Manly are less than impressed at having just five days to prepare for Saturday night’s NRL clash with St George Illawarra at Kogarah, but the premiers have pledged to fight through “the obstacles”.
As they come to grips with the loss of star forward Tony Williams for seven weeks through suspension, compounded by injuries to Glenn Stewart and Steve Matai, the Sea Eagles have again bristled at the dud cards they believe they’ve been dealt in regards to scheduling by the NRL.
“Yeah, we’ve been looked after in regards to the NRL draw again,” quipped winger David Williams.
“So we’re just … sticking together and just riding through it.”
While the Dragons have eight days to prepare for the big match, the Sea Eagles are still licking their wounds after Monday night’s bruising loss to Cronulla at Toyota Stadium.
The Sea Eagles were vocal in the pre-season about the run in which they moved from a World Club Challenge in England to a round-one clash in Auckland on a Sunday, before backing up on a Friday night in Gosford for round two.
Coach Geoff Toovey said his players had the mental strength to get themselves right for the battle against the Dragons.
“It’s a short turnaround again for us this week. Our schedule is all over the shop again, so we just have to brush off our bumps and bruises from last week and back up,” Toovey said.
“We’ve had some obstacles this year and we’re a great club this year.
“We’ve got the characters in the club and the tenacity to get over them.”
Questions have also been raised over Manly’s first-grade depth and their ability to cover for representative stars Williams, Stewart and Matai.
Inexperienced backrowers Jamie Buhrer and Daniel Harrison have been handed the responsibility of starting, and unheralded youngsters Jason Annear, Nick Skinner and Jorge Taufua form part of a six-man bench.
The Dragons’ pack is littered with representative experience, but Toovey backed his depth of players to prove the critics wrong.
“We’ve had some issues in the past in this regard, and other players have come through and filled the position, and that’s what we’ll be looking for over the next couple of weeks,” he said.
“They’re good up-and-coming players and, obviously, one or two of them will get their chance and make the most of it.”