The Manly Sea Eagles 2009 Season Review

The Drum - Sports Column by David Keogh

Well the Grand Final’s are over for another year… and what a difference a year makes!

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The Melbourne Storm’s stunning revival from a 40-0 thrashing at the hands of our beloved Sea Eagles in 2008 to lifting the NRL trophy this year is an amazing achievement that can only be applauded by any fair-minded sports fan. And Craig Bellamy’s feat in taking the team to four consecutive deciders and winning two of these is just exceptional.

Strange game the Grand Final… Parramatta looked a little over-awed in the opening stanza, whereas the Storm immediately had that feeling about them that they expected to win. Confidence is an amazing thing. Jarryd Hane picked the big one to have his quietest game in three months, while there was no way Billy Slater was going to let the upstart Eel steal his Australian No. 1 jumper.

In saying that, I thought Fui Fui Moi Moi should have been awarded the Clive Churchill medal as the best player on the park. He was simply outstanding! And even in the Melbourne side, I rated the performances of both Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith as slightly superior to that of their classy fullback (who without doubt made a brilliant contribution as he always does). The Eels mounted a courageous comeback after playing from behind from the start. And had Inglis not scored immediately after the Eels crossed the line, I honestly think the result could have been different.

Apart from Moi Moi, Eric Grothe Jnr. had the best game I’ve ever seen him play and scored a try his old man would have been proud to call his own. (Damn near scored a second too.) And how good is Daniel Mortimer going to be? Such a shame the Sea Eagles had first shot at him as a 16 year old and passed him over at the time. This kid is a superstar in the making.

In the biggest match of his short career at the top level, I thought he handled himself like a seasoned veteran. He is so competitive… just like his famous dad and uncles. He wants to be in everything and inevitably makes the right decisions in both attack and defence. I can see Mortimer and our own Kieran Foran having some titanic battles around the scrum base in years to come. (Note to Sea Eagles administrators… PLEASE do everything you can to keep Foran at the club after his present contract expires next year!)

Manly young gun, Kieran Foran – a ‘keeper’ for sure!

So the season’s over and from a Manly fan’s point of view, it couldn’t have come quickly enough. Apart from flashes of brilliance it was a season to forget… in many ways, given our start to the season and the games we threw away late (think the Tigers and Souths games), we over-performed in finishing 5th.

There were some positives for us… obviously Watmough’s efforts during a golden period before, during and immediately after State of Origin were the highlight. Robertson showed again how valuable he is to the team. And our mid-season swap of Bani for Ben Farrar definitely worked in our favour.

 Big Georgie Rose earned his place in the Prime Minister’s rep. team that beat PNG and this taste of rep. footy will make him an even better player for the Eagles next year. Glenn Stewart was strong and Steve Matai was his reliably aggressive self and got through the year largely uninjured.

Josh Perry too was consistently good for us. But Matty Orford, Jamie Lyon & David Williams all mixed their form big time during 2009… brilliant one week, ordinary the next. And it has to be said Brent Kite just didn’t live up to his 2008 form.

I still don’t know what to make of Tony Williams’ lumbering performances on the wing. We know he’s talented and strong… a human wrecking ball close to the line… but there’s no way you can carry him in the team as an outside back. I reckon Des just has to turn him into a back rower next year if he’s going to add value to the team.

And so to next year… we say a fond farewell to some real troopers who have bled for the maroon and white: Adam Cuthbertson; Glenn Hall; Heath L’Estrange; Jarred

Waerea-Hargreaves – they’ll all be plying their trade at other clubs next year and I’m sure all Manly fans wish them all the very best.

In return we’ve picked up Joe Galuvao from the Eels who has just completed an outstanding season, turning back the clock to the form he showed when helping to win a premiership for Penrith back in 2003. He’ll add grunt, experience and a Menzies-like nice guy leadership to the pack in 2010, despite being on the wrong side of 30. And Matt Cross also looks like a good pick-up from the Titans. At 193cm tall and weighing in at 110kg, this man mountain’s best footie is still ahead of him.

Then of course, we can look forward to welcoming more of Kieran Foran’s Toyota Cup Minor premiership winning team mates to the top grade. How this side bombed out of the premiership race with successive semi-final losses after sweeping all before them during the season is another of the great mysteries of 2009. But players like Daly Cherry-Evans, Trent

Hodkinson and Will Hopoate are sure to see some senior football in 2010 and all are extremely talented players.

 And of course, the key to 2010 will be having a fit and focussed Brett Stewart back on the field from the first game of the season. His off-field woes and serious injury robbed us of our most attacking player for the majority of this season… but I think he was missed even more in defence at the back. We can only hope his legal problems disappear and he’s back to lend his very best to the Sea Eagles as we aim to reclaim our title in the last season of the decade.

Have a great off season. Here’s to the mighty Eagles in 2010!

To read Dave Keogh’s blog,go to: http://doubledrummer.wordpress.com/