Trent Barrett and the Manly Sea Eagles currently find themselves in 14th place on the ladder. It’s been a tumultuous few months for the club, with a number of big names opting for pastures new, however their starts to the season have been equally rocky to that of their former employers’.
A number of big name current and former Sea Eagles have found themselves facing long stretches on the sidelines, leading to the birth of the curse of the Manly Sea Eagles.
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» Roar’s Reaction: Blues
2016 was to be a time of transition for Manly, with former favourite sons such as Kieran Foran, Matt Ballin and Peta Hiku leaving the club as new coach Trent Barrett looked to make his mark on the Sea Eagles’ list. Barrett did just that, bringing in a host of new talent, most notably recent origin debutant Dylan Walker, QLD forward Nate Myles, the Panthers’ Apisai Koroisau, Tigers’ back Tim Moltzen and former Eel Darcy Lussick.
It has been no fairytale for former Blues five-eighth Barrett as injuries have befallen his stars and derailed his side’s campaign. Where to begin? The past off season saw beloved halfback Daly Cherry-Evans famously make the decision to head to the Gold Coast Titans before equally famously back flipping and remaining in Manly. Cherry-Evans now faces an extended layoff with an ankle injury and won’t return to the fold until as early as round 19.
His old halves partner Foran has been handed the captaincy at new club Parramatta and has since faced off field issues as well as picking up a shoulder injury which saw him written off for the rest of the season. Also at the Eels, former Sea Eagle Anthony Watmough has retired thanks to a knee injury as well as salary cap issues at his new employers.
Even fan favourite and premiership player Glenn Stewart hasn’t been immune from the curse as his move to South Sydney didn’t quite go as planned. The forward spent just a solitary ill-fated season with the Rabbitohs, playing just 18 games in the red and green before jetting off to the English Super League to join the Catalans Dragons.
It doesn’t stop there though. Everywhere you look, players associated with the glory days of the Manly Sea Eagles just a few short years ago find themselves either injured or retired!
At the Tigers, premiership winning hooker Matt Ballin is out for the season with a knee injury. Meanwhile back at Brookvale other members of the Sea Eagles’ premiership-winning squad also remain on the treatment table. Captain Jamie Lyon is sidelines until round 16 with a hamstring injury whilst centre Steve Matai’s season has been ended by a problem with his neck.
Further, promising forward Brenton Lawrence, once an Origin prospect, has missed the vast majority of the 2016 season with a pectoral injury which will keep him out for the remainder of the campaign.
Careers have even been ended by the curse. Tim Moltzen signed a one-year contract with the Manly Sea Eagles in August 2015, however before even taking to the field for his new club, he had announced his retirement owing to a chronic knee injury.
There are just too many instances of injury and hardship that relate directly to the Manly Sea Eagles in some way, shape or form. This can’t be a coincidence. The Manly Sea Eagles are cursed. Their 2016 season is in shambles, as is the health of their current and former stars.
Do you believe in the curse of the Sea Eagles? Let your thoughts be known in the comments section.
Kathryn
Guest
The injury toll at Manly, this & last season has been horrendous. Despite this impacting on team performance, Tooves was sacked for a somewhat positive result, whilst the club continues to say 'Barrett is our man', despite a significantly appalling result. Bozo was the maestro of the change over the last 12 months, indicating that he is well past realistic judgement, based on their dire performances. Toovey managed to overcome the adversity, whilst Barrett keeps on flogging a dead horse, & telling supporters 'she'll be right mate'. Asides Tom & Jake T, I believe the Manly players have taken a backward step this year in their skills & abilities, & see no light at the end of this tunnel. Whilst Barrett remains, I can't see Manly in the top 10, let alone top 8. Wonder what KPI re: ladder position Barrett was given. Perhaps he has his ladder up the wrong way. As results stand, the Trbojevic's would be better off finding a home where they'll have hope of a premiership in years to come. Whilst Manly continue to flog the dead horse that is Barrett, I can't see any positives in what Manly have to offer. His comment that 'Manly are missing $3.5M worth of players' was pathetic. Only takes 1 (unnamed) overpaid player for that to be the case. Very disgruntled Manly....hard to say 'fan' at the moment......nothing much to be a fan of......
S.L. Craven
Guest
I just don't understand how they could have possibly thought it was a good idea to cut Gutherson. The bloke that needs to be retired is Bozo. He's past it. In my opinion he was never a good coach. I remember how years ago he kept Phil Blake, probably one of the most gifted LOCAL ( he went to school at St Augustine's - literally across the road from Brookie Oval) five eights, playing in reserves probably so he wouldn't outshine Bozo's own undoubted illustrious reputation in that position. If Blake had have been allowed to play at Manly ( he ended up going over to Souths just to get a start) nobody at Manly would remember Bozo.
Nambawan
Guest
Season 2016 has become a train wreck - due to star players losing form, fitness and effectiveness, poor recruitment and retention - e.g see 2016 recruited players anchored in the NSW Cup, a fine young local junior like Clint Gutherson shown the door to Parramatta; and finally poor selections - such as Tom Symonds and Feleti Meteo exiled to NSW whilst much lesser players such as Brown and Leary get preference in the 1st grade pack which is the weakest in the comp.
Sleemo
Guest
After reading this article I had a look at our 2013 GF team and thought about where they all are now, 2.5 seasons on… Starting 13: B Stewart (still at Manly) Taufua (still at Manly) Lyon (injured) Matai (injured – out for the season) Williams (retired) Foran (at Parramatta but injured for the season) Cherry-Evans (injured – second medium-term injury this year) Lawrence (injured – out for the season) Ballin (at Wests but injured for the season) Kite (left for Penrith then retired) Watmough (left for Parramatta then retired due to injury) Horo (at Catalans) G Stewart (at Catalans) Bench: Gower (at Parramatta) Buhrer (still at Manly) Symonds (just left for Huddersfield) Rose (went to Melbourne and then St George Illawarra, then retired) Coach: Toovey (out of coaching work, sacked post-2015) So by my count, that’s 7 out of 17 who are still at the club…probably slightly less than what you’d expect from the average club 2.5 years on considering standard player movement trends… But of those 7, only Buhrer, B Stewart and Taufua are currently not injured – yet all of them have had lengthy layoffs in recent times, B Stewart remains a game-by-game proposition, Buhrer missed a huge amount of last season and Taufua has only just come back from I think 6 weeks off. Of the other four: DCE is currently in his second medium-term injury this year, Lyon is more susceptible and is out for a month or so ATM, Matai is gone for the season and possibly career (off-contract after next season but you never know with his body) and Lawrence is gone for the year and rumoured to be on Barrett’s move-on list. Overall, that’s 7 of the 17 who are currently afflicted with injury, including four season-enders and one who has retired due to injury. I can’t pick out one of those players who – in 2016 – is playing better now than what they were in 2013 (if they are indeed playing). Which is a shame because at least a couple of them should really have kicked on. On the positive side, out of the nine players who’ve since left Manly for another club, I cannot think of one of them who has played better at their following clubs than they did while at Manly…jury still out on Foran as he’s out for the year at Parra and Symonds hasn’t yet played for Huddersfield but as it’s a lower-standard comp it’s hard to gauge.