Interesting to see whether Manly have their foot on the pedal with one eye already on next week. All their forwards were on song last week especially Paseka who was in beast mode . Even Lodge was error free. Nathan Brown’s kamikaze runs seem to have embarrassed his fellow forwards into action. The leg speed of Brown and Bullemor has made a difference to Manly’s pack.
Lehi Hopoate is a freak. Has a little bit of acceleration just before the line combined with subtle body feints . He could enter a motel revolving door last and exit first. And no one else in the door would notice. High footy IQ too. He might look like he’s come from a week long session of World of Warcraft to get some exercise in the fresh air but looks can be deceptive.
The Sharks forwards are a bit hit or miss and their defence can be a bit flakey(pun intended )Sometimes aggressive and sometimes passive. I basically put a line through them after the 42 -nil flogging by Penrith at the construction site earlier this year . Mulitalo is a great sight in full flight (and officially the fastest player this year according to official NRL stats ) Still remember the moves he put on in a match earlier this year. However, his positional play in defence is a different story. Against St George earlier this year he gifted Ravalawa 2 tries in the first half by being too passive with his goal line defence and simply getting outflanked. If Tom Turbo was playing I’d pencil in Fualolo for a hat trick(or Hopoate if they switch wing positions)
I remember the first time I saw Nicho Hynes play for Melbourne. He was a substitute fullback and after a few games under his belt he looked like a natural. One match he created about a dozen scoring opportunities as a ball playing fullback . He made quite a few handling errors but he looked very promising. The Storm attack looked infinitely better with him in the team.I think the Sharks have missed an opportunity by not developing him as a fullback
Brookvale is traditionally a graveyard for the Sharks, as much as Kogarah is for Manly. Two Sharks in Hynes and Ramien against their former club. Insurance for Hynes on the bench in the form of Atkinson. Will be interesting to see how this one pans out. Again, hoping that the referee stays out of it and lets the players decide it.
