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Manly forwards hit back at accusations they are soft
Manly have slipped out of the top eight after four losses in their past five games - their premiership campaign seemingly in tatters.
Former New Zealand halfback Gary Freeman yesterday described Manly as "soft", while The Daily Telegraph's Sports Editor-at-large Phil Rothfield wrote: "The Manly Sea Eagles' forward pack has gone from NRL premiers to powderpuffs in less than two seasons. How can Josh Perry and Brent Kite put their hands out for their pay packets this week? They were appalling against the Raiders and wouldn't have hurt a netball team."
Manly players have been rankled by the criticism, with Perry saying of Rothfield: "Who is he to say that anyway? It doesn't register with me.
"I don't know whether we are soft - we're just not playing well. We have to lift our game and start winning.
"Every club has a few hiccups in a season and we have had our fair share.
"We just have to get on with the job and get used to winning again. We have to grind out matches."
King was also miffed at those questioning Manly's toughness.
"You don't want to be known as soft in the forwards and I certainly don't think that is the case," said King, who made his NSW Origin debut last week.
"We are definitely putting in for each other but it's just not happening for us at the moment.
"We play some good footy in patches then some bad footy in patches. It's disappointing. We're not performing as a team.
"It's not panic stations but we need to get things right sooner rather than later."
Manly play Cronulla this weekend at Toyota Stadium - a game the Sea Eagles are expected to win despite their tumble down the table.
The club has lost a considerable amount of experience in recent years and have a young halves combination with limited NRL experience.
Manly chief executive Graham Lowe said: "If I take my CEO hat off and wear my fan hat, I'm as disappointed as anybody. I think that they are attracting some criticism in the media and when you don't perform, that's what happens.
"I don't think anything else needs to be said about it, the results speak for themselves.
"I think, if anything, some can be accused of trying too hard. While Saturday night was really disappointing, there was certainly some signs that some were trying too hard."
Asked could Manly overcome their rut, Lowe said: "They have to. You can't pussy-foot about when something like this is happening.
"They would have read the criticism that's been fired at them [the pack], and there's only one way they can answer it - and that's next week on the field."
Source - http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/manly-forwards-hit-back-at-accusations-they-are-soft/story-e6frexnr-1225890959941
- By Dean Ritchie
- From: The Daily Telegraph
- July 13, 2010 12:00AM
Manly have slipped out of the top eight after four losses in their past five games - their premiership campaign seemingly in tatters.
Former New Zealand halfback Gary Freeman yesterday described Manly as "soft", while The Daily Telegraph's Sports Editor-at-large Phil Rothfield wrote: "The Manly Sea Eagles' forward pack has gone from NRL premiers to powderpuffs in less than two seasons. How can Josh Perry and Brent Kite put their hands out for their pay packets this week? They were appalling against the Raiders and wouldn't have hurt a netball team."
Manly players have been rankled by the criticism, with Perry saying of Rothfield: "Who is he to say that anyway? It doesn't register with me.
"I don't know whether we are soft - we're just not playing well. We have to lift our game and start winning.
"Every club has a few hiccups in a season and we have had our fair share.
"We just have to get on with the job and get used to winning again. We have to grind out matches."
King was also miffed at those questioning Manly's toughness.
"You don't want to be known as soft in the forwards and I certainly don't think that is the case," said King, who made his NSW Origin debut last week.
"We are definitely putting in for each other but it's just not happening for us at the moment.
"We play some good footy in patches then some bad footy in patches. It's disappointing. We're not performing as a team.
"It's not panic stations but we need to get things right sooner rather than later."
Manly play Cronulla this weekend at Toyota Stadium - a game the Sea Eagles are expected to win despite their tumble down the table.
The club has lost a considerable amount of experience in recent years and have a young halves combination with limited NRL experience.
Manly chief executive Graham Lowe said: "If I take my CEO hat off and wear my fan hat, I'm as disappointed as anybody. I think that they are attracting some criticism in the media and when you don't perform, that's what happens.
"I don't think anything else needs to be said about it, the results speak for themselves.
"I think, if anything, some can be accused of trying too hard. While Saturday night was really disappointing, there was certainly some signs that some were trying too hard."
Asked could Manly overcome their rut, Lowe said: "They have to. You can't pussy-foot about when something like this is happening.
"They would have read the criticism that's been fired at them [the pack], and there's only one way they can answer it - and that's next week on the field."
Source - http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/manly-forwards-hit-back-at-accusations-they-are-soft/story-e6frexnr-1225890959941
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