Last night

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

There is a whole lot of dumb coming from neutral fans about last night. I don't know how that looked on the TV but live at the ground that was played with sensational intensity and brutal defence from both teams.

I thought we missed JWH badly. We barely could make it in to their half while they seemed to stroll 50-60m plus and finish on our 30 at least.

Yes, there were lots of errors towards the end but what do you expect when the game is played with such incredible intensity? Non factor.

As usual we don't receive the same penalties that we give away. RTS was smacked around the eyes to no penalty, absolute joke whereas you see that cat Matai receive a penalty.

I thought our kicking game was spot on in the early stages kicking early in the tackle count but the longer the game went and our forwards were struggling to get in to good field position we had to resort to last tackle kicks.

SKD may well have played his greatest ever game. I'm content with him not scoring many tries when he's defending like that.

RTS saved the game a few times:

1. Tackles a Manly player in to touch early on
2. Next set he scores a wonderful try
3. Saved a certain 40/20 that may well have changed the game
4. I'm sure it was him with an ankle tap on Steve Matai who looked certain to score
5. Catching the woeful kick for touch late in the game

I don't buy in to Manly fans assuming Brett Stewart plays and they win easily or that any of the other teams in the top 8 would have flogged us (like some genius in the NRL section said) not one team in the NRL would have scored a try against us last night.

If Sam Moa doesn't come back on the field then we lose.

We've beaten Manly three times in one season, a team we would be hoping to beat one time in three seasons. Enjoy that

 

[Jack_Napier]

It was easily the tensest game ive endured since that tigers semi in 10' and i was half cut that night. not for a second could you relax and it looked intense as f**k on TV. had early 90's origin feel for me.

the errors towards the end were from pure exhaustion plain and simple. we looked dead with about 20 to go. Sam Moa really gave us a kick when needed in the second half i thought. bent the line back when we desperately needed to have some ground. Massive performance from him. The RTS ankle tap on Matai was huge. Surprised it hasn't been mentioned more. He saved a certain try there. How calm is the kid, thought he SBW and BBQ were our best only justinfront of everyone else in the side.

Cannot under estimate how huge sonny was in covering and shutting down manlys edge all night as well.

For years I've wanted us to be a "Manly" like side and I really feel we are there now. Last night was immense for this club. We were getting stomped up the middle regularly and manly were all over us territorially, but we just kept showing up. To do that without arguably the 2 heartbeats of the side in Cords and JWH is massive.

Gonna need a week off myself to recover from the bloody stress!

 

[Headless Chook]

Yeah, well said TT and Jack.

This was always going to be about defence after 20 minutes. Our creativity was down but given the way the game was played and reffed I'm not fussed. We got the job done.

 

[H.H]

Yeah absolutely epic performance from our team. Rarely have I been prouder.

The commitment and spirit and belief in each other needed to put in an effort like that is phenomenal. Being there at the ground and literally feeling it was very very special.

Sonny on our right and Jimmy on the left were tremendous in defence. Time and again they made the key play and shut them down. SKD too was sensational in D credit where it's due.

A huge night in the history of our great club and a game that we should never forget.

 

[Von]

Agree with TT and Jack.

It was a great game to watch on TV.
I watched it with a Parra and a Storm fan, who were cheering us on.

We all agreed it was the closest thing to Origin there has been this year or in recent years.
In fact if that was an Origin game, the masses would be saying how great it was.
Even if we lost at the end, I would be saying the same thing.
Sure tries are great, but to see trench warfare like that from 2 of the heavy weights was outstanding !

Manly fans can go on about Stewart. If he played....So what? We didn't have JWH or Cordner, and Moa went off early.
If, if, if....
If my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle


All that is irrelevant anyway. You can only play against who runs out.

It was a great game of league and an even better result.

The week off is brilliant.
All 34 players could do with it, which makes me think Sharks are a huge chance next week.

We can sit back, relax and enjoy....all the while Cordner is getting better and JWH will be raring to go, which will strengthen the middle.

