I’m a Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles supporter. Alright, that’s the hard part out of the way. Now onto the rest.
Like most of my fellow Sea Eagles tragics, I’ve been copping it pretty hard over the past 48 hours. Friday night’s game was not pretty to watch. Although I had been hopeful and excited all week, I didn’t expect a win.
In all honesty I’d gone in expecting to lose to a Melbourne side that, although it didn’t have to do too much to overcome a flat South Sydney team in week one of the finals, had been consistent all year and had its core group of key players in better form and shape than Manly’s were.
However I certainly didn’t expect the pasting that will soon become infamous.
It was just one of those nights where nothing went Manly’s way. Dropping the ball inside the first ten seconds. Dropping it again the next time they had possession. Giving away silly penalties. Knocking on from a scrum. Kicking on the third tackle. A dodgy video referee try awarded to Melbourne.
At one point in time the stats note showed that Manly had a completion rate of 6/11 and I wondered to myself how the hell we had managed to complete six sets. It was torture for all 80 minutes.
Ordinarily I can look at a game where Manly have lost and pick out at least one or two periods where they played well. Friday night wasn’t one of those games.
We did score two tries but the first was from a piece of Kieran Foran and Jamie Lyon brilliance and the second was gifted from an uncharacteristic dropped ball by Billy Slater, which was picked up by Lyon who ran 60 metres to score untouched.
Neither try was the result of a sustained period of pressure and good work by our team and, to be honest, I cannot pick out a single period of the game where Manly played well.
Only Joe Galuvao, a 34-year-old journeyman prop who struggles to play more than 40 minutes a game, played well. Anthony Watmough was a liability and was at fault for one of our tries by not even trying to get close to being onside (he looked like he had no idea what he was doing and he certainly wasn’t square at marker).
Daly Cherry-Evans… what a player, what a nice guy and I love the bloke, but he was all at sea. Two penalties for not making the ten metres on a drop-out – what were you thinking, mate?
Brett Stewart missed tackles. Jorge Taufua, our best player over the past month, looked like a deer in headlights and dropped balls. Steve Matai missed one-on-ones and was out of position for most of the game.
Jamie Lyon gave away cheap penalties. Michael Oldfield had a shocker. Brent Kite dropped balls. Tony Williams dropped balls. Glenn Stewart didn’t get into the game and somehow knocked on from the scrum. The list goes on.
It was stunning how the team, after being in such good form over the past couple of months in winning seven of their past nine games, could implode so dramatically in their biggest game of the year.
This team is experienced – only wingers Taufua and Oldfield hadn’t had finals experience before this year – and should know how to handle the big occasions, not crumble from the word go.
There were one or two refereeing mistakes that didn’t help us – specifically the questionable ‘benefit of the doubt’ try early in the first half and the confusing moment when a Melbourne player kicked the ball straight into his own teammate and the referee called play on, rather than give a penalty for offside or a scrum to Manly for accidental offside (admittedly I’m not sure of the exact rule there).
But to suggest (as Cowboys supporters bleated after last week’s game) that it cost us the match is ludicrous. My thoughts on the refereeing mistakes from Friday night are the same as last week – that’s footy. Some you get, some you don’t. No point complaining over it (NQ Cowboys supporters should take note).
If there’s any consolation, it’s that Melbourne didn’t have to do too much to beat us. They had a good first and last 20 and Cameron Smith’s goalkicking was terrible.
As a Manly fan, Friday night’s result will leave me ruing a season that, despite ending on a sour note, was actually quite impressive. The season after a premiership is always a difficult one to impress in but, given the circumstances, despite not taking out the comp again, Manly achieved much more than a pass mark.
Having lost our coach, half of our support staff, dealt with a truckload of injuries and a few individual suspensions, to finish in fourth place and go out in the prelims was a good result.
Hopefully the team – minus those playing elsewhere next year – can pick their heads up, go on with it in 2013 and make the big one again. We certainly have the playing group capable of going all the way next year, and with a bit less bad luck on the injury and suspension front, they’re certainly in with a good chance.
