They wet their pants. - Phil Gould

[gong_eagle]

Statistics tell tale of a good, old-fashioned flogging

Phil Gould | June 9, 2008

THE ANALYST
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/new...hioned-flogging/2008/06/08/1212863453911.html
The Roosters lost yesterday's game at Brookvale Oval because they were intimidated out of the contest by the Manly forwards. Basically, they wet their pants.
Sorry for the language; but as an old football coach my vocabulary is pretty limited when it comes to stating the bleeding obvious.
This game was over after only six minutes.
You can study all the statistics you like from the remaining 74 minutes of the game. They will only tell you how it happened. It takes a much deeper examination to explain why the Roosters were blown off the park.
For instance, statistics will reveal the Roosters were forced to make over 100 more tackles than their opponents during the game.
They turned the ball over before tackle two on no fewer than nine occasions.
The Roosters had five line drop-outs, so intense was Manly's kick-chase pressure.
They also gifted Manly six restarts of the tackle count because they touched the ball while in defence. They ran into touch, threw forward passes, missed tackles and even passed the ball to their rivals.
So dominant were the Sea Eagles in all facets of the game that in the first 50 minutes of play, only nine minutes of it was in Manly's half.
Studying statistics from a game of football though, is a bit like a forensic scientist studying a murder scene.
These vital shreds of evidence can tell you how the victim was murdered. DNA analysis can even lead them to who was responsible.
However, only the psychologists can determine the motivation and why this murder actually occurred.
Anyway, back to the first six minutes of the match.
It began like any other game, with both teams dutifully going about the job of advancing the ball before a good kick downfield in the obligatory contest of "forcings-back".
However, this was the most one-sided game of "forcings-back" I've ever seen.
Manly totally dominated the Roosters.
During this short, but decisive, period both teams had three sets of six with the ball.
Every time the Roosters had possession they made less and less ground with the ball.
The Manly forwards raced up in numbers and gang-tackled the younger Roosters, who looked tentative and lost.
Each time the Roosters got to tackle five, they were forced to kick from deeper and deeper inside their own half.
Their kickers were under so much pressure that their kicks made less ground each time.
When Manly got the ball their big forwards, led by Brent Kite and Josh Perry, rumbled over the advantage line like semi-trailers hurtling down the motorway.
They bent the Roosters back with every charge and when they got to their fifth-tackle kick, they were able belt the ball downfield like it was fired from a cannon. It forced the Roosters further and further back, until they pinned them in-goal and got a repeat set. This was only the sixth minute of the contest but the body language on the shell-shocked Roosters following Manly's blitzkrieg was an indication of what was to happen for the rest of the afternoon. The game was over right there.
To their credit the Roosters tried to rally in defence and kept the deficit low until half time, before the floodgates opened in the second half and the score blew out.
That's how it happened.
The who part is easy.
The Manly forwards did it.
The Roosters will need to have their players questioned by the club psychiatrist to find out why it happened.

 

[gong_eagle]

Manly mauling silences doubters

Jamie Pandaram | June 9, 2008
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/manly-mauling-silences-doubters/2008/06/08/1212863453921.html

History repeats. Kind of.

It was after routing the Roosters this time last year, with a 56-0 demolition job, that Manly started to be taken seriously as a premiership threat.

They were second on the ladder then - they're first now - but somehow their form hasn't been enough to convince the critics.

"I think some people still doubt us. I think we've still got a lot to prove to ourselves and lot of others," hooker Matt Ballin said.

"Last week with 12 men we won [against the Raiders]. this week we've kept them to zero. I think if we can keep that momentum going we will be really strong in the next couple of weeks."

It was the zero in the 42-0 scoreline that most pleased Manly coach Des Hasler and his troops. But the uncrossed try line had as much to do with Manly's attack as it did their defence.

They had developed a game plan of rat cunning rather than flat running, continually using short-side dummy-half plays to upset the rhythm of the Roosters' defence. As Ballin explained: "The Roosters are pretty strong in defence, they rush up so we tried to stay away from their big men. That worked well."

