Young Forwards - Do we have any?

[XV-1]

Just because we have reserve graders doesn't mean they are on the same level as the Roosters. This is a long term problem with our junior development... We haven't produced a prop since Jake Trbojevic, and Western Sydney didn't get us a middle either. Thinking Patolo/Sykes/Dunford are on the level of the Va'a's is stupid. Those are well and truly reserve graders at best.

This is down to Penn's cheapskate management. The Roosters have a smaller junior pool and yet they develop more NRL-ready players FFS.

Absolutely. Roosters treat their chosen juniors very well, coach them well and play a lot of golf to keep them happy 😊

 

[LeonardCohen]

Classic example iof our pathetic pathways is GCKT. Pouring development into a guy who is clearly too small and too slow to ever play top level nrl.

He's not slow at all. He's actually very quick. However, he has close to the worst service I have ever seen from a FG 9. So I agree, he is a waste of time for our development team, but I wouldn't count speed as one of the issues.

 

[LeonardCohen]

Just because we have reserve graders doesn't mean they are on the same level as the Roosters. This is a long term problem with our junior development... We haven't produced a prop since Jake Trbojevic, and Western Sydney didn't get us a middle either. Thinking Patolo/Sykes/Dunford are on the level of the Va'a's is stupid. Those are well and truly reserve graders at best.

This is down to Penn's cheapskate management. The Roosters have a smaller junior pool and yet they develop more NRL-ready players FFS.

The Roosters are smart in their ability to get quality talent into the ranks very early; they claim them as juniors but they're not local boys. They've just been brought to the club at Harold Matts level. We should do the same but we look in the wrong places. Western Sydney is a market flooded with other NRL clubs competing for talent. Manly should have been smart about the Central Coast years ago, when the joint venture crumbled. The area was there for the taking.

 

[TheSoaringEagle2023]

We used to have a good young forward, but hes running around for the Bulldogs now.

 

[Ohgeez]

We used to have a good young forward, but hes running around for the Bulldogs now.

Who’s that?

 

[mutley]

Who’s that?

preston who was never in the manly system other than playing for belrose

 

[Hertera]

Who’s that?

Preston is a manly junior

 

[Eagle eye]

Here's Manly's forwards, oldest to youngest

N. Brown. 33
S. Taukeiaho. 33
J. Trbojevic. 31
T. Sipley. 30
J. Aloiai 29
J. Tevaga. 29
C. Waddell. 28
D. Matterson. 27
T. Paseka. 27
H. Olakau'atu 26
E. Bullemor. 25
A. James. 24
B. Trbojevic. 23
C. Patolo. 23
C. Navale. 22
D. Pua'avase. 22

L. Croker. 28
J. Simpkins. 23
G. CK Tong. 23

Would the team be any better if Manly got rid of 30+ year old players?

 

[Ohgeez]

Preston is a manly junior

He said ‘we used to have’. Preston was never signed to manly at all

 

[Michael Clare]

Put a fork in us were cooked. We aren't making the 8 ....... We will finish between 10th and 13th. About where are squad deserves to finish. The DCE saga hasn't helped and has derailed the season.

Hopefully mate ... I am feeling a little more pessimistic. I smell wood if we're not careful.

 

[47MVEagle]

Wow, this thread is just FULL of people choosing to totally ignore facts just so they can p*ss & moan about the club & throw all the blame on someone.

What a misery 😂

Jacob Preston has said himself that he didn’t put in his best performance when he trialled for Manly as his head wasn’t in the right place.

Sione Fainu requested a release a full season before Latu & Samuela were let go.

Latu & Samuela were let go because Tartak demanded a combined contract of $1m a season for the 2 of them. At the same time, Tartak was threatening to take Schuster to the Tigers if the club didn’t upgrade & extend him.

The club upgraded & extended Schuster - & are constantly blamed in hindsight for wasting salary cap on him BY THE VERY SAME PEOPLE who are slagging the club off for refusing give in to Tartak on the Fainu x 2 $1m deal 😂 Latu has played all of 11 games in 1.5 seasons since moving to Wests. I can guarantee if we had kept them, the SAME PEOPLE slagging the club now for letting them go would be whining about what a waste of $500k a season he is 😂

 

[XV-1]

He said ‘we used to have’. Preston was never signed to manly at all

He played his junior rugby league for the Belrose Eagles.

