Record: 8 wins, 16 losses and 0 draws.
Ladder Position: 13th
Player of the Year: Tom Trbojevic
SEASON SUMMARY
A tough season for the Manly Sea Eagles to say the least especially with the loss of star halfback Kieran Foran and coach Geoff Toovey.
Struggling with positions, motivation or to find form was Manly’s biggest issue, with the Trbojevic brothers performing through the entire season.
With a lot of re-shuffling of positions throughout the year including centre Dylan Walker having a go in the halves when Jamie Lyon was injured with Daly Cherry Evans was a huge contributing factor to Manly’s inconsistent season.
TALKING POINTS
Rise of Trbojevic brothers
The Trbojevic brothers have had a huge impact on Manly Sea Eagles throughout the 2016 season.
Tom Trbojevic stepped in the big shoes of Brett Stewart’s to fill and he did a very good job, he managed to score 10 tries in 23 games. His speed was displayed often as well as his agility, which was also utilised throughout the games.
Jake was a huge contribution to the game as a forward, running metres when Manly needed them the most. He scored 4 tries for Manly, had 3 try assists, 858 tackles and ran whopping 2684 metres for the Sea Eagles.
Both boys made a huge contribution to the 2016 season for Manly.
Unfortunate ending for Jamie Lyon
Jamie Lyon had a shocking season ending hamstring injury early on, which disallowed him playing his last games in the National Rugby League for Manly Warringah Sea Eagles before he departed and retired.
The centre was missed after being shuffled into five-eighth position with Daly Cherry Evans before being injured.
Were the new signings of Marty Tapou and Dylan Walker successful?
Marty Tapou and Dylan Walker are very respectable NRL players and both joined the Sea Eagles this season.
Martin Tapou joined the Sea Eagles from the West Tigers and played 20 games and managed to score three tries. He played a crucial role in Manly’s prop position and made a large contribution, unfortunately wasn’t enough to assist Manly to finals. Marty Tapou had a positive season except could not assist Manly find form, which was disappointing.
Dylan Walker had an interesting season in the number six filling in for Captain Jamie Lyon but was unfortunate with an early on wrist injury and finishing the season in round 23 with a dislocated shoulder. Being pushed into the number six jersey was a real challenge for Walker but he didn’t complain as he attempted to assist DCE.
Both Marty and Dylan had a successful campaign in 2016 and made huge contributions to the Sea Eagles but the team struggled to click in positions, which lead to a disappointing 13th place finish of the year.
Manly had a difficult season especially with injuries in Barrett’s first year. They will be looking to build on the talent and impress next season.
PLAYER MOVEMENTS
Gains: Cameron Cullen (Gold Coast Titans), Blake Green (Melbourne Storm), Shaun Lane (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs), Akuila Uate (Newcastle Knights), Jonathan Wright (New Zealand Warriors), Matthew Wright (North Queensland Cowboys)
Losses: Jamie Buhrer (Newcastle Knights), Luke Burgess (Catalan Dragons), Fabian Goodall (rugby union), Liam Knight (Sydney Roosters), Jamie Lyon (retired), Feleti Mateo (released), Tim Moltzen (retired), Tom Symonds (Huddersfield Giants), Siosaia Vave (Parramatta Eels)