Manly would then spread the ball wide on both sides, a risky proposition on a wet day and clearly one the Roosters weren't prepared for, as second-man plays created holes in their defensive line.

What it brought was countless sets of possession for the home side in the first half, as a disjointed Roosters crew coughed up the ball, slid around on the slippery surface and were repeatedly hammered back into their in-goal area.

All that tackling was going to take its toll at some stage.

"We knew [Manly had] 70 per cent of the ball, we knew we were going to get tired eventually," Roosters back-rower Setaimata Sa said.

The fatigue set in shortly after half-time, when in a 17-minute period the score ballooned from 14-0 to 42-0.

After that Matt Orford and co. turned on the tricks to entertain their supporters, many of whom had decided by then they'd had enough fun for one day and it was time to escape the driving rain.

It was a celebratory day, that featured a half-time marriage proposal (she said yes) and a visit to the sheds afterwards by Hollywood heavyweight Hugh Jackman.

Echoes of the crowd's chant, "Manly, Manly", hung in the air as the ramification of this masterful performance sunk in, and you thought, "This team is dangerous, they're going places."

 

[gong_eagle]

At five-eighth, Lyon proving not half bad

Greg Prichard | June 9, 2008
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/lhq...1212863438699.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1


Manly 42 Sydney Roosters 0

There are those who regard the fact that Jamie Lyon plays five-eighth one week and centre the next as evidence Manly haven't got the key No.6 spot adequately covered. So they would be interested to learn that he nearly played halfback against the Sydney Roosters at Brookvale Oval yesterday.

"Ox [halfback Matt Orford] was a bit crook with a virus, so Dessie [coach Des Hasler] threw me in at halfback at training," Lyon said after Manly's 42-0 demolition of the Roosters. "I don't think I've ever played there. Too fat for [number] seven.

"I had a sleepless night on Friday. I told my missus I was a bit worried I might be playing halfback. Ox came good at training yesterday, but I was still a bit worried I might have to play there until he turned up OK today."

Lyon probably would have handled that mission had he been forced to accept it. There's no doubt he handled five-eighth expertly against the Roosters.

Lyon might be a converted No.6, but he does the job pretty well when Hasler hands him the responsibility. Sometimes, Steve Menzies gets the job. He was named at five-eighth for yesterday's game, only for Lyon to start there. Occasionally, Luke Williamson slots in.

The modern game demands adaptability, and while the Sea Eagles might not have a first-grade five-eighth who was bred in the position, Hasler considers he has players who can do the job there. The coach explained that he swaps them around according to the playing style he wants Manly to use and the different challenges presented by the opposition.

"The Roosters are a side you must get good field position against," Hasler said. "They are very good at pressuring the kicker, so I wanted to have Jamie closer to the ball to take a bit of pressure off Ox's kicking game. I wanted to have two good options at the end of our sets. We had to constantly turn them around and I think it all went really well today."

It was another of those games affected by the unavailability of State of Origin players. The Roosters were missing forwards Craig Fitzgibbon, Willie Mason, Anthony Tupou and Nate Myles, while Manly were missing fullback Brett Stewart. The Sea Eagles had three other regular members of their 17-man squad out, while the Roosters had another one.

Ironing out the balance, the Roosters should be disappointed, but not reduced to wrist-slashing. The Sea Eagles are entitled to be delighted, but wary that a full-strength Roosters would provide a much bigger challenge. The bottom line out of yesterday's game was that if you want to beat Manly, you had better come with a bunch of big, tough, experienced forwards who are on their game - that's what the Sea Eagles have got going for them.

The Roosters dropped too much ball yesterday and had to make too many tackles. They were trailing 14-0 at half-time when the deficit could have easily been double that, but considering the extra work they had loaded themselves with they were always likely to get run over.

"We were fairly clinical in how we went about our work today," Hasler said. "We controlled the ball really well. We were patient and worked our sets out and got the rewards at the back end of the game, Take the two points, and move on."

In the round before Origin I, the Roosters overcame the loss of the same quartet of star forwards, thrashing Parramatta on the road. Coach Brad Fittler and captain Braith Anasta suggested the psyche of the players may have been invaded by a feeling that the same thing was going to happen yesterday.