I’ve found myself thinking over the weekend about the excitement I felt this time last year after we rolled the Broncos and qualified for a grand final in a season where everyone had written us off at the start. I was looking forward to having that feeling again this year, but it wasn’t to be.
I’d love for my team to win the premiership every season but it’s only after a season where they don’t that I can confirm with myself that it’s just not possible. The one positive is that games like last night make me look forward to next year even more and I have little doubt that if we do win the comp again soon, it’ll be times like these that make it so sweet.
Congratulations to Melbourne, congratulations to whoever wins the NRL this year. I’ll be watching and hoping that we can overcome you lot in 2013 and rise to the top once again. Despite what happened on Friday night, I’m still proud of my team and proud to be a Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles supporter.
Bring on 2013.
Bee Bee
Guest
Welcome to the pain of the Cap Meesta Cool. Pains that Brisbane fans know far too well. It seems crap to me that teams develop juniours only to see them pilfer away to Rubbish teams who develop Rubbish and strangely have ample cap room to steal polished diamonds out of other teams backyards to bling up all the Rubbish in their rubbish bins. There needs to be compensation. If you develop talent for goodness sake you deserve compensation. Not punishment by having the very weapons you train turned on you by lazy clubs with Fat Caps. Current Cap format is crapp and should be thrown in a rubbish bin.
Meesta Cool
Guest
Manly are slowly being decimated by the stupid salary cap, why is this allowed to continue.. someting needs to be worked out how succesful teams can be protected from the also rans that want to BUY success.
Bee Bee
Guest
Perspective from a non-Manly supporter. We are all happy Melbourne beat you and nobody really likes Melbourne.
Sleemo
Guest
I didn't put him in my starting 13 because I really don't know much about him. He was also at Newcastle earlier this year and only really improved while playing under Bellamy. Perhaps he's just one of those players who needs a good coach to get the most out of him. In any case we'll see in a few months' time what he can offer us.
planko
Guest
Sleemo Richaed Fa'aiso is coming from Melbourne ... He could be anything... He could be average but he has potential.
planko
Guest
Agreed
Sleemo
Guest
On the experience side of the ledger, we are losing Brent Kite. It's a bit of a shame as he has been our most consistent forward over the past two seasons, but truth be told he's not as good as he was when he picked up the Clive Churchill in 2008. Assuming we don't lose or buy any more players, I imagine our starting team next year will look something like this: B Stewart, Taufua, Lyon, Matai, Farrar, Foran, Cherry-Evans, King, Ballin, Mauro, Watmough, Buhrer, G Stewart. Bench is anyone's guess, we're looking a bit light on in the forwards. Not as good as this year but still a top-eight team in my book.
mick
Guest
one game away from GF in defence of premiership is an A- in my book. Toovs has some areas to look into next year, i hope he can get our stupid habit of going sideways rather than forwards fixed for next year. have a huge preseason so they are fit like in 2011. GO MWSE IN 2013!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mick
Guest
Wrong. The Taufau strip, and then the metre and a half forward pass for the winterstein try is most certainly a dodgy call. end score should have been 16-6, anyone who thinks cowboys were the better team doesnt know rugby league.
planko
Guest
I hope Hasler can get more out of him. He seems to have gotten more out of Frank Pritchard than other coaches in the past.
Haz
Guest
It does feel a bit like we're keeping our experienced players at the expense of youth, though. We're losing T-Rex (and agreed, Toovey just couldn't get the best out of him), but we're also losing Darcy Lussick, Daniel Harrison, Michael Oldfield, and Dean Whare. That's a lot of youth and potential leaving. I do think giving Buhrer more game time will benefit us heaps though. He needs to be playing 60-80 minutes to get the best out of him. Apart from having speed and energy, he's one of the better support players at the team, and with enough game time he'll become the next Steven Menzies.
