beat too