New Manly Coach Anthony Seibold says the signs are promising but it's still early days for the Sea Eagles following two fine pre-season trial wins.
The Sea Eagles wrapped up their Pre-Season Challenge in Gosford on Friday night with an impressive 28-16 win over the Sydney Roosters to go on top of their 30-28 comeback win over Souths a week earlier.
It was enough to get the Sea Eagles the $100,000 prize-money for winning the inaugural Pre-Season Challenge after Cronulla came up short in offloads in their win over the Bulldogs on Sunday.
With the pre-season trials over, the focus again shifts to the opening round blockbuster at 4 Pines Park against the Bulldogs on Saturday, March 4, where a huge crowd is expected for the 3pm showdown.
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“I feel as though we’ve shown some really good signs from an attacking point of view,’’ Seibold said following Friday night’s trial win.
We looked quite dangerous with some of the shapes that we’ve thrown and how we executed that
Anthony Seibold
“The pleasing thing though (Friday) was defending our errors. We still have a long way to go, so we are not getting carried away.
“We worked really hard on that side (attack) of our game. We’ve still got to bring in a couple of quality players.
“We feel we are moving in the right direction but the reality of it is, we need to put in a good performance against the Bulldogs regardless of what we have done in the trials.”
What further pleased Seibold was the strong bond the team has built over summer with the coach introducing a number of fresh and exciting different types of training sessions.
“We just wanted to work really hard physically and mentally over the pre-season,’’ Seibold added.
“The most important thing for us has been about building that belonging and togetherness. We spent a lot of time on building those connections and, I suppose, re-igniting the Manly mentality.
“We are right at the very beginning, but we have seen some small signs over the last two weeks that we are heading in an okay direction.
“But the reality of it is, it all starts in two weeks time.”
Seibold said the 'standouts' for him against the Roosters were full-back Kaeo Weekes, centre Tolu Koula, and new second-rower Kelma Tuilagi.
He added there were plenty of positive things in attack from five-eighth Josh Schuster in his first half performance before being given a rest.
Seibold was also pleased with young development hooker Gordon Chan Kum Tong, who went very well against New Zealand hooker Brandon Smith. Chan Kum Tong has signed on to be part of the top 30 squad in 2024.
"What Gordie has shown everyone is that he can play first grade, which is pleasing from a depth point of view,'' Seibold said.
The Sea Eagles will have Tom Trbojevic, Daly Cherry-Evans and Lachlan Croker available for the season opener against the Bulldogs.
"Tommy trained a full session on Tuesday, a full session in (Thursday's) captain’s run. He’s got enough in the bank to play 80 minutes. He's an elite athlete,'' Seibold added.
Seibold also dismissed reports of a potential player swap between Manly centre Morgan Harper and Nathan Brown, saying it won't be happening after an initial approach from Parramatta.
