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Manly's winning culture in doubt after major reshuffle

3rd January, 2016
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Daly Cherry-Evans has copped some blame for the issues at Manly. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
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3rd January, 2016
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The Sea Eagles are revered – even by their enemies – for their ability to build a consistently successful club culture.

They have proven they are a club who simply know how to win. Even in games where the Eagles have clearly lacked cohesion, they traditionally know how to dig deep and do it ugly. It is this dogged quality that has made them so feared among their rivals.

But in 2016, this cultural advantage will be put to its biggest test in years. A seismic clean-out of players and coaching staff will see a very new-look outfit this season.

The deck of cards have been well and truly reshuffled and many questions remain around the need for such a drastic reformation given Manly’s penchant for success.

The biggest story in this changing of the guard has been the axing of coach Geoff Toovey. Despite a respectable win/loss record since taking over the helm, and missing the finals last year by just one spot, the coach was shown the door and replaced with an untested first grade coach in Trent Barrett.

In my view this decision represents the biggest risk. To punt an established coach and club hero who sports a formidable resume in exchange for a rookie, it either takes a lot of guts or a lot of stupidity.

I guess time will tell.

The new coach has recently declared that defence will be the key to winning games this year and that this will be the pre-season focus. I hate to be cynical, but I tend to wince when I hear coaches utter this phrase. We all know defence is crucial, we should all know that by now. I almost suspect this cliche is offered up when a coach is lacking creativity. I certainly hope for Manly’s sake this is not the case for Barrett already.

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It should also be noted that the Eagles’ defence ranked marginally better than their attack last year – but perhaps we digress.

Despite the losses of key players Kieran Foran, Peta Hiku and Matt Ballin, the Eagles have managed to retain the quality nucleus of Jamie Lyon, Brett Stewart, Steve Matai and Daly Cherry-Evans. Throw in young gun Tom Trbojevic on the wing and you still have a world-class backline at Brookvale.

But the real question mark remains in the forwards. This is the area that really let the team down last year, showing the first sign of cracks appearing in the normally gritty manly facade. With proven grunt forces like Anthony Watmough and Glenn Stewart no longer present to get them moving forward at key phases of the match, the Eagles really struggled with potency in breaking the line in 2015.

The bolstering of Martin Taupau and Lewis Brown will help, and keep an eye out for young Jake Trbojevic who punched well above his weight in the pack last year.

Even with these reinforcements, for mine the Eagles still look a little too thin on the ground when it comes to the mongrel we’ve come to know and respect. I also remain unconvinced of Barrett’s ability to keep the winning culture at Manly going.

A tough season lays ahead for the maroon and whites me thinks.

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