Everyone has been hopping on the Manly Sea Eagles bandwagon over the last couple of months, but you won’t find me on there!
The thought among experts is that Manly have not just improved on their 2007 form, but they have even improved over the course of this season and their standing at the top of the NRL Premiership Ladder is well deserved.
Its all rubbish.
Manly are a good team that are very well coached. The Sea Eagles front office and coaching staff has done all it can, but there are short comings that can not be over looked.
While the Melbourne Storm were gutted for two months during the State Of Origin series, the Manly Sea Eagles were untouched and managed to take full advantage by winning a lot of games during that period. Because of that you can make a very good case that the Storm would be top of the ladder if not for Origin.
However it all comes down to two major issues the Sea Eagles have.
Matt Orford and Jamie Lyon.
Lyon is a albatros for the Sea Eagles. They have Steven Bell and Steve Matai who both out play Lyon and can not be moved from the centers. On top of that anyone thats been played at five-eight has also outplayed Lyon including Luke Williams, Glenn Stewart and Steve Menzies.
The good news for Manly is that Lyon is currently injured, so they don’t have to shuffle the lineup around to find a place for him. I have no doubt that if a Super League club went to the Sea Eagles they would be for them to take Lyon off their hands. He was a stupid buy and the club is paying for it.
As for Matt Orford, don’t listen to anyone that tells you how good he is playing.
Orford plays well when the Sea Eagles are dominating. When its a tough game that means something, he goes missing. Its what his entire career is about. He has never stood up and even played decently in a big game.
You can’t carry a player like that against a champion side like the Melbourne Storm.
We have seen what the Storm can do to Manly, in last years Grand Final and this years Grand Final re-match, it was like watching a bully beating up on a weakling.
The Storm live for these type of games. The fact that you have not heard a single word out of the Storm camp all week says it all, they are going to turn up ready to play on Friday night.
The Sea Eagles can take something from the fact they are playing at Brookvale Oval, they have a good home record there. My feeling is though that it just adds a bit more pressure to a side that doesn’t handle pressure well.
If Manly can’t win this game against the Storm, write their Premiership chances off.
