WHERE'S MANLY'S ATTACK GONE?

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Bearfax

Grizzly old fart
No question Manly's premiership side has a great defence, and possibly the best in the League.

But what's happened to our attack over the past 18 months. Manly has possibly the best half-five eighth combination in a decade, two of the best centres in the game, two outstanding wingers and three clever backrowers in Watmough, Stewart and Symonds, yet but for occasional spurts of brilliance, Manly's attack is generally in first gear.

Sure being without Brett Stewart takes a major attacking option away but Hiku is playing well and it doesnt explain the pedestrian attacking efforts of the remainder of the team for most of the game.

Manly looked like running away with the Warriors game in the first 15-20 minutes, then went to sleep and only woke up again when it was too late. This isnt an occasional problem. Its been going on now in fits and starts since early 2012, with only occasional full throttle efforts.

Is there a problem with the attacking strategies?
 
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Reactions: Rex
Our bech has no impact and adds nothing to our attack . Hence why we go quiet from 20 to 60 minutes mark . Big George tries his best , Ferris is offering little, Symonds is wasted from the bench and the last spot is taken by the best of an average reggies team . No easy fix due to injuries , which is our cross to bear this year .
 
Not the fastest team in the comp. Maybe age and injuries is catching up to us. Can't finish off the semi breaks we make anymore. We are missing our injured props who gave us leeway to have plenty of room.

Look, Brett is 28, Stevie is nearly 29, Jamie 31, Wolfie nearly 27 so boys are getting near the end of their careers. Don't forget how many hard years these boys have played (especially Steve) and maybe injuries are slowing them down.

Also, our pack is very old. Glenn, Richie and Ballin are 29, Choc is 30, George is 30, Kitey and King are 32 and Joe was 35.
 
We have brilliant young halves who have yet to learn patience and composure on a regular basis. We have numerous injuries & a suspension in key positions and a couple of players out of form.

It's the combination that is causing this.
 
Does anyone remember that first 40 mins attacking display against the broncos last year at brookie R25 ???

it was beautiful , i would love to see that again soon...
 
No go forward as in previous years. It all starts up front and with so many injuries and suspensions were just not getting the job done.
 
Lyon had a shocker. No Snake. Warriors playing keep the ball alive footy and making opportunities.

But yes, the spark is not there at all times.
 
Some areas to fix:

1. The error rate

2. The kicking game finish to sets. This needs to improve if we are to compete at the highest level.

3. The early tackles in a set lay the platform - both in attack and defence. Fa'aoso's eventual return may help here.

4. Goal kicking

There's a lot to like in how Manly competes, and we're still in this comp up to our necks.

Not sure that Snake's return is the critical factor, as Hiku was amongst the best players against the Warriors and set up the Willams non-try and Matai try that would have got Manly back into the game, or won it, with better execution by others. Hiku came through every test and was the player most likely to create something special IMO.
 
Lyon does not get the ball early enough and has no room to create. We are missing Three big forwards in King Joe and Richie so the impact is down and we look predictable in attack.
I agree with Rex about Goalkicking, Lyon is at 62% or close to it.
 
Rex said:
Some areas to fix:

1. The error rate

2. The kicking game finish to sets. This needs to improve if we are to compete at the highest level.

3. The early tackles in a set lay the platform - both in attack and defence. Fa'aoso's eventual return may help here.

4. Goal kicking

There's a lot to like in how Manly competes, and we're still in this comp up to our necks.

Not sure that Snake's return is the critical factor, as Hiku was amongst the best players against the Warriors and set up the Willams non-try and Matai try that would have got Manly back into the game, or won it, with better execution by others. Hiku came through every test and was the player most likely to create something special IMO.

you forgot goal line drop-outs, it would be nice to see one travel past the 40 on the fly occasionally & maybe even past the half way line
 
I don't want to see Gift playing 5/8 role passing the ball to DCE as if DCE is a hole hitting centre.

When forwards don't make the hard yards, any halves will struggle.

Feel like reviving June 30 big bopper thread.
 
Giving away too many penalties is really hurting us we would have to be the most penalised side in the nrl.
DCE and Foran looked sharp at the start of the year now they just look lost. Our team lacks speed. Brett is quick but nowhere as quick as what he used to be.
 
Toovey wanted to get the defence right first, and now he is going to start working on the attack. It's all going according to plan :)
 
I think dceagle has hit the nail on the head, now that we have a few injuries our bench is totally ineffective. Losing Snake is also a massive loss when it comes to our attack as he has a great passing game. I also think our right side attack has gone stale, when Gift was out it changed things up a bit and we looked better but with gift back its obvious our right side attack is not working, we only look dangerous on Forans side of the field these days.
 
I think the only thing we need to fix is

1. The error rate

Our attack is going OK, we just haven't been finishing off the half chances we have been creating. We should have beaten Souths, probably should have hung on against Melbourne. Yesterday was another example of cruelling ourselves with dumb errors.

I think Foran is in much better form this year than last. DCE has been going fine (occassional moments with his kick choices), but I'm starting to agree with the assessment of Gifty. Since his return the RHS has struggled a little, BUT he is getting better each match as he gets some fitness back.

Where we do struggle (and have done for years) is in the attack zone 10m out. We don't have guys running lines, we don't seem to have organised structure and we definitely lack creativity from dummy half. Seems our plan there is to push it wide and try a second man play, or wander around for 5 with one out plays and innocuous inside balls then kick to the corner. That's the most frustarting part of our attack for mine. We look more likely to score from 30 out than 5 out.

Anyway, I'm not that worried at the moment. Any word on King ?? With him and Richie back the second half of the season will improve. Defence is what wins your premierships, and ours is going well (except for two soft tries yesterday LOL). The attck will come.
 
Maybe its time to experiment with Sao and maybe try Chisholm on the bench as a replacement hooker to add some spark....not sure if he's tried that role before. As I said maybe Gutherson needs to be considered on the wing, to see how he goes until Stewart gets back. He's a clever young player, even though he's still a bean pole. Thing is we need spark and I'd even start to consider Taufua in the centres....yes I know who do you drop but hey something needs to happen. This isnt a new problem as I said. But for some purple patches, Manlys attack has been off the boil for 18 months (since we lost Hopoate it seems)
 

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