By MARK CASHMAN

Manly Marlins coach Matt McGoldrick has no illusions about what his side are facing when they take on Gordon at the Village Green on Saturday.

“They’re the best team in the competition, there’s no question about that,” McGoldrick said.

“They don’t beat themselves, they are well coached, the have a good set piece and we will have our hands full on the weekend.

“But we’ll be better than we were last week. We have had a good week of training and the vibe around the group is great.”

McGoldrick is excited about Harley Attwater joining the club midweek from the Warringah Rats and it’s not just his playmaking abilities that he is happy to have on board.

In the past two games the Marlins have kicked only two from six (v Wildfires) and two from five (v Northern Suburbs) and that is having an adverse on a lot of their outcomes.

“It’s not as if Harley is unfamiliar with the place,” McGoldrick added.

“His goal kicking will bring a lot to the table for us and if we can get ourselves in the right positions we can benefit from having a goal kicker of his calibre on board.

“Against Gordon we just need to play a hell of a lot better. We did enough to win last week but the goal kicking can hurt you.

“We’ve had a total change in the way that we play this year, there are different roles and different calls and to be honest it’s just tasking time to come together.

“We have been good at times but there are the times when we are less than that.”

Gordon coach Darren Coleman said Manly would be a good challenge for his side this week.

“They’ve been a top end club for the past five years and Gordon haven’t won there in 12 years.
That’s a long, long time,” he said.

“They’ll have an air of desperation and intensity based on my assumption they weren’t happy with their past two games at home.

“They are a proud successful club who doesn’t lose at home.

“Their forward pack particularly has a lot of experienced and quality players that have won minor premierships of late.

“We are looking forward to the challenge, understand we’ll need to play well and hopefully give some long suffering Highlander fans a happy day at Manly Oval.”

MANLY MARLINS (1-15):
Alefosio Tatola, James Hilterbrand, Conor Davidson, Van Stewart, Alex Dalzell, Harry Bergelin, Mitch Tye, Max Douglas, Tim Donlan, BJ Hartmann, Fraser Toohey, Hutana Coffin, Dennis Pili-Gaitau, Yool Yool, Michael Adams.

GORDON (1-15):
Brandon Faavae-Eli / Bosco Tagaloa, Mahe Vailanu, Rhys Brodie, Jack Margin, Brendan Mitchell/Pete Chanel-Tagaloa, Tom Silk, James Lough / Jack Maguire, Jordy Goddard (c), Harrison Goddard, Rod Iona, Brandon Quinn, Tautalatasi Tasi, Lucas Price, Ahmu Tuimalealiifano, Jaline Graham / Reece McDonald.

LAST TIME: Manly W 31-27 June 8, 2019

IMAGE: ADAM MCDONALD / MANLY MARLINS