Sea Eagles season review
Paul Johnson
5/10/2011 12:24:40 PM
Written off by countless pundits pre-season and left out of just about every journalists top eight, the Sea Eagles would embark on a tour de force in season 2011, one that would culminate in the club winning their eighth premiership to become the equal fifth most successful club in the history of the game.
Des Hasler’s men were rewarded for their efforts too, with plenty of players selected in Tim Sheens’s Kangaroos squad, but what happened throughout the year to make it so special?
We take a look back at the highlights of Manly’s 2011 season.
Best team performance
Struggling with poor ball handling and with a lack of real attacking impetus leaving them down 8-0 at the break, Manly came out a completely different team in the second half of their qualifying final against the Cowboys.
Will Hopoate started the rout in the 48th minute and bagged a double, as did Brett Stewart in what was a stellar team performance.
The boys broke a finals point scoring record and completer all bar one set of six in the second half.
Jamie Lyon also broke through 11 tackles in the match, not a bad night’s work.
Best individual performance
Rookie half, huge game, injured, retiring legend, grand final appearance hinging on it… could Daly Cherry-Evans handle the pressure?
You bet he could. Cherry-Evans was electric against the Broncos in the preliminary final and he gave their defence fits, whether he was running the ball or kicking it.
The performance caused Johnathan Thurston to proclaim him the future Queensland halfback and with two try assists and 10 tackle busts, it wasn’t hard to see why.
The disappointment
It’s hard to find one in what was a stellar season, and although a lot of fans and the news networks loved the footage, the Brookie brawl against Melbourne gave the game a black eye.
Season high point
Pretty simple really, winning the NRL Premiership. It brought ‘closure’ to a number of issues and gave the entire squad and Manly’s fans what they deserved for all their hard work and support over the last few years.
The leader
With Jason King suffering a season-ending pectoral injury it was up to co-captain Jamie Lyon to lead from the front and ‘Killer’ certainly didn’t disappoint.
Often underrated, Lyon cemented his place as a ‘big game’ player with dominant performances in each of Manly’s finals appearances, he also made the most tackles of any Manly outside back throughout the finals.
The rookie
What hasn’t been written about Daly Cherry-Evans? The young halfback was named NRL Rookie of the Year and capped his season with a Premiership and selection in the Kangaroos squad.
Only Jamie Soward kicked for more metres gained than Cherry-Evans throughout the year, the rookie half was ranked eighth in the NRL for try assists with 19 and eighth for tackle breaks with 111.
Stats leader
Anthony Watmough was up there in several categories for the club, including leading the club for metres gained with 2896, he was also third in tackles made with 769 and third in offloads made with 29.
Try of the year
It’s that man again - Daly Cherry-Evans scored a great team try in round 12 against the Broncos when a falling Brett Stewart scooped up a Kieran Foran kick and flicked it to the halfback who would touchdown for a great try.
http://www.mwse.com.au/?s=article-display&id=44294
