Souths Peaking Too Early, Manly No Where Near Peaking

[Lord Eagleton]

Yes Souths look strong at the moment, Inglis and the Burgess brothers look good. But its a long year and im not fazed about them winning the comp as i tend to think they might be peaking too early. Virtually ALL of our Sea Eagles boys know what is required to go deep into the finals. It might take Souths a few years to get it right..

Souths: winning consistently in April, May = peaking too early? Doubt they can maintain it all the way through the finals series - can they really get any better than this??

Manly: no where near our peak. Gifty still needs another month of solid footy to be a force again. When he starts hitting form our right side attack will be smoking teams again, just like last year. Perhaps we are playing to 75% of our ability at present?

Storm: always tough and even if they were 'peaking' now, im not sure they would ever have an 'off' time

My point is fellow Silvertails, have faith in the fact that Souths will slip up come August, September. They came close in last years comp, then flew out of the blocks this year and started strong, but maybe too strong, too early. They dont strike me as the kind of team that can maintain brilliant form like Manly or Melbourne.
Toovey will time our run to the finals very well so that we will be peaking the way that Souths are now - except better. Its all about the finals series and it will be a pleasure seeing Souths run their race too early and f'k it up again this year

Thoughts?

 

[MK Eagle]

Certainly agree Manly has plenty of room to improve but keep in mind, only some timing & execution cost a comfortable win over Souths last week, far from a crushing loss imo.
Would like to agree Souths have peaked too early but I believe this is a genuine footy side who can actually improve a little also & will.
Great to see a Souths/ Manly GF & a decent show it will play out this way. Still see Storm as the other possability & think Roosters are a threat but will be forced into so much error against these 3 teams they will lose the plot when it counts....

 

[manlyfan76]

Nothing better than souffs going well early. Giving their fans hope only to fade away in the home stretch. They are only 1 injury away from mad Monday.

 

[Lord Eagleton]

Yes last week wasnt the be-all end-all.

If Souths can up their game another 5-10%, can they maintain that form? Im not convinced. I think our Manly boys can steadily improve over coming months and hold that form (last years major semi loss has been mentally wiped from my mind).

At this stage cant see anyone outside of Manly, Melbourne, Souths winning the comp either.

 

[bob dylan]

Not going to run the trip..

Refer Brisbane Broncos 2012, Dragons 2011 etc etc

Lol when it happens.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

My thoughts are that Souths are going really well this year and will be tough to beat at any stage of the season

A lot are still trying to say they aren't the real deal etc, they will be around in late september and it's anyone's game on the day when you hit that stage

 

[susan]

I had the bunnies as a good side but maybe a yard short a couple of weeks ago.Got it wrong-they can definitely win the comp and are better than I gave them credit for.The title will go to one of the current top 4 for sure.

They have a couple of advantages over us at the moment.

First,to put it simply while the diver is on the field they can beat anyone-he is destroying sides at the moment.That try after halftime last night says it all,as did his try against us at the same time of the game.Unstoppable.We have some fantastic players but no-one as dynamic and game breaking as him.

Secondly and most importantly, they are totally fit and healthy while we are coming apart at the seams with Nood gone,Faoso out for 8,King gone for 6 apparently,Buhrer struggling and snake a week to week proposition. They also have far more depth than us.We seem to have these patches of bad luck every year recently.

They deserve to be second favourites due to the strength and health of their roster.

I am convinced first or second will win it as usual which makes Monday nights game so important. Lose to the goons with roosters and scum to come and we may be 6 or 8 points behind the top 2.Huge game.

 

[effnic]

I dont subscribe to this peaking early crap. In the 95-97 we peaked all year round. 2008 and 2011 I think we lost 6 and 5 games all year respectively.
Souths will be hard to beat all year. Manly look alot more vulnerable but we will beat most teams this year.

 

[Lord Eagleton]

to put it simply while the diver is on the field they can beat anyone-he is destroying sides at the moment. We have some fantastic players but no-one as dynamic and game breaking as him.

Certainly true. He's a freak that adds everything to their team. Even when he's diving for penalties. If he were to fall injured, say a shoulder injury from a self inflicted dive, their over reliance on him would be exposed.

