A decade after almost leading Manly to a breakthrough first grade Shute Shield premiership in 2015, Sam Lane has taken the reigns at the Marlins.

The former flyhalf knows what it takes to get his side firing at the backend of the season and he’s got some knew ideas that could help Manly add to the second grade title the club won last season.

Overview with Sam Lane: 

“We’re less than a month away now which is exciting. I’ll be able to give you a bit more of an in-depth answer in terms of how travelling after our three trials but at this stage, things are going well,” first year coach Sam Lane said.

“We’ve got an unreal group of humans. When recruiting and even looking at the guys that we wanted to keep around, it was super important to me to have good men and we’ve definitely got plenty of them at the club who have ripped in and competed hard every time we’ve challenged them.

“A lot has been said about Manly choking at the back end of the season over the years and if you look at my playing days, I think we won two or three minor premierships but never won a grand final.

“From my perspective looking back at that, I think it can be a blessing and a curse playing at a rugby club in a part of Sydney like Manly is. It’s a pretty nice part of the world and you don’t have to go too far to find a good time.

“Looking at that from a coaching perspective now, it seems that Manly on their day over the past few years could beat anyone in the comp. But the next week, they could lose to a team at the bottom end of the ladder.

“I think what I’ve realised as a coach is that the issue might not be choking as such. I believe it could be the consistency of our high end training. Some weeks, we’re great. Other weeks, the energy can be low and the group may struggle to flick the switch quick enough and stay on task, that was the same back when I was playing.

“I don’t have the answers, but I think trying to make sure our intensity levels are consistent throughout the year and at the same time, ensuring our environement is as enjoyable as possible, could make a big impact at the club. If we aren’t enjoying ourselves it can make for a longer year.”

2024: 6th (lost to Eastern Suburbs 45-17 in opening week of finals)

Ins: Josh Turner (Aussie 7s) Sione Misiloi (Randwick), Charlie Powell (UK), George Simpson (UK), Jordan Chait (South Africa) Davea Teoteo (Canberra), Sonny Meleisea (Warringah).

Outs: Brendan Owen (Japan), Sam Daly (UK), Sau Ofahengaue (West Harbour).

What sort of rugby will we see from Manly this season?

“I’m hoping we’ll be a balanced side this year.

“We’ve got a really great supporter base on the Northern Beaches and they want to watch and support an exciting rugby team.

“We’ve got quite a few players with real x-factor and skill sets. Josh Turner is an obvious one there who we should get back after the Sevens year finishes up. Kai Vincent is a young guy coming out of our colts system with a big future, and there are a few others I think Manly fans will become familiar with pretty quickly.

“But in saying that, I don’t think you can win competitions without having a really smart kicking game and a really strong defence with an ability to turn defence into points.

“We had Hoops (Michael Hooper) with us before he went off to Japan and he spoke a lot around our principles in defence like work rate, energy and communication. I’m hoping plenty of that rubbed off on our guys and James Hilterbrand has come in and picked up where Hoops left off and driven those pretty hard.

“I don’t think we’re going to be the biggest side in the competition, but I want to make sure we’re a side that never takes a backward step and competes hard.”

Player(s) to watch: 

“There’s alot of guys within our squad I think can have really big years and help us play the brand of rugby that Manly fans can be proud of.” the coach predicted.

“Then guys like Hunter Ward and Maka Mafileo who have been consistently dominant for a few seasons now and have had great pre seasons so far. I’m excited to see what they can do. It’s also been great having Angus Bell back to full fitness post injury so we’re trying to let him get back to his best with as little pressure as possible, to just enjoy being back out there again.”

Which two teams will play in this year’s grand final?

“I hate this question because I think this year it could be a number of teams,” Lane said.

“Wests will be stronger under Blakey and DC always has an impact when he joins a club. He’s got a great little black book and recruits well so I think Hunter will improve.

“All the contenders from last year will be up for it again but if I had to pick, I’ll dare to dream and say I’d love to see us and Rats in the grand final. That’d be pretty special to be involved in.”