"They slowed us down totally," Fittler said of Manly. "They made us look like we were going at a different speed to them."

Anasta added: "I think we tried to talk ourselves into it today."

Roosters replacement forward Mickey Paea got himself on report for a high tackle on Manly prop Josh Perry. Sea Eagles second-rower Glenn Stewart got a knock to his knee, but may not miss a game since Manly have the bye next weekend.

Lyon got plenty of praise for his performance. He may not be another Cliff Lyons, but who is these days?

 

[gong_eagle]

Reprieve a relief for Jamie Lyon
Article from: The Daily Telegraph
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23831987-5001023,00.html


By Dean Ritchie

June 08, 2008

MANLY five-eighth Jamie Lyon admitted to having a sleepless Saturday night after being on standby to play in the unfamiliar halfback role yesterday.

Lyon trained at No. 7 for the Roosters match, with regular halfback Matt Orford battling the flu.

It wasn't until Saturday morning that Orford declared himself fit.

"I was in at halfback this week," Lyon said.

"Ox (Orford) was a bit crook and I had a bit of a sleepless night last night.

"I've never played seven. Too fat I think. I was thinking, 'Geez, I hope he comes through' and luckily he did."

Luckily for Manly, too, because Lyon was fabulous at five-eighth yesterday.

He helped set up four tries and scored one himself in the 42-0 rout of the Roosters.

It is a bonus for Manly that Lyon has been overlooked for NSW selection. They are only missing one player, Brett Stewart, to State of Origin.

 

[gong_eagle]

Origin absentees leave fans cheated
June 08, 2008
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23831997-5001023,00.html

THE 42-0 scoreboard separated the teams yesterday - but it was harder to separate the coaches.

Roosters Brad Fittler, while not exactly carefree after his team's hiding, could at least raise a smile.

"I am not going to cut my wrists," he laughed. "We've been beaten by 40 points before and come out and won the next game."

Manly's Des Hasler perpetually has the worried countenance of a man who has been told of a tax audit on his assets.

He went as far as beginning a smile yesterday - but managed to close it down before it fully blossomed.

"We'll just take the two points and move on," he said. "I thought we were clinical but we played some entertaining football."

Manly were unarguably entertaining. They were also purposeful, deliberate and forceful.

But for following the Roosters' bad handling habits in the first half the final score could have been closer to 60-0.

"I thought it was our best performance of the year," said Manly's centre Jamie Lyon, who scored one try and had a hand in four others.

On a surface better suited to Torvill and Dean, Manly took the sensible approach against a Roosters side missing four of their major mechanisms in their pack - the defensive authority of Craig Fitzgibbon and Willie Mason along with Nathan Myles and Anthony Tupou. In their absence Manly's attack was running at shadows.

Manly were also missing four players but none to match the quality of the Roosters' absentees.

Ahead 14-0 at halftime, Manly's second-half points came in a torrent to match the heavy rain and late-match gloom even with the lights.

Manly were slick and consistent with Lyon and halfback Matt Orford cutting loose.

Hasler even took the opportunity to bring a couple of set moves out of his vault in a dress rehearsal for bigger games ahead.

One 50-metre effort in the 54th minute was brilliantly executed in the conditions.

Orford and Lyon opened up play before fullback Michael Robertson joined in to position Menzies, who put Watmough over. "It will build our confidence," Lyon said.

Hasler appreciated the eight tries and 42-point scoreline but took special pleasure at keeping the Roosters pointless - as they often were on the day.

The Roosters shot themselves in the foot so often in possession that half the team should be on crutches.

"We looked second-rate today. We kept dropping the ball," Fittler said.

From Manly's point of view the match was a kaleidoscope of multi-coloured options in attack, which mostly worked brilliantly.

The Roosters will see it as a performance to be overlooked.

It is the inconclusiveness that invariably occurs when Origin selection debases club matches.

Fittler said in a perfect world Origin would have its own stand-alone weekend.

"But what do we do - cancel the other eight games?"