Yes, Souths roster is very healthy and their hot form owes a lot to this. Heres hoping the football gods give us a break with injuries/suspensions post origin period

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

The key to beating Souths is going to be repelling them when they have the momentum and their backs up. They have a very good pack and the halves are playing well so when they get on a roll they are hard to stop

This has been evident in their wins over us and Brisbane, when in the 10min period after halftime they have blown the game apart with a flurry and held on from there

1 thing that is noticeable for me, is that their forwards, in particular George Burgess, are having their way with sides. But that was not evident at all against us, so our pack is well up to the task there. George never threatened us at all

 

[bones]

I posted before the season started that If I had to tip a grand final that doesn't include Manly, it would be Souths V Roosters. Nothing has changed my mind on this. What has changed though, is who I would want to win this game. It used to be Souths, but now i would hope the Roosters win 39 nil.

 

[Darren]

People that say about peaking usually are supporters of teams tha aren't doing that well. The Bulldogs are saying this at present.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

I strongly doubt that 'peaking too soon' is an issue for them. Hate to wrap an opposition team but what impresses me most is they seem extremely well-organised. Their coach is doing a lot right.

Not sure what weaknesses are identified. I wonder what @[Technical Coach] thinks...

 

[dceagle]

Souths look good at the moment , they will hit a lean patch during the season ( as will all sides ) How long they are off , and how they respond will be a big indicator this year as to how they remain as a contender . I still think they are a couple of years short of being GF winners .

 

[Ian Martin tragic]

Only just managed to see last week's game; agree souths are a serious proposition this year. well coached, work ethic, gamebreakers, youth and experience. They sound like us right? They beat us with defence for 80 mins, not withering under the pressure we put on. They learnt from their loss v storm, and took their chances when they came.

We had a patch of errors in the first half and loss of intensity so failed to get points on them when we had dominance, and then that slow start to the second half. Still, we pushed back hard and weren't too far behind. The refs had a bit of a shocker, but were in heavy 'even up the game' mode and we got plenty of penalties from them in patches also.

So much for the analysis. Been said already, but what a f***in monumental game. The physical contact, desperate attacking raids at full speed, the Inglis monster unleashed in the backfield, burgesses vs manly forwards, watmough up the guts.... if you weren't satisfied by that game as a contest your'e never going to be.

 

[Bearfax]

I think Bones may be right predicting a Souths-Roosters grandfinal. Souths look the goods this year. They have an awesome pack and some very clever backs with Inglis as the explosive full back. It will be interesting. Manly, barring loosing too many forwards, will be there as will Melbourne. And look out the dogs are coming back. Those five will decide it.

 

[Chip and Chase]

They can definitely win it. If they stay fit and have the required amount of luck then of course they can win. Same goes for us, storm and roosters. The NRL is so close that you would be mad to take any quality side lightly.

Injuries really are the key for any side. They lose inglis or Reynolds and they will struggle. Same for the scum and the big 3. Roosters without SBW or Maloney will blow in betting. We lose killer or one of the halves and we are shot ducks as well.

 

[Andrew..]

I always thought Joe was a huge part of our game, we have an abundance of skillful, agile forwards but tough metre eaters are always needed in the trenches...hope Tooves has something up his sleeve to counter this problem.

 

[panash]

Souths wont win it this year.. ( remember my words ).

Its all Inglis , scoring tries , setting up momentum , saving tries.

true indication of the bunnies will be set during origin when Inglis will be stuffed or not playing...

I keep hearing how great their forward pack is & depth ( no doubt good pack ) but did they dominate at brookie... I dont think so at all , we had them covered , they had more energy for 80mins they had the ball bounce the right way for them and eventually got 2 points...

For me i dont ( and can never see pass Manly ) , but its the STORM hands down the benchmark.

were only in May and supporters of the game are impressed with certain teams , but lets not forget there is a major gap between teams this year you have the first 4 , then the scrap fills 5-8.

just compare south team against ours 1-17 , our centres , halves , wingers for me are better..

maybe as a forward pack ( equal ).

just put last weeks game as a bad day in the office , souths down 12-8 ht against broncos who were without hodges and havnt been playing good footy anyway..

 

[DSM5]

I agree with Kiwi on this. Souths seem to spring from the blocks early in the second half when opposing teams take their time to get back into the groove. That's what happened to us and to the Bongoes last night. We should have been 12 to 18 points in front when we played them at half time but the bounce of the ball didn't go our way.. Souths can be beaten by teams that concentrate for the full 80, a thing the Storm do week after week. That's a coaches job, and I'm sure Toovs will be aware of this in the games to come. No more time to ease yourself back into games.