What would everyone consider a disappointing result this season?

[boardlumps62]

Missing out on the top 8. Realistically speaking that would be a good achievement considering our forwards and youth of team generally.

 

[Maddragon99]

To me it will be incredibly disappointing to see us capitulate 10 minutes from full-time when we have the game in the bag. It will be disappointing if our defence and attack is not showing any improvement from previous years.

The Captain needs to bark orders and keep geeing the guys up throughout the games and I would be disappointed if this did not happen.

Finally, I would be disappointed if Hook and Co don't come up with good game plans including good plan B's.

I agree with you Dragon David McInnes has the ability to lift. Must remember last year though he was leading a team of busted donkeys, he was playing out of position & his man crush McGuber got fired.

Best hope here is that Hunt starts playing much better & locks up the 7 jersey so the club can extend McInnes’s contract & promise him he’ll be staying at 9.

That’ll give him the lift he needs. Last year was very difficult for him, as club captain he deserves better.

 

[kit66]

I don't think the expectation of a top 8 finish is unreasonable. We won 7 /20 last year to finish 12th - if we'd scored just 10 points more we'd have jumped the Tiges into 11th and our for and against was 40+ points better than the teams in 9th and 10th ( Warriors, Titans ).
The Sharkies won 10 / 20 to finish in 8th spot.
We lost 4 games by 4 points or less and another 3 by 8 or less and 1 by 10 points - that's 8 close games that a well drilled team could have won. We also lost 2 games against the Doggies and NZ where we just capitulated totally - both games saw Mary playing silly buggers with people out of position e.g. Norman fullback, K.Sims starting prop, Aitken and Isaac Luke on the bench etc. and we made heaps of errors. I think that Doggies game was the catalyst for Graham to say later losers.

So we need to win say just over half our games at least - 14 / 24 ( plus the bye ) which would see us in 7th or 8th based on previous years. The Broncs won 11/24 + a draw to make the 8 in 2019 but 15/24 was needed in 2018.
That's doable folks. New coach, some exciting young backs, halves that can perform given some worthwhile direction and a cunning game plan ( as opposed to Maryball ). Plus half our games this year are day games in which we traditionally do well. Totally doable. And if JDB returns it's a certainty.

Realistically speaking I'd be very disappointed with anything below 10th but I'm optimistic for a Top 8 berth.

 

[Maddragon99]

People seem to forget that Baz took a decent Manly side near a wooden spoon. His head coaching skills are very ordinary

I love your passion Possm, all your comments show it, but we are a long way from being a top 4 side. With some strong recruitment leading into 2022 anything is possible but not this year.

The other issue Baz had at Manly was he took a pretty harmonious club with a decent amount of local juniors into a factional bunch of man babies. Des fixed this up immediately.

Baz wasn’t a particularly good man manager as a Captain & I don’t think he’s a good manager as a coach either. I know Nathan Brown is the whipping boy for ‘05 & ‘06 failures but I was at all those semifinals & not once did he take the game by the scruff of the neck & try to win it. Particularly the ‘05 semi against the Tigers Benji dominated him.

 

[Maddragon99]

The other issue Baz had at Manly was he took a pretty harmonious club with a decent amount of local juniors into a factional bunch of man babies. Des fixed this up immediately.

Baz wasn’t a particularly good man manager as a Captain & I don’t think he’s a good manager as a coach either. I know Nathan Brown is the whipping boy for ‘05 & ‘06 failures but I was at all those semifinals & not once did he take the game by the scruff of the neck & try to win it. Particularly the ‘05 semi against the Tigers Benji dominated him.

Sorry off topic there, but those scares have never healed.

 

[Maddragon99]

I don't think the expectation of a top 8 finish is unreasonable. We won 7 /20 last year to finish 12th - if we'd scored just 10 points more we'd have jumped the Tiges into 11th and our for and against was 40+ points better than the teams in 9th and 10th ( Warriors, Titans ).
The Sharkies won 10 / 20 to finish in 8th spot.
We lost 4 games by 4 points or less and another 3 by 8 or less and 1 by 10 points - that's 8 close games that a well drilled team could have won. We also lost 2 games against the Doggies and NZ where we just capitulated totally - both games saw Mary playing silly buggers with people out of position e.g. Norman fullback, K.Sims starting prop, Aitken and Isaac Luke on the bench etc. and we made heaps of errors. I think that Doggies game was the catalyst for Graham to say later losers.

So we need to win say just over half our games at least - 14 / 24 ( plus the bye ) which would see us in 7th or 8th based on previous years. The Broncs won 11/24 + a draw to make the 8 in 2019 but 15/24 was needed in 2018.
That's doable folks. New coach, some exciting young backs, halves that can perform given some worthwhile direction and a cunning game plan ( as opposed to Maryball ). Plus half our games this year are day games in which we traditionally do well. Totally doable. And if JDB returns it's a certainty.

Realistically speaking I'd be very disappointed with anything below 10th but I'm optimistic for a Top 8 berth.

Excellent points Kit, it should also be remembered that we are starting ‘21 with available cap space so a mid season signing is quite possible. Someone like a Magoulias might give us a lift.

