Co-captain Jason King says he knew pre-season talk Manly would be weak up front this year was wrong and went about proving it in the Sea Eagles’ 14-12 round two win over South Sydney on Friday.
In his first NRL game since April last year due to a shoulder injury, front-rower King led the Manly pack in a fierce forward battle against Souths, in particular with the Burgess brothers, Sam, George and Luke, and was a key contributor to their first victory of the year.
With Brent Kite (Penrith), George Rose (Manly), Joe Galuvao and Richie Fa’aoso (both retired) exiting Brookvale ahead of the 2014, critics were keen to point out the front-row shaped as a likely weakness for the Sea Eagles this season.
But the likes of King, Brenton Lawrence, Josh Starling, Dunamis Lui and James Hasson showed against the Rabbitohs they can match it with any pack in the NRL.
“I just knew all that talk wasn’t true,” King said.
“I am training, I’m at the coalface every day seeing the guys improve, seeing the work they are doing, the stuff they are doing as a group.
“(The criticism) doesn’t worry us. We just want to get out there and play some football and do our role.
“I’ll back the personnel we have got in our pack any day. All those guys were tremendous for us against Souths.
“It was a good effort by our boys, Souths are a quality forward pack and we really aimed up.”
After struggling at their former clubs, Justin Horo and Lawrence emerged as two of the form forwards in the NRL in Manly’s charge to the grand final last year.
King said Manly’s culture of success would ensure relative unknowns like Starling, Lui and Hasson could follow suit in 2014.
“I have no doubt they will be fine,” he said.
“They are applying themselves, they have fit into the team really well and they are buying into our culture.
“I can’t wait to keep playing with all those young guys, it is going to be awesome.”
Of his clash with the Burgess boys King said: “That is rugby league, that is what makes this game so good, some big boys going at it, hopefully it never loses that.”
New signing Epalahame Lauaki is expected to join Manly by the end of the month as a replacement for Fa’aoso.
