Making a Grand Final is not just about the 17 players that take the field.
It is also about the men who shared the journey with you.
Heading into Sunday’s Holden Cup decider against Penrith at ANZ Stadium, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Coach David Heath has used 32 players. The result is a mixture of injuries, promotion, and representative duties.
“When you start the season, one of the things you always find in the 20s is that you let the boys know they have to be resilient because the season won’t always go the way they want it to,’’ Heath said.
“The larger majority of the 32 have shown that resilience. It has been outstanding
“Ëveryone has to be on and everyone has played a role, whether they have played one match or 24 games. They have all contributed to where we are now.
“(Winger) Kyle Saunders (pictured) is a perfect example. He would have only played a handful of games this year but whenever he has come in, he has been outstanding.
“He missed out (against the Cowboys) last weekend but he played in the two finals prior to that, and apart from a couple of little slip ups, he was excellent.”
Kick-off on Sunday is 1.35pm. The Grand Final will be shown live on Channel Nine and Fox Sports.
Games played:
Rhys Armstrong (10 games), Billy Bainbridge (16), Jesse Bogle (12), Mitchell Britton (5), Charlie Buttrose (3), Harlan Collins (1), Darcy Cox (27), Addison Demetriou (26), Matt Douglas (16), Elia Faatui (1), Luke Garner (14), Judd Hanlon (3), Nicholas Hynes (27), Liam Knight (22), Dallas Koen (19), Nicholas Lynn (14), Jesse Maxwell (14), Scott Moran (4), Moses Noovao-McGreal (17), Brad Parker (5), James Parker (22), Will Pearsall (26), Hugh Pratt (25), Lucas Price (8), Jesse Ramien (26), Kyle Saunders (5), Jyi Seymour (18), Bailey Shiach-Wise (11), Jordan Sims (8), Mitch Thomas (11), Riley Travers (22), Tom Trbojevic (13).
