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For a club accustomed to spending most of the season sitting at the pointy end of the Shute Shield ladder, this year’s ninth place finish will be disappointing by most Manly fans’ standards.

But not much went the Marlins way in 2020. Despite that, the club competed all season and were able to blood a host of young stars who could become the core of a very successful Manly team in the years to come.

Overview with Matt McGoldrick:

“All in all, the season was probably more positive than it was negative but it’s always disappointing if you aren’t playing finals footy,” McGoldrick said. 

“We suffered early in the year with injuries at No.9 and No.10. In the space of a month, we lost five No.10s and that hit us right through the grades. They weren’t just little injuries either, we had ACL’s, dislocated shoulders, torn patellas. 

“I was talking to some of the coaches at other clubs and I asked them who their sixth No.10 would be and no one had an answer. That’s what we had to deal with this year. 

“From that, we just couldn’t get any cohesion in how we wanted to play. Through the year, we ended up using four No.9’s, four No.10’s and four No.12’s and if you look at the top four teams, they pretty much only used one of each. 

“In the middle of the year, we started to get some momentum with Harry Emery and Harley, but then Harry dislocated his shoulder and had to have a reco, so it was frustrating. 

“In saying that, our forwards improved every week and were fantastic for us. Our scrum and line out were up their with the best in the comp based on the end of year stats, our defence was really good at times and we were in every game up until the end but we just didn’t have enough polish to push the top sides. 

“There were never any excuses from the boys though and that was really pleasing. Even leading into the last round, there were still guys meeting to do extras, there were still guys wanting to get better. Those are the habits that we want to build that will help us moving forward.

“Some of our younger guys were great. Max Douglas is just a really special player. He’s got some things to work on his game but he’s starting from an unbelievable base. 

“Yool Yool took a little while to find himself in first grade but by the end of the year, his last two games this year were unbelievable and that’s the player that will start round one next year. 

“Hunter Ward also played a few games towards the end of the year after struggling with some injuries. He showed that he is going to be a really good first grader and potentially go on with it. Then Sio Tatola was also great and he’s picked up a training contract with the Waratahs on the back of his form.”

What needs to happen between now and round one next year? 

“We got to get healthy, that’s the first thing. We probably need to bring a few guys in in certain positions, but not many. 

“We had a really big summer in the gym last year and we probably need another of those with all the young guys coming through. 

“The biggest advantage we’ll have I think is continuity in both the playing and coaching ranks. We changed a lot in the last 12 months and we had to a do a lot of learning that we won’t need to do ahead of 2021. 

“We need to improve everywhere, that’s the truth, but with a big summer in the gym and on the field, I think we can be in a position to be one of the big improvers next year.”

Which player(s) do you expect to go on to bigger and better things from next year? 

“Max Douglas is an obvious one. He’s 200cm and well over 100kg and I had a bet with the team this year that he could beat Yool over 100 metres. Now, he might not beat him, but I reckon it’d be close. He’s a freakish athlete, he is physical, great at set piece, there is no ceiling for him because he has a great work ethic and if he can keep improving on little parts of his game, he could be anything. 

“I think Conor Davidson is going to have a really big 12 months, our tighthead prop. We’ve got a young lock named Ben Wood who we have really high hopes for. He played twos and threes this year but we think he’s got a lot of potential. Hunter Ward, Yool Yool, Harry Haywood and James Parker. There is a lot of young talent at the club.  

Bold prediction for 2021: 

“I’d like to think we will play finals next year but we still have a lot of work to do before we can get to that point. 

“Our main focus is Club Championships. We want to be up the top of Club Champs because if we are, then we’ll be hunting for premierships in most grades.”

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