Matt F
Roar Guru
Very true. The one thing we did learn over the weekend is that even if the Cowboys were robbed (and I don't think they would have beaten Manly anyway) they wouldn't have come anywhere near the Storm on Friday.
Jimbo
Guest
I agree, it just gets frustrating as an Eagles fan when you get people spouting nonsense like how there is an NRL conspiracy to ensure that the Eagles win games (go and read the comments on the live stream of the Storm game to see evidence of this), or the comments of Neil Henry which seemed to suggest he believed his team would have won save for the bad decisions, ignoring the fact his side benefited from a few dodgy decisions themselves. Every side has copped good and bad decisions this year, and I don't think any side can honestly say that they were overly disadvantaged by this. And besides, lets be honest, the Cowboys are terrible on the road, and would have been eaten alive in Melbourne regardless.
Jimbo
Guest
Agreed. I think it reflects a bit of inexperience on Toovey's part. Hasler coached teams rarely put in two bad performances in a row, and were always quite fit - as Hasler was a fitness fanatic himself. I recall in 2008 the for and against for Manly was hugely in their favour - they would run over teams in the last 20 minutes. The second half fade outs this year were well known, and reflected a side that wasn't as fit as it should have been IMO. Hasler also ensured sides that deserved it were put to the sword - I don't think Parramatta would have come back to 40-24 after being down 34-0 against a Hasler coached side, and obviously that affected their for and against and potentially their ladder position. Overall though, I think Toovs did a good job considering the circumstances in which he came into the job, it was just disappointing to finish in such a meek manner.
turbodewd
Guest
Was Tony Williams even in the game on friday nite?! :^) I dont recall seeing a big run NOR a big hit from the guy. They should call him Tony MIA Williams....missing in action...
Ken
Guest
As a neutral supporter, I'm not quite so certain either team stood out as the 'better' team. It was a close game and those games turn on individual plays (and in this case decisions). The Cowboys definitely dropped their bundle after that and never looked like coming back in the match but, while that doesn't count in their favour, it makes you think the game would have been on a knife edge otherwise. Anyway my point wasn't to drag all that stuff back up, just to say that those two games were not apples and apples. A dud call when you're getting soundly beaten is annoying, but in a tight game it can be heartbreaking.
Mantis
Roar Guru
Comparing the refs calls in the Cowboys Manly game and the Storm Manly game is stupid. Whilst I agree the refs in the Cowboys Manly game were up there with the worst of the year, and both teams got bad calls, the 3 major calls that went against the Cowboys (the two tries and not calling the drop out) all happened within about 15 minutes, swung the momentum which was in the Cowboys favour (they had scored the only try of the second half and had the run of play), and cost them 12 points and their composure, which ultimately cost them the most as there was still time. But good luck to any team to come back after that. No way the calls in the Melbourne Manly game were that decisive. Manly might have copped a few bad calls, but nothing on what the Cowboys copped.
Jeff Cook
Guest
The tooing and froowing over what happened between Cowboys v Eagles is over , i say let it go.Both sides. We all love the game,but how hard is it to get UP for a Storm v Eagles qualifing semi. My dislike for BOTH teams is embeddered into my heart ,for so many various and numerous reasons. Too many to expell here. Hollow was the feeling throughout the game, i felt. SOOOO was i the only one that felt this way ?
tenschooners
Roar Rookie
Compared to previous years Manly lacked discipline and concentration, and I'm not even sure if I remember them playing a full 80 minutes of good football all year. Watching the Dogs this year is like watching Manly of previous years. Toovs will have to put a firecracker up them next year.
Robert
Guest
Im very proud of the effort Manly put in this year.Back to back is tough to do at the best of times but with the injuries,suspensions and all the travel they did,it was amazing they got as far.An injection of youth in the pack us a must though.Now that Williams is gone(thank god)hopefully Buhrer will get more game time,they dont want to lose him because another club will give him more minutes -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download it now [http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-roar/id327174726?mt=8].