Players take blame for Manly's worrying form
Sea Eagles players concede they are the ones who must change the narrative around the club as pressure builds on coach Anthony Seibold following back-to-back losses to the Knights and Titans before last week's bye.
The Sea Eagles are one point outside the top eight after blowing a big lead in Newcastle before they were outclassed by the lowly Titans which led to mid-season reviews and sweeping changes to the side, including Tom Trbojevic being moved from fullback to right centre.
Seibold has copped plenty of flak for his side's wild fluctuations in form that have seen them thrash the Panthers and Raiders, but struggle against the bottom teams.
It's led to speculation his job could be in jeopardy, although club officials have assured his safety as they prepare for a new era in 2026 without skipper Daly Cherry-Evans.
'(It's) frustrating, but in saying that, we're the reason it is happening. We're not playing good enough footy,' Trbojevic replied when asked what the public criticism of the team has been like.
'Unfortunately we play a game that is judged on how we perform for 80 minutes each week and we haven't been up to standard. We completely understand that is where it is coming from.
'We can't change the past, we've accepted that. We can only change how we react to it.
'Our last performance against the Titans, we weren't up to standard. We have 10 games to go after it to decide our own fate. We have to win a lot more games than we lose to play finals footy, and that's where we want to be. It's about actioning it.'
Teammate Ethan Bullemor brushed off the seven-minute reviews that each player had to do last week, insisting it's nothing new and that the players back Seibold. Pressure is mounting on Anthony Seibold after a mixed start to the year. Jonathan Ng Credit: News Corp Australia
'We have quite a structured program so it's actually quite common for us to have individual meetings, and in the past we have done mid-season reviews,' he said.
'It came after a couple of poor losses so there was definitely a focus on our performances and what we can individually be doing better for the team.
'A part of it was also taking the opportunity to catch up and assess where we're at.
'I don't really know too much that's going on there because it's far out of my depth. All I know is that we've got a playing group that's connected and is driven by Seibs.
'We all buy into what he says and follow him. I really enjoy working with Seibs.'
The players put on a united front over the bye week by rocking up to Accor Stadium to watch their NSW Cup side where Lachlan Croker and Jason Saab were both in action.
Trbojevic didn't want to comment on the meeting he had with his coach but conceded everyone had areas of their game that needed to improve, including the former Dally M Medal winner who has battled a few frustrating injuries this year.
As for the pressure on Seibold, wins are the only currency that matters as the Sea Eagles fight to get their season back on track at home against the Wests Tigers on Friday.
'That's just all external noise to us. We know where we want to go as a footy club and that external noise, we're not letting it get to us,' Trbojevic said.
'We're focusing on what we need to do. We understand why it's there because we're not playing the footy we want to. But as a collective, we know where we need to get to to be back playing finals footy like we did last year.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
2 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Dragons lose another teen star, this time to South Sydney
St George Illawarra have lost one of their most promising playmakers after rising half Jonah Glover signed with rivals South Sydney. Glover has been one of the form halves in the NSW Cup, combining with Lachlan Ilias to steer the Dragons' reserve grade side to seven wins from their last eight matches. However, Glover felt he was unlikely to displace Kyle Flanagan - the son of coach Shane Flanagan - in the NRL side. Glover had also combined well with Lyhkan King-Togia at reserve grade level, with the latter chosen to partner Kyle Flanagan in the top squad in recent months. Feeling his pathway was blocked and being off contract at the end of the season, Glover has signed a two-year deal with the Rabbitohs. Wayne Bennett feels Glover has the potential to become a regular first grader and the chance to learn under the veteran coach proved irresistible. The Dragons also recently lost another exciting prospect, forward Finau Latu, to Canterbury. Latu, a member of the 2023 Australian Schoolboys squad, had already signed with the Bulldogs from 2026 and the Red V granted him an immediate release before the June 30 transfer window closed. Shane Flanagan described the scrutiny on his son as 'unfair' after his side's win over Parramatta amid calls from some critics for him to be dropped. Kyle scored a try and performed strongly against the Eels, but it's unlikely to be enough to silence his detractors if he can't hold his form during the run to the finals. Glover won the Hastings Deering Colts player of the year award while at Brisbane Tigers for the best player in the Queensland Cup. The halfback moved south to the Bulldogs, struggled with homesickness, suffered a turf toe injury that wiped him out for most of the 2023 season, but stuck it out and came back in time to be part of Canterbury's Jersey Flegg-winning side. He shifted to the Dragons, where he has been among the stats leaders in the NSW Cup, but will leave in the belief he will fulfil his NRL dream at Souths.
