Wayne Bennett backs Damien Cook over running critics

Cook is the best hooker in the NRL. while Grant has a bright future ahead of him, he is not as good as Cook and up to now had no pressure on him. For the moment, no one comes close to Cook (and that;s not just speed either).

I'm not sure how much Turbo directs the defence as opposed to leading by example in his energy and involvement, his positional play, his speed and skill and his repeat efforts and in leading the 'one percenters' that inspire his team. Certainly Turbo does a better job than Walker who is neither a Fullback or a 5/8. Even IF Turbo directs Manly's defence he CANNOT tackle for them or help them with defensive reads when an attack starts to "ask questions of the defence". The halves also often have a key influence in edge defences and their defensive decisions or missed tackles often influence decisions of the backs outside of them. That is where Foran has been falling down IMO in Manly's first two games this season. "their win rate with him vs without is like 75% – 30%." Yes, WITH Addin Fornua-Blake, Joel Thompson and Curtis Sironen. If Manly's forwards can't lay a platform don't expect Turbo or DCE to be able to make up for that. IMO Manly's biggest mistakes in the last couple of years has been to lose Api Koroisau, Blake Green and Addin Fornua-Blake. They would be a completely different side if they had been able to retain all three of those players. Keiran Foran is NOT the answer IMO. Josh Schuster is, but he needs more time and less pressure at this stage of his career. As for your Anthony Milford, his time is up!

I understand what you are saying and the one undisputable point is their middle. They’ve got enough there to match most clubs. However, there is an argument that Turbo would control their line a better than Walker. In attack, they are a totally different team. Whether he’s playing off his brother or sweeping wide his impact is undeniable. I don’t know the exact figures but their win rate with him vs without is like 75% – 30%.

Nat: "You don’t think Turbo would make a difference compared to what Walker offered up? Look at those stats you’ve offered up, Manly had no right to be anywere near Souths but they only just seasled it at the end. Turbo could very well have been the difference if Souths gave him the same chance as yesterday." Turbo will make a big difference to Manly's Total Run Metres, Line Breaks and Line Break Assists and he will help Manly's Kick Defusal percentage but only when the ball is not kicked to Manly's wingers. Manly have a rookie winger in Jason Saab (9 NRL games) and a relative rookie in Rueben Garrick (45 NRL games). Manly's back 3 were error-prone yesterday and Turbo Tom can only fix so much and then only when the ball comes his way. As for Manly's error count, missed tackles, completion rate and total kicking metres Turbo will no impact on those stats, and they were all hugely significant in Manly's two loses so far this year. Turbo's return will also have ZERO impact on Manly's inability to control the middle-third and to hold their own against rival forward packs. IMO Manly will improve once Turbo returns but the key deficiencies will still remain. They do NOT have a decent option at dummy half and Foran is a big part of the problem with Manly's woeful left edge defence. Just like Anthony Milford for your Broncos Nat.

Nat, it would have been less confusing to have posted this underneath my reposted comment. I’ll post my reply to this question under the actual comment instead of this deleted post.

You don't think Turbo would make a difference compared to what Walker offered up? Look at those stats you've offered up, Manly had no right to be anywere near Souths but they only just seasled it at the end. Turbo could very well have been the difference if Souths gave him the same chance as yesterday.

Despite having less than 50% of the possession (Souths 49% vs Manly 51%) and being down a man for 10 minutes Souths still came away with the chocolates and a 14 point win. Manly’s first try only came after the Bunnies had a player sent to the sin-bin for a nudge that wouldn’t have knocked a seagull off a chip on Manly beach. Both sides completed 29 sets with Souths completing 29 from 40 for a 73% completion rate and Manly completing 29/42 for a 69% completion rate. But that was hardly the difference between the two sides even though similar conditions saw the Storm and Eels finish with 88% and 79% completions respectively. Both sides carried the ball 175 times with the Rabbitohs running the ball for 77 more metres than Manly with 5 line breaks to Manly’s 3 and an average set distance of 38.3 metres to the Bunnies and 34.7 metres to Manly. Again, that was not the difference between the two sides. Souths had 35 tackle breaks to Manly’s 17, Souths 5 line breaks to Manly’s 3 and Manly’s 35 missed tackles to the Bunnies 17. These were the key stats along with the Sea Eagles kick defusal percentage which was a meager 38% to the Bunnies 73% and the Bunnies total kicking metres were 691 metres to Manly’s 560 metres. These were the areas where the game was lost despite a 13-13 error count and Manly’s 12 offloads to the Bunnies 6. Having Turbo back and fully fit WON’T change those stats. Only a change in attitude and defensive resolve will address the underlying deficiencies that have left Manly running last on the NRL ladder with only 16 points FOR, 72 points AGAINST and a -56 Points Differential after only TWO rounds in the 2021 season. Manly are missing Fornua-Blake and Thompson more than they perhaps realise and having Curtis Sironen missing only made matters worse. So far in two games and one NRL trial the Manly forward pack has been completely dominated and until they can address that and their defensive issues I don’t see results changing for Manly.

[Deleted and reposted below]