Manly Sea Eaglesย
Position: 9th Position
Record (W-L-D): 11-13-0
Top Pointscorer: Captain Jamie Lyon (110 points)
Top Tryscorer: Fullback Brett Stewart (16 tries)ย
As stated in the mid- season review halfway through the season, Manly had shown struggle throughout their form. Not looking like top 8 was a chance especially with key Five- Eighth Kieran Foran announcing he was leaving the club next year to go to Parramatta Eels. However they managed to turn things around and find form but fell one place short of the top 8.
Manly Sea Eagles impressed most on-field against the Brisbane Broncos, ruining their streak and beating them 44-14 at Central Coast Stadium, following up the week after beating the Rabbitohs in round 22, ย 28-8. Manly also came out and impressed against the Canberra Raiders in round 23 beating them by a thrilling two points at GIO Stadium.
Consistently the best players forย Manly in 2015 were Jake Trbojevic, Tom ‘Turbo’ Trbojevic, Kieran Foran and Peter Hiku.
Many key Manly Sea Eagles playersย (also referred to as #BirdGang) will be sadly departing the club this year. This includes- Five Eighth Kieran Foran (Parramatta Eels), Justin Horo (Catalan Dragons), Jack Littlejohn (West Tigers), Dunamis Lui (St George Illawarra Dragons), Ligi Sao (New Zealand Warriors), Michael Chee- Kam (West Tigers) & James Hasson (Parramatta Eels).
With many departing players, Manly has also done a great jobย in recruiting many new faces for the 2016 season. This includes Aspisai Koroisau (Penrith Panthers, 2018), Darcy Lussick (2018), Tim Moltzen (2016), Nate Myles (2018), Matt Parcell (2018), Tom Wright (2018), Lewis Brown (2018), Fabian Goodall (2016) & Nathan Green (2o16).
Manly Sea Eagles will need to adjust to the new coaching style of Trent Barrett to succeed in 2016. With Geoff Toovey leaving the club and having a disappointing end to his career this will emotionally effect some players. They will need to worry about the task at hand at ensuring they work as a team to disable distractions.