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
Dragons lose another teen star, this time to South Sydney
St George Illawarra have lost one of their most promising playmakers after rising half Jonah Glover signed with rivals South Sydney. Glover has been one of the form halves in the NSW Cup, combining with Lachlan Ilias to steer the Dragons' reserve grade side to seven wins from their last eight matches. However, Glover felt he was unlikely to displace Kyle Flanagan - the son of coach Shane Flanagan - in the NRL side. Glover had also combined well with Lyhkan King-Togia at reserve grade level, with the latter chosen to partner Kyle Flanagan in the top squad in recent months. Feeling his pathway was blocked and being off contract at the end of the season, Glover has signed a two-year deal with the Rabbitohs. Wayne Bennett feels Glover has the potential to become a regular first grader and the chance to learn under the veteran coach proved irresistible. The Dragons also recently lost another exciting prospect, forward Finau Latu, to Canterbury. Latu, a member of the 2023 Australian Schoolboys squad, had already signed with the Bulldogs from 2026 and the Red V granted him an immediate release before the June 30 transfer window closed. Shane Flanagan described the scrutiny on his son as 'unfair' after his side's win over Parramatta amid calls from some critics for him to be dropped. Kyle scored a try and performed strongly against the Eels, but it's unlikely to be enough to silence his detractors if he can't hold his form during the run to the finals. Glover won the Hastings Deering Colts player of the year award while at Brisbane Tigers for the best player in the Queensland Cup. The halfback moved south to the Bulldogs, struggled with homesickness, suffered a turf toe injury that wiped him out for most of the 2023 season, but stuck it out and came back in time to be part of Canterbury's Jersey Flegg-winning side. He shifted to the Dragons, where he has been among the stats leaders in the NSW Cup, but will leave in the belief he will fulfil his NRL dream at Souths.
The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Sharks say no chance Hynes will revert to fullback
Craig Fitzgibbon has ruled out any prospect of Nicho Hynes moving to fullback, adamant positional changes are not the solution to stopping Cronulla's NRL freefall. Sunday's 30-6 loss to Melbourne marked the Sharks' fourth defeat in five games, going from level pegging with the top four a month ago down to 10th. In a period where they have lost no players to State of Origin, Cronulla have been heavily beaten by an undermanned Sydney Roosters and lost two others games at home. Questions have also emerged over the make up of their spine, after Daniel Atkinson and Braydon Trindall won four of six games together in the halves last year. That has prompted suggestions Hynes could move to fullback to replace the off-contract Will Kennedy, allowing him, Atkinson and Trindall to all start in the spine. Kennedy, who began the season hot to at one stage lead the Dally M count, was twice beaten in kick contests by Storm second-rower Eliesa Katoa in the lead up to tries on Sunday. Hynes played fullback in his final season at Melbourne in 2021, when Ryan Papenhuyzen was out injured. Hynes then won the Dally M Medal on his move to Cronulla's No.7 jersey the following year, before claiming his first finals win at the Sharks in taking them to a grand-final qualifier last year. Any move back would likely be a serious physical challenge, given the different skill sets, athletic requirements and fitness asked of halves compared to No.1s. Regardless, Fitzgibbon quickly shut down any suggestion of that happening when Cronulla face the red-hot Dolphins after this week's desperately-needed bye. "No, he's not playing fullback," Fitzgibbon said. "That is four or five years ago now. We have to get the best out of our best players and work hard at that. "The execution of some things definitely was off ... but you can't get everything in a week. "From where we were at, we had to improve the stuff we value most and we did that." Fitzgibbon was adamant the Sharks' loss to Melbourne was a vast improvement on their 34-28 defeat Brisbane a week earlier, where they gave up a 28-12 lead. "The scoreboard got away in the end ... but it was far better than what we dished up last week," Fitzgibbon said. "We conceded tries from execution or attention to detail things, not from not turning up. "The scoreline still hurts but it's a big difference." Craig Fitzgibbon has ruled out any prospect of Nicho Hynes moving