Manly - 2013

[Earl]

I think their aging front row may be an issue. I think they'll need some young front rowers to put their hands up soon.

Other than that they'll be fine. Still Merkins but they'll still be more than competitive.

 

[eozsmiles]

They've shored up against disaster by locking in 2 top young halves plus the FB and hooker. Expect those 2 to improve over the next year or two and when teams have gun halves they usually end up in the good half of the ladder. Add to that they have kept the 2 experienced members of their spine to compliment the kids and their playmakers are set for 3 years. That's a good start. There would be 10-12 clubs trying to put together a spine combination capable of winning the comp. Manly have that.

All teams that win the comp lose payers and Manly have probably managed their list ok through the last 12 months. T Rex is a big loss. Whare, Harrison, and Oldfield don't send many pulses racing although they are all solid players. Not sure if any of the 3 would be in Manly's top 17? I'd be surprised if more than 50% of fans wanted to sign Darcy Lussick to their club for $300k a year.
To replace them Manly have signed 3 of the best NYC players going around and Ben Farrar is virtually a signing as he didn't play 2012. That Guthbertson comes highly rated too. I don't know much about the young Warriors but Chee Kam is expected to develop into a classy back rower.

Fa'aosso comes into the front row and probably replaces Kite. Front row has been their weakness for a while and will continue to be.

Toovey should be better for the run. Won't know until we see it though. Manly should have a smoother pre season off the field this year and a quieter start to the season without the England trip. And looking into the crystal ball they won't have the same number of players in the rep teams next year.

 

[OneEyedEagle]

Melbourne have shown that you don't need big name forwards as long as you have a good enough spine. As long as Manly's spine stays fit and healthy and the front rowers are competent they'll go well.

 

[franklin2323]

They'll be at the right end of the top 8 again next year. Too many class players not to be there.

Depends they have a great top 17. T rex (Probably Kite as well) aside they have lost depth players. They get injuries there's no Oldfield or Whare to call on.

Lyon's 31. Matai injury prone. Williams is out until pre-season all 3 could miss gametime at some stage. If they find some good replacements they will be fine but if not.

 

[webbland]

we did look injured and tired but.... we need tooves to become his own man,stamp his authority and play a style(s) that suit the players. you can not play that physical every game all year and not wear yourself out and tooves has to balance that out.
picked up some good young talent, and lost some too.william$ on this years form will not be missed,lusack would have been a keeper if he didn't want 300k.harrison is a player that all clubs would like in their squads-but just that a squad player but in saying that one door closes another opens,so there is opportunity for a young bloke coming thru
imo MANLY will be in the later 1/2 of the eight only due to other teams improving ie sharks,tits and it may become a steady decline in the following years if tooves dosen't become the next messiah
my tip to miss the 8 next year =raiders over achieved this year,more dramas with duggan imo
WTF do i know????

 

[Spanner in the works]

They've probably got the best team on paper in the comp, even after all their losses. There aren't too many teams around that can boast a backrow of Stewart, Watmough and Buhrer; a 1,6,7,9 of Stewart, Foran, DCE and Ballin; a centre pair of Lyon and Matai; and a couple of pretty good wingers in Williams and Taufua. My only worry is their aging front row which I would now regard as among the weakest in the comp. I'd be embarassed for Manly if I wasn't in the top 8 for at least the next three years, particularly with that spine.

 

[Packy]

I reckon 2013 and 2014 will be building years. Toovey is going to be learning on the go and the forwards are getting long in the tooth. I suspect that they will finish mid table next year, but all the young guys they have coming through will help them back up by 2015.

 

[Godz Illa]

They've also signed David Gower from the Dragons/Cutters. Good pick up.

 

[t-ba]

Need to sort the front row out. It was really nice of Des to give all those ancient front rowers a contract upgrade towards the end of last season whilst not even bothering with guys like DCE, Foran and Snake. Go forward against better organised sides is quite terrible.

A bigger issue is our tactics. We don't appear to have any. Hopefully a full, uninterrupted offseason will give Tooves the chance to work on making the team a bit more versatile. As long as Jamie Lyon is still in the side and playing like he has been the last few Seasons, Manly will have the potential to be a threat. The halves have to start operating a bit more independently of him however.

 

[clutch]

Manly aren't in a position to have several consecutive lean years. If the crowds and sponsorship value drop off, they'll really be in the shit business wise.

 

[The Eagle]

To many Internationals to drop back to far even if
we've lost Tony Iro MKII

Losses
Whare - Was behind Matai and Lyon,with no chance of overtaking
Oldfield - f**ked up early in the season then Taufua emerged
Lussick - Started to come good at the back end of the season,still meh
She-Rex - Stolen by dogs on $600k a year,enjoy him losing every collision and being a pea hearted merkin,is as an astute a buy as Chris Sandow for Parramatta

Possible/Rumoured losses
Gulavao - Retirement,this is our greatest potential loss,cool head big heart big motor
Kite - Big loss when playing against melbourne most of the time,thinks he is a half
Wolfman - Great player,great bloke but injury prone....question marks all over him

Players re-signed

Stewart - A complete class act worthy of immortality
Foran - As above,heart of a lion
DC-E - No second year syndrome here,good luck both halves down
Ballin - Second only to Cameron Smith in hooker status,severely underrated due to lack of rep duty
Gutherson - A relative unknown but the heir apparent to the prince of Brookvale

Gains

Micheal Chee-Kam - Raiders were fuming to lose him,might get a few games next year
Ligi Sao - According to most Toyota cup warriors fans the next big thing as far as props go
Peta Hiku - The next big thing as far as those same warriors fans are concerned
Fa'oaso - Big heart,big motor and plenty of guts,will add the starch required to get the premiership back home

There will be more losses and gains that arent as well spoken of in the media as to which i have no idea,i am a massive fan of this new recruitment policy and i believe it will carry us to further glory

 

[innerwestrabbit]

Must admit my first thoughts after the players they have lost is that they will struggle. But they are a tough team so nothing will surprise me