We played ok tonight, nothing outstanding, and the fact we only lost by 4 did make us look a little better than we actually were. The timing of the runs by most forwards and backs were off all night. Our ball handling was again not up to scratch. A lot of ill directed passes and dropped balls.
At this stage of the season I am prepared to put this down to rustiness.
When the game was in the balance in the first 40, we looked hungry, defended well and had a spring in our step in attack. The try scored was the result of all our playmakers combining in a sweeping movement where everyone stood deep and ran onto the ball. We opened them up like a can of sardines and the try looked very polished and effortless. We then went away from this formula and only scored again through lucky kicks. Our effort after the break was not first grade standard and it included almost everyone in the side. Not sure what happened at half time but a different side came back out - for at least 25 minutes. 22 unanswered points was very dissapointing.We did come home strong but it was all too late.
Now for the positives….
Woods, Groat, BMM and Moors when he was out there, were awesome. They are all young inexperienced guys who took on a pack of seasoned first graders and held their own. I thought Moltzens defence tonight was superb. He brought Williams down 1 on 1 at least three times and held his line well. Humble, despite his mistake, had an above average game. He did things at pace which I love. Benji tried hard, just needed to run the ball more, but did show some great signs especially when having Blair running off his hip. Robbie played tough tonight, he had a smashed nose that I am sure was re-broken early on yet tried to lift his men. The defence of both Aysh and Lawry was markedly improved from last week.
All in all, I had a great night tonight in Gosford, saw some promising signs from our youngest players but at the end of the day Manly played well and were most definetly the better side over the whole 80\. We were beaten tonight by a well drilled, prepared and skillful outfit. We will close the gap on them during the season so I am not that worried. People must remember that this comp is going to be very close all year. We will flog some sides and we will lose to some we shouldnt.
I for one will be at every game I can get to this season as this side is playing at around 65% at the moment. There is plenty of improvement in them and when they click - look out!
At this stage of the season I am prepared to put this down to rustiness.
When the game was in the balance in the first 40, we looked hungry, defended well and had a spring in our step in attack. The try scored was the result of all our playmakers combining in a sweeping movement where everyone stood deep and ran onto the ball. We opened them up like a can of sardines and the try looked very polished and effortless. We then went away from this formula and only scored again through lucky kicks. Our effort after the break was not first grade standard and it included almost everyone in the side. Not sure what happened at half time but a different side came back out - for at least 25 minutes. 22 unanswered points was very dissapointing.We did come home strong but it was all too late.
Now for the positives….
Woods, Groat, BMM and Moors when he was out there, were awesome. They are all young inexperienced guys who took on a pack of seasoned first graders and held their own. I thought Moltzens defence tonight was superb. He brought Williams down 1 on 1 at least three times and held his line well. Humble, despite his mistake, had an above average game. He did things at pace which I love. Benji tried hard, just needed to run the ball more, but did show some great signs especially when having Blair running off his hip. Robbie played tough tonight, he had a smashed nose that I am sure was re-broken early on yet tried to lift his men. The defence of both Aysh and Lawry was markedly improved from last week.
All in all, I had a great night tonight in Gosford, saw some promising signs from our youngest players but at the end of the day Manly played well and were most definetly the better side over the whole 80\. We were beaten tonight by a well drilled, prepared and skillful outfit. We will close the gap on them during the season so I am not that worried. People must remember that this comp is going to be very close all year. We will flog some sides and we will lose to some we shouldnt.
I for one will be at every game I can get to this season as this side is playing at around 65% at the moment. There is plenty of improvement in them and when they click - look out!
