Was 2015 Misleading

[maxta]

In real terms 2015 was a major disappointment....
Fact is , still finished mid table above half the comp, many satisfied with their results after finishing lower than us.
The bar has been set so high at Manly, that anything other than finals is poor & this is a good thing.
Would ANY team with so many crucial injuries & internal turmoil have done ANY better - I think not.
Sometimes a tough all round season can get back that missing fire, no doubt these experienced blokes in Stewart, Lyon, Matai will have that extra bit of fire to claim top spot & the new boys & rookies will imo - buy into it.
Yes 2015 gave a heap of lows but under the circumstances, was not as bad as the table suggested.
Are the Maroon & White glasses painted on here or does 2015 considering the cards dealt - put Manly in a good position for 2016??

 

[Alby]

Depends what you think is more effective.
2015 - Tooves and Foran or...
2016 - Trent B & co and new recruits.

 

[Loobs]

Our final position for 2015 isn't that bad for a club like say Parra, the problem was the way they played. Anyone who saw the effort in games like Albury, that disgusting St George game or the performance in Tooves farewell game at Brookie with the season on the line knows it needed to be blown up as that was a carry over from the dog **** end to 2014.

 

[maxta]

Must confess, when the team got players back & murdered Brisbane & Souths, thought we were a shot....just ran out of gas & looked tired from a draining season....still, cant think of another team who would have even given a lifeline under the circumstances.

 

[Wombat Legacy]

On paper the 2015 team under performed. But the pathetic defence and the disarray of our attack was very disappointing. I think many players knew Toovey was being punted, and some were actually part of it.

 

[sheridanstand78]

I think 2015 was always going to be a struggle when mutiny took over in mid 2014 and ruined any chance we had of winning that year and it then boiled over into 2015 when the future of the team was in jeopardy when our 2 halves were sorting out their futures. That killed 2015 stone dead because for the first half of the season they were distracted and ultimately the team with is injury toll had no chance.

We start 2016 in much better shape with sound recruitment that has addressed some of the shortcomings of last year. This season will still come down to injuries and form and how our depth stands out.

I know there is a lot of expectation about the team and the need to get instant results, I just hope the majority of fans give this team time to gel and allow Barrett to run things his way. It will be a bumpy first couple of months I predict and there will be set backs as well but with patience this team can be something.

I personally feel much more positive about this season compared to this time last year when I was told that Foran was gone, DCE likely to go and Toovey getting the flick, every day it was inuendo and negativity about our club, the worst thing about now is the squabble over Brookvale oval with the council. I think we are much better off this time.

 

[tookey]

Foran misled the club by not turning up each week.

 

[Jay Eagle]

2015 was simply not good enough, regardless of injuries and all the off field dramas, truth is if you look at our weekly team sheet the side we put out with the talent should have made the semis at the very least! Tooves did a great job and as a manly legend he was always going to put in 100%, but fact is he had an awesome roster and the players either did not turn up or the game plans were not up to scratch. Tooves led by example on the paddock but as a coach he wasn't on the paddock, I think that in his first couple of years the players played for him based on his passion but it then became obvious that he really wasn't a coach, thats when we started to unravel, just because you are a great player doesn't make you a great coach and the opposite also applies, Bennett and Bellamy both average players. Management and Bozo could see that Tooves really didn't have what was needed and had to make the hard decision of punting a club legend, and that would not have been easy but necessary. Manly are winners and only winning will do, so let's get on with 2016

 

[Rex]

Our final position for 2015 isn't that bad for a club like say Parra, the problem was the way they played. Anyone who saw the effort in games like Albury, that disgusting St George game or the performance in Tooves farewell game at Brookie with the season on the line knows it needed to be blown up as that was a carry over from the dog **** end to 2014.

Looking at the Albury & the St George game as season-defining games without looking at who was out? Really?

And picking a season on the line loss as season-defining, whilst ignoring the season on the line games that were wins? Really?

Every team has bad games through a season. Manly's had some shockers against very ordinary sides - total thrashings - and then went on to win the premiership. Poor games tend to get rewritten as either season-defining or irrelevant blips - with 20/20 hindsight about final outcomes.

 

[bob dylan]

I reckon our place on the ladder made us look better than we were.