to fullback, adamant positional changes are not the solution to stopping Cronulla's NRL freefall. Sunday's 30-6 loss to Melbourne marked the Sharks' fourth defeat in five games, going from level pegging with the top four a month ago down to 10th. In a period where they have lost no players to State of Origin, Cronulla have been heavily beaten by an undermanned Sydney Roosters and lost two others games at home. Questions have also emerged over the make up of their spine, after Daniel Atkinson and Braydon Trindall won four of six games together in the halves last year. That has prompted suggestions Hynes could move to fullback to replace the off-contract Will Kennedy, allowing him, Atkinson and Trindall to all start in the spine. Kennedy, who began the season hot to at one stage lead the Dally M count, was twice beaten in kick contests by Storm second-rower Eliesa Katoa in the lead up to tries on Sunday. Hynes played fullback in his final season at Melbourne in 2021, when Ryan Papenhuyzen was out injured. Hynes then won the Dally M Medal on his move to Cronulla's No.7 jersey the following year, before claiming his first finals win at the Sharks in taking them to a grand-final qualifier last year. Any move back would likely be a serious physical challenge, given the different skill sets, athletic requirements and fitness asked of halves compared to No.1s. Regardless, Fitzgibbon quickly shut down any suggestion of that happening when Cronulla face the red-hot Dolphins after this week's desperately-needed bye. "No, he's not playing fullback," Fitzgibbon said. "That is four or five years ago now. We have to get the best out of our best players and work hard at that. "The execution of some things definitely was off ... but you can't get everything in a week. "From where we were at, we had to improve the stuff we value most and we did that." Fitzgibbon was adamant the Sharks' loss to Melbourne was a vast improvement on their 34-28 defeat Brisbane a week earlier, where they gave up a 28-12 lead. "The scoreboard got away in the end ... but it was far better than what we dished up last week," Fitzgibbon said. "We conceded tries from execution or attention to detail things, not from not turning up. "The scoreline still hurts but it's a big difference." Craig Fitzgibbon has ruled out any prospect of Nicho Hynes moving to fullback, adamant positional changes are not the solution to stopping Cronulla's NRL freefall. Sunday's 30-6 loss to Melbourne marked the Sharks' fourth defeat in five games, going from level pegging with the top four a month ago down to 10th. In a period where they have lost no players to State of Origin, Cronulla have been heavily beaten by an undermanned Sydney Roosters and lost two others games at home. Questions have also emerged over the make up of their spine, after Daniel Atkinson and Braydon Trindall won four of six games together in the halves last year. That has prompted suggestions Hynes could move to fullback to replace the off-contract Will Kennedy, allowing him, Atkinson and Trindall to all start in the spine. Kennedy, who began the season hot to at one stage lead the Dally M count, was twice beaten in kick contests by Storm second-rower Eliesa Katoa in the lead up to tries on Sunday. Hynes played fullback in his final season at Melbourne in 2021, when Ryan Papenhuyzen was out injured. Hynes then won the Dally M Medal on his move to Cronulla's No.7 jersey the following year, before claiming his first finals win at the Sharks in taking them to a grand-final qualifier last year. Any move back would likely be a serious physical challenge, given the different skill sets, athletic requirements and fitness asked of halves compared to No.1s. Regardless, Fitzgibbon quickly shut down any suggestion of that happening when Cronulla face the red-hot Dolphins after this week's desperately-needed bye. "No, he's not playing fullback," Fitzgibbon said. "That is four or five years ago now. We have to get the best out of our best players and work hard at that. "The execution of some things definitely was off ... but you can't get everything in a week. "From where we were at, we had to improve the stuff we value most and we did that." Fitzgibbon was adamant the Sharks' loss to Melbourne was a vast improvement on their 34-28 defeat Brisbane a week earlier, where they gave up a 28-12 lead. "The scoreboard got away in the end ... but it was far better than what we dished up last week," Fitzgibbon said. "We conceded tries from execution or attention to detail things, not from not turning up. "The scoreline still hurts but it's a big difference."
