Manly Sea Eagles

Absolute mayhem, that's the only way you can describe the Manly Sea Eagles of 2015. There was a stage during the latter portion of the season in which the Sea Eagles looked like they could pull off a remarkable rise up the ladder as they were able to roll out a consistently strong team each week, which when you have some of the players that they do, is a dangerous proposition. But the damage was done long before this, right at the start of the season as Manly battled their way through one of the biggest slumps I can remember a Manly team suffering.

As with any team, I'm not going to dwell on the off-field dramas which contributed to this seaon being mayhem for Manly. Not only am I here to look at what the players dished up and what players were dished up, but all the dramas served as great motivation for the players and it could have enhanced their season instead of derailing it. And I don't think those dramas, whether they be the possible departures of Daly Cherry-Evans or Kieran Foran or the worst kept secret in the NRL that Geoff Toovey would be given the flick necessarily derailed Manly's season.

What did put the Sea Eagles behind the 8-ball however was their lack of depth, especially in the forwards. While Jake Trbojevic did emerge as a prop with immense upside, Manly didn't quite have the beastly forwards to really kick it in the NRL's upper echelon this season. All their forwards from 2015 were of a similar size and didn't have the power or footwork of a Taumalolo, which made them pretty easy to shackle.

Willie Mason enjoyed a great season for a 35 year old, but Mason isn't going to carry a forward pack into the top 8 . Trbojevic will do that one day but he along with other exciting prospects Ligi Sao, Blake Leary, Michael Chee Kam, Jesse Sene Lefao and Josh Starling are still establishing themselves in the NRL. They couldn't be expected to dominate far more dangerous and experienced forward packs.

It's a great shame that Manly will now see the backs of Sao and Chee Kam who will move on and it remains to be seen who else will depart over the off-season.

Jamie Burher didn't feature this season which was a blow to Manly, while Tom Symonds would often start a game in the second-row and finish it in the centres. Symonds was a key man for the Sea Eagles this season, not because of what he did but thanks to his ability to fill in a variety of positions at a high level. Manly were always battling against injuries and a player like Symonds is extremely valuable in that sense.

The trend that existed in their young props, also applies to Justin Horo and Feleti Mateo who spent much of the season on the edges. Both are quality NRL players, but neither of them offers any of the following: size, power, speed or aggression. Horo earns a living running holes while Mateo is a highly skillful player who actually impressed me this season, enjoying greater responsibility than he did at the Warriors. When Mateo was with the Warriors, it felt as though the Warriors were trying to turn Mateo into a tough, gritty forward but Geoff Toovey allowed Mateo to put his wide range of skills on display. This helped Manly get through patches this season where they were missing a half, or just needed some spice in their attack and I'd rank this season as one of Mateo's best of recent memory.

Had Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans been at their peaks for the majority of the season, then Manly would have probably made the top 8; I'm not sure they would have gone much further than that though. We definitely saw moments of these two guns at their very best, but we simply didn't see it often enough nor did we see them both playing with supreme confidence together.

Steve Matai and Jamie Lyon had standard seasons, which means they were good. These two are still premier centres in the NRL and they were able to take time to nurse their injuries thanks to Peta Hiku. Hiku can play anywhere in the backline but I see his best position being centre and with two veteran centres in front of him, Hiku has showed that he's a valuable team man as well as simply being a quality player. 

Manly lacked the second-tier forwards to really make a dent in the NRL, but with Hiku and Tom Trbojevic lurking, they have some of the best backline depth in the NRL. Hiku covers a range of positions and if Manly were healthy, he'd slot in on the wing which meant Trbojevic would have to bully kids in the Under 20s. Trbojevic is clearly a freak; like his brother and his time will come.

Besides Brett Stewart who enjoyed another excellent season scoring 16 tries, Jorge Taufua was my favourite Manly player of 2015. Taufua missed the early portion of the season but returned with vigour, proving himself to be one of the most powerful wingers in the game and he was Manly's second top try-scorer with 10. Keep in mind that Taufua only played 17 games this season.

It's hard to really figure out how 2015 fits into the the bigger picture of preparing for 2016 as there's going to be so much change around Manly. Finishing outside the top 8 has to be nothing less than a bummer for a team who have lived at the top of the NRL for so long but it's understandable as they haven't been able to build a roster that has anywhere near as much power through the middle. The fact that they are Manly and do have some of the game's best players almost got them into the top 8 but without any beastly forwards, they couldn't quite seal the deal.

Player Of The Year - Brett Stewart

Youngin' Of The Year - Jake Trbojevic

2015 In A Tweet - The NRL celebrated as the Sea Eagles imploded.