We were in contention for the spoon most of the season. We were s bottom 4 side in my opinion.

 

[Budgie]

Looking at the Albury & the St George game as season-defining games without looking at who was out? Really?

And picking a season on the line loss as season-defining, whilst ignoring the season on the line games that were wins? Really?

Every team has bad games through a season. Manly's had some shockers against very ordinary sides - total thrashings - and then went on to win the premiership. Poor games tend to get rewritten as either season-defining or irrelevant blips - with 20/20 hindsight about final outcomes.

And Manly has always had a history of having shockers against teams they've been meant to breeze home against.
I put 2015 down to:
Ridiculous injury toll
Public backstabbing of coach
Mr Cranky Pants Throw My Toys Out Of The Cot Foran
And before Bozo intervened, an admin who created the farce that was DCE

As for 2016 - you have my full support Barrett and Boyz. Now off you go ...

 

[Jerry1]

I reckon our place on the ladder made us look better than we were.

We were in contention for the spoon most of the season. We were s bottom 4 side in my opinion.

Unfortunately I have to agree with this. I spent a big part of the season just hoping we would avoid the spoon.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

It was a battle all year (with injuries), but that capitulation, with a top 8 spot on the line, v our arch enemy Doesn'tmatta was the final nail in the coffin.

And then (when it didn't count) they pull out all stops to win round 26 against a side in the top 4.

I don't like the way it was all done BUT I'm pleased many of those players are gone, including $Forme whose performances in 2015 bordered on insipid.

 

[HoldenV8]

2015 was tough all round.

* Constant backstabbing and undermining of Tooves by the owners and board (and some of the players if truth be told)
* Foran continuing to be a sook over what happened to Gifty
* DCE contract saga
* Injury to key players (BJ, Killer, Foran, Gutho etc) which forced players to play constantly out of position (e.g. T-Red) and forced Tooves to use others like Wiliame
* Poor form (TBH, injuries aside we were out of form for most of 2015)

There were some high points of course. Avoiding the wooden spoon, big wins over Brisbane and Souffs in consecutive weeks, the Trbojevic brothers making their mark.

2016 under Barrett and thanks to the influence of Bozo is shaping up to be better. Our pack has been strengthened and while I don't expect Walker to be as good a pivot as we knew Foran was before he sooked it, giving DCE more responsibility should be a good thing.

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

On paper the 2015 team under performed. But the pathetic defence and the disarray of our attack was very disappointing. I think many players knew Toovey was being punted, and some were actually part of it.

Brett Stewart, Keiran Foran, come on down!

 

[Wombat Legacy]

I am so happy Foran is gone I hated making excuses for that weak prick

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

2015 was a strange year. Some great performances mixed with some truly horrendous ones. As Bob said, at one stage I thought we'd be in contention for the spoon. Then, when we started our run towards the end of the year, I thought we might make the eight, and if we did that I was even optimistic enough to think we might give the competition a real shake. In the end, we fell short and probably ended up about where we deserved.

 

[HoldenV8]

In the first half of the season (rounds 1-13) we were 3-9 (1 bye). The worst performance easily the opening game against the Speels.

In the second half (rounds 14-26) we were 8-4 (1 bye). We did find some form in the second half of the year when we started getting players back from injury. But again losing to the Speels hurt.

We were 5-5 at Brookvale. The fortress got overrun a bit last year.

 

[Rex]

I reckon our place on the ladder made us look better than we were.

We were in contention for the spoon most of the season. We were s bottom 4 side in my opinion.

The 2015 season had strong similarities to the Northern Eagle & rebuild years. Yes, we were strongly in contention for the spoon for a large part of the season, and yes we ended up outside the eight, but in far stronger positions by seasons end. The prime difference in 2015 compared to those years is the extent of the injuries. Secondly, there were some other highly distracting dramas that didn't help. Thirdly, we suffered the predictable pains of progressively moving from one generation of now-aging stars towards the new breed.

I have little doubt that if we suffer a similar extent of injuries in 2016 that we can expect a pretty similar outcome in terms of the season. Perhaps we might even be slightly more exposed through a shallower depth to cover injuries.

To win the premiership, as always, we'll need some luck injury-wise, even with the improved roster Bozo has put together.

 

[Killer03]

Any other club with our issues last year gets the spoon.