General Mannering

[RRG_old]

How bad do you think has he been this year? McKinnon, Hendo and Luck have all copping a fair bit of criticism on the forum, but I don't see the same level being thrown at mannering, who in my mind has at times been as dissapointing as the above.

I think his lack of spark on attack has been a big factor in the imbalance of our back rowers.

The sky commentators have really talked up the issue of fatigue, but to me this is a pretty poor excuse.

 

[Northern_Union]

The thing that i have noticed this season from Mannering is he isn't bending the D line back at all. To the extent that i can't remember a carry from his in the last 2 months where he has poked his nose through the D line.
I can't help wondering if some of our world cup winning side have rested on there lorals.

 

[warriors4life_old]

He would do well giving the Four Nations a pass as the Kiwis do have a fair bit of back-row depth to cover him.

Even if fatigue is a poor excuse for his season it is certainly a factor.

 

[RRG_old]

Would Mannerng be a certainty for the kiwis anyway? If they are picking on potential and loyalty he would go for sure. But if they were picking on form I am not so sure. Needless to say I think were he available he would be selected. Hopefully he is made unavailable, give him an offseason and tell him the term fatigued should never enter his vocab again

 

[Jesbass_old]

How is fatigue a poor excuse? The guy played 92 consecutive club matches and 19 consecutive test matches...and it eventually broke him.

The guy hasn't had a full off season for as long as I can remember. That lack of rest eventually catches up with you, so of course fatigue is a factor.

 

[Warriors2009_old]

what was it 96 games without missing 1 game & 16 for the kiwis & after the w.c he had 4 weeks off so i think fatigue would be a facter. just take a look at all the warriors that played in the w.c. thay all did not play there best. it was a big year in 2008 & that did not help with 2009.lets just hope 2010 is much better.

 

[Jesbass_old]

what was it 96 games without missing 1 game & 16 for the kiwis & after the w.c he had 4 weeks off so i think fatigue would be a facter. just take a look at all the warriors that played in the w.c. thay all did not play there best. it was a big year in 2008 & that did not help with 2009.lets just hope 2010 is much better.

It was 92 club games and 19 tests. Amazing.

 

[kingkole_old]

Again i think part of mannering prob stems from the inconsistence in the halves setting the play up so he can run his attacking line when your choping & changing every 2 wks it can get abit confusing,id like 2 see him in the 4 nations is he fatigue mayb or was he jst not interested after each loss its pretty hard 2 stay focused.

 

[garyhobson_old]

Simon Mannering just needs to be rested from the tri nations, and have a good offseason, he'll be right to go in 2010, and play him in the forwards, they need to stop moving him into the centres all the time. He should be the lock next year with Taa'i and Matulino in the second row.

 

[JonB_old]

*fatigue

*Being dicked around

*Crap season, too much D and on attack always met by 2-3 people.

*always losing is a huge mental drain.

I thought he looked a lot better in his game back, not as tired as he has been.

 

[kingkole_old]

yeah i agree wit dat he should not b moved around he is a lock is ukuma the real deal nxt year will tell lewis brown goes okay another 1 i hope they dnt start moving around.but 1 thing is clear the worriors beta start mk8ing sum decision soon.

 

[warriors4life_old]

How is fatigue a poor excuse? The guy played 92 consecutive club matches and 19 consecutive test matches...and it eventually broke him.

The guy hasn't had a full off season for as long as I can remember. That lack of rest eventually catches up with you, so of course fatigue is a factor.

If he knew he was fatigued and it was affecting his performance then it's never wrong to speak up. Hell, the coaching staff and trainers who were out there watching him train and play 26 weeks of the year should have picked up on it.

It just seems pretty poor in hindsight to use fatigue as your fall-back option if you have a bad season. Don't get me wrong, his consecutive number of games would drain any player but it shouldn't serve as an excuse for poor form either.

 

[Jesbass_old]

*fatigue

*Being dicked around

*Crap season, too much D and on attack always met by 2-3 people.

*always losing is a huge mental drain.

I thought he looked a lot better in his game back, not as tired as he has been.

Actually, at first I thought he looked in pain - a slight limp after early contact, and he seemed sluggish...but he soon caught up with the pace of the game. I think he was just getting used to the speed again.

 

[kingkole_old]

maybe if hes tied he sld quite league and go prune sum trees in the bush 4- 12 hrs a day 4 -54c a tree i think hed find sum ethusiasim pretty fast.

 

[KeepingTheFaith_old]

There's no doubt Mannering hasn't had the same impact this year as previous seasons, but having said that statistically he's not far off where he's always been. A good off season with some proper rest will see him come good.

The whole team needs a bit of extra fitness too so that should help him out if the coaches go down that route.

 

[RRG_old]

How is fatigue a poor excuse?.

It is his job. He knows he is employed to play 26 weeks of football, plus preseason and training. On top of this he chooses to make himself available for the kiwis for extra work over the off season. Most people can not tell their boss they are tired from doing what was in their contract and expect that to be accepted as a reason for poor performance.

I expect players to manage themselves in a way so they are able to fufill their duties. The club has some responsibility in this for sure.

Most of the elite players have his work load plus origin duties thrown in. Sure he has a very impressive run of games on the trot but this is pointless if you don't have the endurance to back that up.

I think if it were certain other players saying they were fatigued they would be getting a roasting, but because we can see that mannering is a huge talent and a great club man he has gotten off lightly.

 

[Northern_Union]

Playing profession rugby league is not like any other jobs. what other jobs are there where you know you have to give everything you got but also know the next tackle your involved in could be your last.

 

[daj3_old]

I agree, he could use a rest. He doesn't seem as dynamic. But saying he's had a bad season is a bit rough, he averaged over 100 metres a game, playing 23 games in two different positions. He's our third most prolific tackler, made 7 line breaks, 26 offloads, 49 tackle breaks... I could go on.

Point is, I don't think he's been disappointing, at worst he's been solid. He did make a few errors, and some silly decisions towards the end of the season, but it was usually because he was trying to spark something, which isn't his job, but it was pretty clear that job wasn't getting done by whoever was supposed to do it.

 

[KeepingTheFaith_old]

I agree, he could use a rest. He doesn't seem as dynamic. But saying he's had a bad season is a bit rough, he averaged over 100 metres a game, playing 23 games in two different positions. He's our third most prolific tackler, made 7 line breaks, 26 offloads, 49 tackle breaks... I could go on.

Point is, I don't think he's been disappointing, at worst he's been solid. He did make a few errors, and some silly decisions towards the end of the season, but it was usually because he was trying to spark something, which isn't his job, but it was pretty clear that job wasn't getting done by whoever was supposed to do it.

Exactly right. Statistically he hasn't been far off, just lacking that extra little bit that made him such a good player in previous seasons.

I think the Broncos game was a pretty good example of Mannering this season. He was close to our best for the entire game and yet all people remember of that game is the shocker of a pass he made after going through the line.

He's done all the little things right, just lacked a bit of extra spark.

 

[Norby_old]

Exactly right. Statistically he hasn't been far off, just lacking that extra little bit that made him such a good player in previous seasons.

I think the Broncos game was a pretty good example of Mannering this season. He was close to our best for the entire game and yet all people remember of that game is the shocker of a pass he made after going through the line.

He's done all the little things right, just lacked a bit of extra spark.

And thats what he does well, goes about his business quietly. Alot of league fans would say he is the most underrated forward in the game.

He deserves the off season to relax and get mentally and physically ready again for 2010.