2011 Manly Sea Eagles

Manly Heading for Top 4 Finish

The mighty Sea Eagles have won 9 from their last 10 matches and sit comfortably in second place.

The Drum
By Dave Keogh

Since I last wrote about the Sea Eagles young guns, Manly has been on fire, largely due to those same young players combining brilliantly with the old hands like Jamie Lyon and the Stewart Brothers.

Consider what’s happened ahead of tonight’s top of the table clash with the Dragons down in Wollongong:

• The mighty Sea Eagles have won 9 from their last 10 matches and sit comfortably in second place

• Will Hopoate and Anthony Watmough were selected for State of Origin II

• Both had blinders, with young Hoppa particularly outstanding in his debut, scoring the try that virtually sealed The Blues’ impressive win

• Glenn Stewart has been selected in a 20 man squad for Origin III along with Watmough (unfortunately Will’s hamstring injury will keep him out of the decider)

• Brett Stewart has returned to something near his best form, scoring tries at Brookie at every outing, just like ‘the old days’

• Daly Cherry-Evans is playing like a seasoned first grader, steering the team around the park and showing flashes of individual genius as if he’s channelling Johnny Gibbs

• Kieran Foran gets better with every match – simply the most exciting new player in 1st Grade for Manly in years. (The intensity he showed to score the winning try against Parramatta a week ago with just three minutes left on the clock was reminiscent of the greatest No. 6 to ever play for Manly – the great Bozo himself!)

• Jamie Buhrer continues to impress, recreating the role left vacant since Beaver left for Europe

• Steve Matai is a man re-born… he looks faster than ever and as always, is leaving opponents with their shirts full of sore ribs after every tackle he makes

• Joe Gulavao is playing the best he has since he was a ‘Hair Bear’ at Penrith and won the Grand Final

I don’t know what you’re doing Des… but keep doing it! You are one helluva coach and with you at the helm I have no doubt the Sea Eagles can add another Premiership to their collection in the very near future.

Will it be this year? I won’t be betting against that happening. Tonight’s huge match against St. George will tell us a lot. By the time you read this, we’ll really know whether or not Manly can win the 2011 premiership.

We haven’t won at Wollongong in a long time…but you just get the feeling this team believe they can win every match they play.

It’s exciting times for Sea Eagles fans. Go Manly… and go The Blues next Wednesday.

P.S. I have to agree with the constant stream of letters and e-mails sent to The Manly Daily and Our Manly about the current ground announcer at Brookie… he just doesn’t cut it. In a tense finish against The Eels last Monday he was driving fans nuts by constantly begging for the fans to “get behind the boys”. What did he think nearly 15,000 Sea Eagles fans were doing on a cold Monday night at Brookie if not supporting their team. He just doesn’t have Grant Goldman’s sense of timing and should stick to calling the half-time zorbing races in future.

Eagles Angel Layne Beachley

Speaking of which, congratulations to Eagles Angel Layne Beachley who was at it again on Monday night, raising money for her Aim for the Stars Foundation at Brookie. The former 7-time World Surfing Champ has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the dreams and ambitions of young Aussie girls… this time doing so by winning the afore-mentioned zorbing race (nothing to do with Peter Peters) on the hallowed turf of Brookie Oval. Layne… you truly are a legend!

Bernard Tomic - Australian Sportsman of the Year?

Bernard Tomic’s win against the World No. 5 Robin Soderling is the most incredible feat by an Australian sportsman this year. Having thrashed former World No. 3 Nicolai Davydenko in the first round… then recovered from 2 sets to love down to defeat another Russian, Igor Andreev in 5… then to defeat the 5th best player on the planet with a mixture of guile, skill and poise way beyond his 18 years… an unbelievable effort! 

He’ll beat Xavier Malisse in the 4th round to set up a massive encounter with Djokovic in the Quarters. What a tournament for the kid we’re not sure how to take. Win or lose another match, Tomic is now the number 1 ranked player in Australia. Congratulations Bernard.

Click Here to Read Dave Keogh’s Blog