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Manly won't stew over Stewart - they'll win

27th April, 2014
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Glenn Stewart.(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Expert
27th April, 2014
32
1303 Reads

Anyone who thought Glenn Stewart being forced out of Manly at the end of the season was going to hurt their chances of winning the premiership doesn’t understand team sport.

It was never going to hurt their chances and it might even help them, given the basic nature of players to stick together even tighter if they think the team unit has been wronged.

Did anyone see anything to worry about in their performance against Canberra yesterday? Regardless of how poor the Raiders may have been, that first half from the Sea Eagles was the most electrifying 40 minutes of football I’ve seen for quite some time. It was a track bordering on the heavy side at Brookvale Oval, but Manly looked like they were hardly touching the ground, let alone sinking into it.

And when was the last time you saw one player as dominant in 40 minutes as Daly Cherry-Evans was for Manly? I’d have to go back to when Andrew Johns was still playing.

If Australia wasn’t so dominant in international football and Queensland didn’t keep winning the State of Origin series, Cherry-Evans would already be the Australian and Queensland halfback instead of a bench player for both teams. Representative coaches are big on loyalty – if the situation allows it. Cooper Cronk, who holds Cherry-Evans out of both rep sides, is a very good halfback, but Cherry-Evans is one of those truly great ones who don’t come along very often.

I tipped Sydney Roosters to win the premiership and I’m happy to stick with that. I’ve got no choice, anyway, since it was down in print. But if I was in a position to change tips then the only alternative I would consider at the moment is Manly. When they get it together, as they did yesterday, they look fantastic.

There were very good signs from the Roosters against St George Illawarra on Anzac Day. The big occasion seemed to draw a much-improved performance from them.

I also like what I see from Canterbury and South Sydney.

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I don’t mind Gold Coast, although I don’t think they can win the comp. They are very good defensively. If you take out their one poor performance in losing 42-12 to Wests Tigers in Round 2, the Titans are conceding points at an average of just 11.25 per game.

But back to Manly and Glenn Stewart.

He and many of his teammates might be upset with the club’s management for not making more of an effort to re-sign him, but that is not going to affect either their relationship with coach Geoff Toovey or their form.

Players want to win, for themselves and their teammates more than anything. A club is essentially that – the players. The Manly players aren’t going to let a management decision on player retention stop them from trying to achieve their goals.

They can let it be known they’re unhappy with the decision, but at the same time they’ll get on with the job, because they know they’re going to hurt themselves the most if they don’t.

Also, in any club, if you’re good enough to win it doesn’t matter if some players don’t like some others. All of that stuff goes on the back-burner if you’ve got the ability to be a contender.

Do you like everyone you work with? If you don’t, you’re still expected to be professional and get the job done as a group. It’s no different for a football team.

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