And let the knockers now go on with their new conspiracy theory, about us giving away penalties to protect our line.
If that was the case, why have we been so shit the last couple of years, when we have been the most penalised team???


For now though lads, savour the win and enjoy the moment.

September....my favourite month of the year....especially when we are still alive.

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

There's not much to add on the above comments but I'll say this, I left the ground seriously thinking we can win the god damn thing. You don't get better grand final preparations than what we saw Saturday night. We're definitely battle hardened now. I also thought, who ever lost that game would most likely lose next week. Both teams need the week off.

 

[Valheru]

Well said TT, it was a wonderful performance, a line in the sand! Whether we win the GF or not it was the moment our team said we will not lie down, we will never give up and this will hold us in good stead for years to come IMO regardless of whether SBW is there or not.

 

[BCH]

Spot on TT. Our effort in attack was definitely affected by our effort in defence. Moa coming back on though in the 2nd half was inspirational - not getting enough kudos in my opinion.

I see Toovey wheeled out in his press conference about us giving penalties away deliberately - LOL. Why didn't manly kick for goal then? The score might have been 8 - 4 to them!!

We were having so much taken out of us trying to get out of own end - but manly apparently weren't off-side once. Also, at least 3 high shots not penalised. Definitely not being treated the same. Oh, that's right, we're gaining too much of an advantage giving away penalties!

 

[Valheru]

Yeah don’t even get me started on the penalty count. Manly are the 2nd most penalised team in the comp but were magically more disciplined on Saturday than normal. They only gave away 5 and only 2 of them were in general play from memory i.e. holding down, offside etc. The others were foul play.

You watch them give Cronulla at least 10 penalties on Friday night.

 

[Von]

I am really worried about the penalties next game.

If we play Storm, will the refs favour them as payback because they were robbed against Souths and to counteract the "Sydney Conspiracy".

If we get to the GF and play Souffs, we will get caned in the penalties.

And agree with BCH, Manly should have taken gift 2 points.

 

[God-King Dean]

Luck.

 

[Horrie Is God]

I'm amazed by how we seemingly need to be penalised to death, for us to play our best footy..

 

[Albert Rosenfeld]

Who is BBQ?

 

[fowlster]

Who is BBQ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apFZsf3fX_4

 

[BCH]

I'm amazed by how we seemingly need to be penalised to death, for us to play our best footy..

It's because we are gaining an advantage by being penalised!!:crazy:

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Finally watching the replay last night and I think we really missed Isaac Liu. Napa has been really impressive and is a bit more versatile but in a game where we needed that extra bite in our go forward I think his absence - along with JWH - was duely noted.

With Cordner's imminent return is it unfair to suggest Aubusson should drop off to keep Guerra? I really like Guerra's game and his constant attempts to evade tackles with his spin moves and second phase play is very underrated. He has the size to play up the middle in periods but also the footwork and skill to run the ball as good as Cordner too. Tough decision IMO because Aubusson is Mr Reliable.

 

[BCH]

It's a hard one. Aubo is one of my favourites. He rarely misses a tackle and has such good footwork at the line. Does FPN deserve to keep his spot?

How about: 1. Mini. 2. RTS. 3. Jennings 4. SKD 5. Topou 6. BBQ 7. Pearce 8. JWH 9. Friend 10. Moa 11. Cords 12. Guerra 13. SBW 14. LOD 15. Kennedy/Lui 16. Aubo 17. Mortimer

Tough on someone in the end.

 

[Lambretta]

Luck.

Wrong sport

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

Finally watching the replay last night and I think we really missed Isaac Liu. Napa has been really impressive and is a bit more versatile but in a game where we needed that extra bite in our go forward I think his absence - along with JWH - was duely noted.

With Cordner's imminent return is it unfair to suggest Aubusson should drop off to keep Guerra? I really like Guerra's game and his constant attempts to evade tackles with his spin moves and second phase play is very underrated. He has the size to play up the middle in periods but also the footwork and skill to run the ball as good as Cordner too. Tough decision IMO because Aubusson is Mr Reliable.

I think you answered your own question right there, Tone. Reliability is key at the pressure-cooker end of season, isn't it?