And with that, Manly break their worst losing streak since 1999 (a club record 8 losses). It's been a few weeks in the making for them. As I mentioned earlier they were well in control in Round 14 until the Panthers made a big comeback. Before then, they came very close to beating the Sharks only to fall short and you can say the same about their Round 16 loss to the Cowboys.
For the most part, they have the right players in the right positions.
Trbojevic is the future at fullback, Walker is a much better centre than playmaker, Cherry-Evans has his moments and Koroisau seems to perform better when he knows he can pace himself. The pack has also been a lot better. Lussick maybe in career best form at the moment, Taupau is a handful and capable of strong carries, Buhrer is an underrated player on the that right fringe and Trbojevic maybe the best defensive player in the game. I also thought Green had the best game of his career tonight against his former club.
Combine that with a really solid bench of Brown, Starling and Fonua-Blake who is really coming into his own as a prospect and it's no surprise.
The Dragons were woeful tonight and I'm glad they got beaten as badly as they did. They're a middle of the road, directionless side and they need a huge wake-up call if they ever want to be real contenders in the premiership race. I think their forwards are OK, but the creative players, the ones responsible for points offer very little.
I've said it before, but they need to go in a new direction and look to promote players from within the club. The first change I'd make is dropping Benji for Drew Hutchinson. Hutchinson has been serving his apprenticeship in the NSW Cup since 2014. It's time to give him a shot and see what he's capable of.
Maybe I'm speaking out of school and their form in the NSW Cup and NYC haven't warranted selection but I find it difficult to believe that Jacob Host is the only young gun capable of playing first grade. There's got to be more talent around, surely.