1. Boyd - I said this 2 weeks ago and it remains true, his biggest problem is consistency. Good, bad, good, bad and now he's had his good one again. Doesn't bode well for his performance against the Roosters but I am dearly hoping he proves me wrong. Ran with intent, tackled solidly and was communicating all night. Also didn't flap his wings at the refs all night from memory. 7
2. Oates - Scored a good try, came damn close to getting a double (WHY did he not reach out?) and had a great night with his hands. Now that Bird is gone, he is comfortably our best outside back. Lets hope he can go on with it. Would not be surprised to see him selected for QLD. 7
3. Staggs - He has earned his starting spot in my opinion. He is gonna be some player. Every run he had was full of energy and intent. Had the Manly defence on the back peddle all night, in particular when he set Milf up for his try. Roberts can thank his lucky stars that Bird has gone down cause he would have really struggled to fight his way back in. 8
4. Bird - Moved back to his preferred side, immediately looked like reclaiming his Cronulla era best, then goes down with a cruel ACL injury. The footy gods are harsh. He is definitely no quitter and I hope that mentality sees him through to next year. Good luck Birdy. 7
5. Shibasaki - Easily our most underwhelming of the night. Made one good run down the edge, showed a glimpse of some good speed but was pretty comfortably wrapped up by the Manly fullback. Hardly made Isaako squirm I would have thought. It wasn't his preferred position though so a bit more benefit of the doubt wouldn't be misplaced. Can't see him keeping Roberts out of the centres though to be honest. 5
6. Milford - It's no coincidence that in our last 2 wins, Milf has been our best on ground. When he is firing, the team is firing. It's just a shame he can't seem to do that every week. His 40/20 was beautifully executed, mostly held his own in defence and for the first time in what feels like forever, ran the ball off a great run from Staggs and netted a try. He also put up a gorgeous torpedo bomb that Manly were VERY lucky to hang on to. Find some consistency Milf, we really need it. 9
7. Dearden - He is definitely still in that "finding his feet" stage of his development, and within that framework I am very happy with him. His short kicking game is very good and he needs to start utilizing it more. He defends very stoutly for an 18 year old half which is also a great sign. He seems to be gelling well with Milf and if this talk of us chasing Walker is true (to play in the halves), Seibold has rocks in his head. 7
8. Lodge - 169 metres and 22 tackles, I don't know how you could ask for much more from a prop. He is the engine room and making good metres is all he should be trying to do. Nobody ever expected anything flashy from the likes of Petero and Webby, I don't see why Lodge should be any different. Happy to hear we are looking to extend him. He will only get better with age. 7
9. Turpin - Gave away some silly errors and penalties, but I'm happy to put that down to some rust from not playing first grade for quite awhile, and not much of it to begin with. Even at only 3 games, Stevie Wonder could see he offers a tonne more for us in attack than McC, and him and Segeyaro have the potential to offer us a very good hooker rotation. He got dudded out of a chance to own his spot last time, lets hope it doesn't happen again. 7
10. Haas - Gee whiz this kid is some sort of freakshow. Playing that many minutes at his size and work rate, it can barely be called natural. If this is how good he is at such a young age, he will be the best prop in the game in not too long. He hasa said he owes the club after his poor start to the season and so far he has more than delivered. Thank **** we have locked him up long term. 9
11. Glenn - I've been on record with not thinking much of Alex as a player, but even I have to admit he was very good on Friday night. Ran with intent, bent the line, made a few half breaks and seemed to be leading the young forwards barking orders and motivating. If he can produce that every week I am quite happy to keep him on all the way to retirement. 8
12. Gillett - Was happy to see him score a try but the credit lies with Milf's brilliant kick which Gillo basically took on his tits. Otherwise he looks lost out there, not making many metres post contact and being outplayed by Glenn and the youth. I am concerned for him. He has not come back from his hiatus the same player, and honestly I wouldn't be surprised to see him hang them up in the not too distant future. 5
13. Flegler - He definitely isn't offering as much as he was early in the season starting at Lock, but he isn't shaming himself either. How Seibold can't see that bench impact prop is his best role going forward is beyond me. He would be a monster coming on late in the half against tired opposition. Carrigan should be starting, it's just beyond question. 6
14. Carrigan - Probably his best performance in first grade. Plenty of metres, post contact and otherwise and defended really well. The Arrow comparisons are not misplaced. He should be starting by all rights and playing as many minutes as he can manage. Wolfie should be very pleased with his development. 7
15. Fifita - To be honest he is lucky he barged over for that try late because up until that point, I really wasn't all that happy with him. Maybe it's the coach not using him right, I don't know to be honest, but for all of the hype behind him he doesn't seem to be setting the world on fire, especially compared to the likes of Haas, Carrigan and Flegler. 5
16. TPJ - I don't get the hate he is copping to be honest. We were well on the back foot when he came on, and his intensity and offloads turned the games momentum in a hurry. He may not have made many metres, but he had the Manly defenders filling their dacks with every touch regardless, and that sort of intimidation is a valuable asset in and of itself. I'm happy with him, but he does need to lift his game if he wants big money. 7
17. Joe O - A simply superb bench forward performance. A shit tonne of metres and tackles and no errors or stupid penalties. He is another one who needs to work on his consistency but when he is on, damn is he a good forward. I still think he is very suited to a LAM style bench motor role to keep the momentum going. 9