 

[kit66]

Excellent points Kit, it should also be remembered that we are starting ‘21 with available cap space so a mid season signing is quite possible. Someone like a Magoulias might give us a lift.

I've been wondering why we haven't signed Magoulias yet, it's been on the cards for a while now. I was hoping that maybe they were waiting because someone better was being approached.

 

[saintly1996]

Excellent points Kit, it should also be remembered that we are starting ‘21 with available cap space so a mid season signing is quite possible. Someone like a Magoulias might give us a lift.

I believe a lot hinges on Bird and De Belin. Mind you even if JDB gets off, he will miss 8 rounds min, but he and Bird returning to top form, really boosts our forwards.

Having said that, the year could be a disaster if neither play a significant role, as without them our pack is one of the weakest in the comp as it stands today.

 

[Dragonslayer]

I believe a lot hinges on Bird and De Belin. Mind you even if JDB gets off, he will miss 8 rounds min, but he and Bird returning to top form, really boosts our forwards.

Having said that, the year could be a disaster if neither play a significant role, as without them our pack is one of the weakest in the comp as it stands today.

Bird seems to be on track but definitely earmarked for a bench back row position at this stage, a very nice 'impact' player.
DeBelin is amother story, even if he receives a favourable outcome he wouldn't have had any training/fitness (other than his own) nevertheless any match conditioning. Could be lucky to get on the park in CC (depending on yow we are faring in 1st grade). I cant see him being 'ready' until very late in the season imo. If anything 2022 for him if we go down that path at all.

I feel some signing news is imminent, so lets see who.

 

[kit66]

Bird seems to be on track but definitely earmarked for a bench back row position at this stage, a very nice 'impact' player.
DeBelin is amother story, even if he receives a favourable outcome he wouldn't have had any training/fitness (other than his own) nevertheless any match conditioning. Could be lucky to get on the park in CC (depending on yow we are faring in 1st grade). I cant see him being 'ready' until very late in the season imo. If anything 2022 for him if we go down that path at all.

I feel some signing news is imminent, so lets see who.

I hope it's a forward with some mongrel, someone like Beau Scott or Tallis would be great, is that too much to ask ?

 

[ALSGI]

I believe a lot hinges on Bird and De Belin. Mind you even if JDB gets off, he will miss 8 rounds min, but he and Bird returning to top form, really boosts our forwards.

Having said that, the year could be a disaster if neither play a significant role, as without them our pack is one of the weakest in the comp as it stands today.

Shit post Saintly, did not enjoy it at all.
But 100% spot on mate.

 

[Belta]

I’m a simple man. For me the benchmark is to play finals, anything less should be seen as a disappointment. Never like hearing excuses, like the JDB saga or rebuilding phase or any other shit. You either get a satisfactory result or you don’t. If you don’t then find solutions ie recruitment and retention so it doesn’t continue to happen. The end.

 

[Gippsy]

A disappointing result for me would be;

• to return to an under 10 game plan
• to not give our juniors a good run,
• to continually play with no enthusiasm,
• to show no improvement from the last 10 years of rubbish

So, the win/loss ratio doesn't bother me too much as long as we don't see the above and we can see some hope for the future.

 

[muzby]

I’ve become accepting of the fact that when I watch the grand final each year, one of teams won’t be the dragons...
I just hope the other one is

 

[possm]

People seem to forget that Baz took a decent Manly side near a wooden spoon. His head coaching skills are very ordinary

I love your passion Possm, all your comments show it, but we are a long way from being a top 4 side. With some strong recruitment leading into 2022 anything is possible but not this year.

We have the right talent at the right price in our back 5 and plenty of depth as well. We have depth in our halves and only really need one edge forward to make our team a top of the ladder side.

I would not swap our roster or our coaching staff for any other in the competition however, I would be open to recruiting a couple of forwards to give us the power and depth we need to dominate.

 

[Gareth67]

I believe that what one problem shall be is the lack of a player who can truly inspire his teammates on to greater heights .

This could prove to be a major stumbling block as to the team’s overall confidence when on the wrong end of the scoreboard . Becoming progressively worse with each loss to the point where we have players running onto the field with a defeatist attitude .

I do hope that Griffin has seen this and appoints a couple of players to that particular role.

 

[Objective View]

Lower than 6th.

But I don't think I will be disappointed.

Straight Shooter

 

[BLM01]

We have the right talent at the right price in our back 5 and plenty of depth as well. We have depth in our halves and only really need one edge forward to make our team a top of the ladder side.

I would not swap our roster or our coaching staff for any other in the competition however, I would be open to recruiting a couple of forwards to give us the power and depth we need to dominate.

Millward has done alright then with the roster.....go on you can say it!

 

[BLM01]

I hope it's a forward with some mongrel, someone like Beau Scott or Tallis would be great, is that too much to ask ?

They are a bit too old now. Prefer someone younger

 

[Como Connection]

I am hopeful that the Griffin - Elliot combination flourishes. I see Anthony Griffin as being a straight shooter and tough task master without being overly technical. Matthew Elliot on the other hand is an effective communicator with a good football brain. Working together they should complement each other, provided Griffin delegates sensibly.

I will be disappointed if the the combination fails and/or does not produce a top eight finish.

Have you forgot Peter Gentle, very experienced coach.
CC