You don't get much more Manly than that. That Manly did not pursue him just shows how clueless we are.

 

[Hertera]

He said ‘we used to have’. Preston was never signed to manly at all

So? we need to be better we don't have many juniors so we can't be losing them. Who was asleep at the wheel? the same with the young raiders winger who is another of ours it is not good enough.

 

[Seagles68]

Here's Manly's forwards, oldest to youngest

N. Brown. 33
S. Taukeiaho. 33
J. Trbojevic. 31
T. Sipley. 30
J. Aloiai 29
J. Tevaga. 29
C. Waddell. 28
D. Matterson. 27
T. Paseka. 27
H. Olakau'atu 26
E. Bullemor. 25
A. James. 24
B. Trbojevic. 23
C. Patolo. 23
C. Navale. 22
D. Pua'avase. 22

L. Croker. 28
J. Simpkins. 23
G. CK Tong. 23

Would the team be any better if Manly got rid of 30+ year old players?

I think we need to get rid of some under 30s as well. The problem is the availability of better players to replace them. For example, I think we should also move on players like:

Waddell
Tevaga
Matterson

I really like Crokes but he should retire and be given a job with the club.

I know they're injury prone and not very popular but I still have some trust in:

Paseka
Aloiai

TKO would be good for one more year (altho he again shows this week that he is an injury risk)

But we need at least 1 more quality prop to support Bulle, preferably 2.

We need a quality 9. Simpkin a 14 role?? Someone like Wishart would be better.

Again, I'm still hoping Ben will continue to improve but we need another quality backrower.

And we need a lock.

So to the thread question - There seems to be some potential coming through the lower grades but they're not banging down the door. But unless they're given a go over some of the dead wood we have now, we'll never know.

I just can't see how we get that many players fresh into the club, some just have to come up thru ressies.

 

[ManlyTragic]

The Roosters are smart in their ability to get quality talent into the ranks very early; they claim them as juniors but they're not local boys. They've just been brought to the club at Harold Matts level. We should do the same but we look in the wrong places. Western Sydney is a market flooded with other NRL clubs competing for talent. Manly should have been smart about the Central Coast years ago, when the joint venture crumbled. The area was there for the taking.

My understanding regarding the central coast was that they wanted their own team … if they were seen to be part of us they would never get their own team … and singleton was pushing for a central coast franchise. Also their juniors preferred Newcastle to manly.

 

[LeonardCohen]

My understanding regarding the central coast was that they wanted their own team … if they were seen to be part of us they would never get their own team … and singleton was pushing for a central coast franchise. Also their juniors preferred Newcastle to manly.

Pretty sure the Roosters have been feeding off the area for decades.

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

Developing juniors is no guarantee to keeping them. Look what happened to Latu, we signed him up at 300k a season for 3yrs that's 900k as a 16yr old, all for nothing in the end. Developing jnrs, I take it with a grain salt.

He was somebody else’s junior.

Meanwhile Scott, seen here with brother Brett,

was too busy scouring the Never Never. That is everything west of the Roseville Bridge - but more particularly west of the Silverwater Bridge - for talent, when he missed this Belrose (a real Manly junior) player:

 

[TheSoaringEagle2023]

He said ‘we used to have’. Preston was never signed to manly at all

A lot of Manly products came through the local grades...

• Anthony Watmough - Narrabeen Sharks
• Jason King - Belrose Eagles
• Chad Randall - Curl Curl Knights
• Beaver - Harbord Utd
• Jack Elsegood - Narrabeen Sharks
• Chris Ryan - Forestville Ferrets
• Hoppa - Manly Cove

 

[TheSoaringEagle2023]

So? we need to be better we don't have many juniors so we can't be losing them. Who was asleep at the wheel? the same with the young raiders winger who is another of ours it is not good enough.

Bailey Simonsen as well.

 

[TheSoaringEagle2023]

Its a safer option to develop juniors and give them a chance , why?
1. Cheaper
2. Gives more room to in the budget to sign a good established player from another club.

Instead we arent giving juniors a go and signing too many players on the wrong side of 30 or journeymen who havent cut it for years to make up the roster.