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Eagles 'on brink of best'
By Liam Fitzgibbon |
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,24308905-5006066,00.html
MANLY captain Matt Orford says the Sea Eagles are still well off their best but are capable of going one better than last year's grand final loss.
The Sea Eagles ensured two bites at the cherry and a home semi-final with a 34-16 win over Penrith at CUA Stadium on Saturday night.
But despite another impressive regular-season display, Orford said indifferent results during the past month meant the Sea Eagles were heading into the finals with plenty to work on.
"We've still got improvement," he said. "One minute we're really good at D (defence) and not so good at O (offence) and then one week it's the opposite.
"As soon as we put two halves together we are going to be a really hard side to beat and we are going to compete.
"It's a new comp and it's going to be a really good feeling to be a part of this finals series."
Veteran back-rower Steve Menzies agreed, but said the current side was a much more mature outfit than the one that finished runners-up in 2007.
"I think we're still a little bit wiser," Menzies said.
"The last four to six weeks have been a little bit up and down. There were a couple of losses there (to Melbourne and Souths) and then we got back on track.
"It's going along OK and I think the maturity of the side is a bit better.
"But I think all the teams in the semis are a little bit better than last year so we're going to need to be at our best."
Menzies, who will join Bradford in the UK Super League at season's end, suffered a hamstring injury in the win but is expected to be fit for the first week of the finals.
He admitted going out of the NRL with a premiership was in the back of his mind.
"You don't want to look too far ahead but it would be the perfect scenario," he said. "But we've got a lot of work ahead of us before we can even consider it.
By Liam Fitzgibbon |
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,24308905-5006066,00.html
MANLY captain Matt Orford says the Sea Eagles are still well off their best but are capable of going one better than last year's grand final loss.
The Sea Eagles ensured two bites at the cherry and a home semi-final with a 34-16 win over Penrith at CUA Stadium on Saturday night.
But despite another impressive regular-season display, Orford said indifferent results during the past month meant the Sea Eagles were heading into the finals with plenty to work on.
"We've still got improvement," he said. "One minute we're really good at D (defence) and not so good at O (offence) and then one week it's the opposite.
"As soon as we put two halves together we are going to be a really hard side to beat and we are going to compete.
"It's a new comp and it's going to be a really good feeling to be a part of this finals series."
Veteran back-rower Steve Menzies agreed, but said the current side was a much more mature outfit than the one that finished runners-up in 2007.
"I think we're still a little bit wiser," Menzies said.
"The last four to six weeks have been a little bit up and down. There were a couple of losses there (to Melbourne and Souths) and then we got back on track.
"It's going along OK and I think the maturity of the side is a bit better.
"But I think all the teams in the semis are a little bit better than last year so we're going to need to be at our best."
Menzies, who will join Bradford in the UK Super League at season's end, suffered a hamstring injury in the win but is expected to be fit for the first week of the finals.
He admitted going out of the NRL with a premiership was in the back of his mind.
"You don't want to look too far ahead but it would be the perfect scenario," he said. "But we've got a lot of work ahead of us before we can even consider it.
