Round 1 Discussion

Parcell with a try-saver.
 
He's had a forgettable night, but Walker's kicking game has been decent.

That's the second goal line drop out I've seen him force.

With any luck (for Manly) the rest will come to him.
 
Lichaa looks like he's in strife. He's turning to be quite injury prone.
 
That was vintage Canterbury.

They just dominated the Sea Eagles through the middle. If the forwards weren't charging it up, they were dominating the play with some slick interchange of passing that caught the Sea Eagles out on numerous occasions. To a man they all did their job and if they can keep that up with the inclusion of Klemmer you may as well pencil them in for the finals. Also have to give a shout out to Moses Mbye. Only a few weeks ago we were blown away by his contract but he looked very composed tonight for the Bulldogs and it wouldn't surprise me to see him challenge for the Dally M come the end of the season.

That was a tough initiation for Manly, but as we saw last year, sometimes it's good to get that reality check early just to keep everyone honest. It was a mis-match for them tonight, 9 new faces from last year, more if you go back another season and ultimately it showed as Canterbury really turned the screws on them. I think they'll bounce back next week when they play the Tigers, but you're going to be seeing more performances like this over the coming weeks until they settle into a rhythmn and find a style of play that works for them. I didn't think it was all bad news either. I thought Jake Trbojevic was a shining light and did very well to hold his own against the Canterbury pack. His brother Tom didn't meet expectations, but I think he'll eventually grow into that role and will absolutely star on the wing if he's kept there. Also thought the last tackle kicking game was quite good from Manly. It was one of my concerns of Dylan Walker, who had an unhappy night but I thought he came up with a couple of good kicks. I didn't think much of the Nathan Green selection and thought he'd be an absolute plodder but to his credit I thought he looked really solid. I still think they should have gone with Tom Symonds, but Green was one of the better players out there from what I saw. in fact I thought Leary and Vave both helped swing the contest when they were on the field as well...so it wasn't ALL bad for Manly, they just need to bounce back against the Tigers otherwise they will be in some serious trouble.
 
Green has obviously bulked up in the off season
Manlys halves looked very disjointed
you could tell dce didn't know what to do on both sides of the ruck and I don't think Walker is going to be the foil for him. Teams are gonna pick dce off as you know all the plays are coming thru him
 
Massive performance from James Graham. 25 carries for 212 meters and made 37 tackles, that's fantastic stuff for any front rower in the world.
 
Can't write Manly off yet or declare Bulldogs certainties yet. The Sea Eagles dropped so much ball, many of which led to points, that the Dogs weren't on the ropes enough to be fatigued.
 
Looking forward to the Penrith clash. Got a soft spot for the Panthers, they've got some real talent across the board and some of the best emerging talent IMO.
Fisher Harris is a freak, bit of a hothead but fearless, throw in Blake and the Jenning bros waiting in reserve grade along with Martin on the verge of claiming a halves spot and there's something special building.

Despite that, with Soward and Wallace in the halves I can't see them steering the team past the first stage of the finals, if that. Talent isn't always everything and Canberra just has too much cohesion.
Panthers will need time with their spine fully fit for once and I'm tipping Raiders to take this one at home.
 
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