Manly's weakness now a strength

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MANLY have turned what many feared would be their weakness into a tremendous advantage going into Sunday's grand final.

When the season started many rated Manly a strong chance, given their form over recent years, but also warned of their ageing roster and the difficulty of trying to nurse that many players through what is always a tough and long season.

Through nothing but toughness and courage, they have emerged, pushing through to Sunday's decider. You can't underestimate the value of grand final experience.

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It's what got the Sea Eagles home on Friday night.

Few realised that of the 13 players who ran on to the field on Friday night, 10 had grand final experience. So did three of the four on the bench.

And many of them have played two grand finals, and some more.

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Jamie Lyon was asked after the game how many grand finals this was and, never the kind of bloke who plays for stats, he did a quick calculation and said he thought it was four. Or five.

There's something about grand finals, and the white-hot intensity it brings knowing you are playing for it all, the entire season, that forges something in you.

It's a strength you can't find anywhere else except Origin, but even then it is different. Grand final teams have been together, almost every day, for nearly 11 months.

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There's a trust and confidence there that can't be manufactured unless you have all, at some point together, had the question put to you.

So when the Sea Eagles were down 14-0 and the Rabbitohs were on a run, that would have been the end of most teams. The Sea Eagles failed to panic. Their calmness was inspiring. And fortifying.

Anthony Watmough put it best. "There wasn't much said," he explained. "Killer (Lyon) said a few words."

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No big speeches, just a few words from their leader and the Sea Eagles found the confidence to turn it around.

That composure under pressure got the Sea Eagles home. And it's what their opponents should be very worried about come Sunday. You cannot simply manufacture that.

The Rabbitohs started so well that only the Manly players and Geoff Toovey in the coach's box thought they could come back.

Nobody gives Souths a start like that and runs them down.

Yet the Sea Eagles were so courageous.

Glenn Stewart had a poor start, coming up with several mistakes. A lesser player would have retreated, afraid to keep making mistakes.

But he's too tough for that and came back to be one of Manly's best.</p><p>Watmough was in the meat of it all, taking on the bigger Burgess brothers, and monster Souths pack, and by the end of the game stood taller than all of them.

They put in everywhere.

Toovey has done a terrific job at Manly. The Sea Eagles were busted after their opening finals loss to the Roosters. They looked like they limped in against Cronulla and squeaked through, but then they had to face a rested up South Sydney.

Yet Toovey realised you can't make a player any better, any stronger, or any faster at this time of year. You can make him fresher, though, mentally and physically.  

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