After falling agonisingly short of winning Manly’s first Shute Shield title in close to two decades as a player back in 2015, new Marlins’ first grade coach Sam Lane thinks lessons from the past can help drive Manly forward in the years ahead.  

Lane started at flyhalf in a 15-12 loss to Eastwood back in the 2015 decider, which was also the last time the Marlins have featured in the final match of the season. 

“I’ve been around the club for a long time and I think the results, at a first grade level at least, probably tell a bit of a story and show that we need to do things a little bit differently moving forward,” the coach told Rugby News. 

“It’s been a bloody long time since we’ve won a Shute Shield title and that’s what we’ve got to be striving for. 

“I’d like us to be a side that has high standards that are set and driven by the players themselves. If we do that, I think there’s a lot we can improve on in regards to our skillset, our breakdown work, our defence and things like our catch and pass. 

“We want to work hard on the fundamentals of the game and try and get on top of that early so that we can focus on our rugby on the other side of Christmas.”

Close to a decade has passed since that narrow loss to Eastwood at Concord Oval but Lane still thinks his current group can learn from his experiences as a player. 

Manly finished as minor premiers in 2014, 2015 and 2017 but failed to convert any of those strong seasons into Shute Shield titles.  

“That final was probably a good example of the importance of getting the fundamentals right and sticking to your systems. We got taught a lesson by Eastwood that day, with guys like Hugh Perrett and Hugh Roach leading the way. 

“We’d played a similar way all season but Eastwood were able to disrupt us that day and we went away from the things that had got us to the final match of the season.”

Lane’s father Tim was head coach of Manly when the club last won the Shute Shield in 1997 and Sam, now 33, said he’s well aware of what success would mean to rugby fans on the southern end of the Northern Beaches. 

“There’s a big hunger for success at Manly, from the board to the president, through to the fans and the players. 

“Second grade winning their competition this year gave us a feel for winning again and showed the club that we can bring silverware back to Manly Oval when we get things right and connect well as a group.

“The hunger and talent are both there. Now the work is ahead of us.”