Something to rejoice-footballers over athletes

[susan]

In the euphoria of another great victory one thing that wont be mentioned is the victory of the pure footballer over the athlete and structure.We had to sit through another 20 minutes of Burgess sisters drivel again last night lauding 4 blokes who,other than Sam,could not throw a pass if they tried.Frankly,2 of them are reserve graders. Add the sisters to a pack containing Tyrrell, Asotasi, Lima and you see a machine that has no finesse and no ability to adjust.

Compare that to a team containing blokes like Jamie Lyon, Glen Stewart, Daly Cherry Evans, George Rose, Jamie Buhrer, Mark Horo-they look nothing like the prototype of players in their position but they are footballers as are basically our entire side.

They think on their feet and it was so obvious last night as Maguire's structure ran out of ideas. Bellamy got away with it because he has had 3 or 4 greats of the game, Maguire will now need to prove he is more than a one trick pony because he has no such luxury.

The greatest example of a footballer over athlete last night was Gift. His start resembled Steve Mavin yet he did what only a footballer can do and he found a way, something Souths simply couldn't match.

If only we could see more of this footballer dominance, then throw in some interchange changes, ruck interpretation like we have seen in these semis and we could have our great game back with football clubs like us continuing to dominate and fans not feeling the frustration I do each week.

Half way through this season I did not think we had the team to win the GF the way the modern game is played and refereed.

Once again this great team has proved me wrong.

 

[torana355]

Great post, we really do have a champion football side. Our whole team is made up of footy players that became athletes, not athletes that became footy players.

 

[Frank]

Once again this great team has proved me wrong.

This ^^.

I agree with everything you said but this last sentence does it for me. Over the last 5-6 years this team and our club continues to amaze me.

When I describe out team to anyone who's prepared to listen to a gloating Manly supporter the first word that comes to mind is TOUGH. The next is skillful.

This team turns up year after year. Just when I think it can do no more - it does.

If we win next week I can personally declare this team of the last 5 years as the best ever Manly side - and the best Rugby League team ever.

To add perspective to the above statement. I have been supporting our club since 1971.

 

[The Who]

Agree. Terrific post.
Having seen Souffs a few times this year their game plan revolves around Issac Luke darting from dummy half, and one-off passes to their big forwards. It's boring, but works... until they have to defend.

 

[globaleagle]

Bloody good post your honour.

The whole athlete thing has been bugging me for some time, especially when you see these robots make child like mistakes.

Gimme a heart and soul of a footballer anyday!




(then stick 'em into a big-ass robot! lol)

 

[Shoe1]

Great analysis Susan. The thing I really hate about souths' game plan is how they deliberately make metres in the play the ball. Walking forward relentlessly after the tackle is made. It gets them on a roll, but our second half obliterated this tactic. Often we had 1 marker not involved in the tackle stand his ground prior to the play the ball while the other tackler rolled away. Well done tooves.

 

[yokahontas]

I noticed that tactic as well and was very pleased to see it - having watched Souths walk off the mark to either gain ground or milk a penalty by putting the markers 'not square' all year, I was cheering out loud to see our guys holding the mark and forcing them to play the ball there. Kudos to Tooves, I for one think it made a big difference in not allowing them to get a roll on in the second half...

Every time Inglis played it I was going nuts, has he EVER, just ONCE, in his entire career, played a ball on the mark?!

Great analysis Susan. The thing I really hate about souths' game plan is how they deliberately make metres in the play the ball. Walking forward relentlessly after the tackle is made. It gets them on a roll, but our second half obliterated this tactic. Often we had 1 marker not involved in the tackle stand his ground prior to the play the ball while the other tackler rolled away. Well done tooves.

 

[Pittwater Legend]

Very well said. So many opposition fans who despise Manly have said that they admire and respect the way that Manly play. Even diehard Wests fans have a soft spot for us. I think it's because we have a team of footballers who are all heart and all skill.

 

[ManlyBacker]

Two thirds through the comp this year and I thought we didn't have the type of player needed to make the GF. We had a great team but the tactics that worked were having huge monsters roll one off the ptb and smash their way through. But it takes a lot more than that in the end. It takes courage and heart and mateship built from playing together.

 

[Brissie Kid]

I noticed that tactic as well and was very pleased to see it - having watched Souths walk off the mark to either gain ground or milk a penalty by putting the markers 'not square' all year, I was cheering out loud to see our guys holding the mark and forcing them to play the ball there. Kudos to Tooves, I for one think it made a big difference in not allowing them to get a roll on in the second half...

Every time Inglis played it I was going nuts, has he EVER, just ONCE, in his entire career, played a ball on the mark?!

Well said Susan and yokahontas!

The Souths walking off the mark was driving me nuts. At halftime I was spewing about to any and all that would listen.

Inglis often also just pushes the markers over, to get them out of the game & give Issac Luke a free run.

How the referees could have sat through round after round in 2013 and not seen Souths tactics is perplexing. Sometimes you think the referees would let the team in possession get away with murder.

And when will "he's milking it" be replaced by penalising the cheats?

Manly is a rugby league football team. Given the right refereeing, a team of athletes milking the rules will beat a team of footballers. I doubt few in the NRL bunker understand that though. All they see is "fast game is a good game" rubbish.

.

 

[Lord Eagleton]

Fantastic post Susan.

Thank god our game allowed such footallers to shine through last night and show their skills, such as Gifty. We are biased yes, but other teams players are just not as good as this team of 17.

If i can suggest anything, its to trust in Toovs a little more. The year is a journey in team development, as much as it is about wins/losses. Then you wont be proven wrong again

 

[susan]

We have seen fantastic semi finals this year all refereed with some latitude given in the ruck and the defensive side being given a chance against the waves of charging athletes.

Surely these idiots who run our game will see this and give us our game back next year. Put that whistle away you fools. It aint that hard.

 

[Brissie Kid]

Partly. There is still a problem when teams are defending on their own goal line.

Both the Roosters & Souths against Manly raced up offside out wide when defending on their own line.

This forced Manly to pass the ball back infield & into the defence.

It is largely why Manly got 0 points against the Roosters.

At the ground you can see the referee standing on the goal line, but he never looks sideways to check offside or if the defenders are leaving early, he just keeps looking at the play the ball. Meanwhile the touchies are back on the 10m line, so they can't help either. I'm sure the Roosters have spotted this anomaly & are taking advantage of it.

 

[Normie]

Compare that to a team containing blokes like Jamie Lyon, Glen Stewart, Daly Cherry Evans, George Rose, Jamie Buhrer, Mark Horo - they look nothing like the prototype of players in their position but they are footballers as are basically our entire side.

I know we have a few older forwards in our team but I think Justin Horo is a much better footballer than his old man Mark ever was!

 

[susan]

ah yes....showing my age.Mark was good and tough though and Justin has toughness in spades.

 

[HappilyManly]

The Dogs, Rabbids and Chooks strategy of hulking their forward pack has now been shown to be erroneous.

It really isn't the size of the pack, its the skill and the mental toughness that wins big games.

Manly Recruitment is to be commended