Anthony Seibold was full of praise for Tom Trbojevic in Manly’s clinical display in their emphatic Round 1 win over the Cowboys, but his skipper Daly Cherry-Evans refused to get ahead of himself.
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Manly announced themselves as a serious contender after arguably the best performance in Round 1, but they know they need to back it up again next week.
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“It’s a pretty good performance,” Seibold said.
“The players have prepared well over the pre-season, so we felt as though we were ready to play.
“I thought the first 60 minutes from the guys was outstanding and the Cowboys are very good opposition as well. They got great quality in their group. So it was really pleasing.”
Seibold believes some of his players have found their feet in first grade, which bodes well for a big season for the club.
“We made some really good gains last year,” Seibold said.
“We played some really good football at times last year. We have got good stability in the group. We’ve added a couple of players.
“There are some of the guys from our group that have bow played between 100 and 150 games, so yeah, they’ve grown quite a bit.”
There were none better players than Tom Trbojevic for Manly, who tore the Cowboys apart with 165 run metres, seven tackle busts, a linebreak, four linebreak assists and two try assists.
Seibold put his performance down to a strong Kangaroos campaign and an injury free pre-season.
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“I think he got a lot of confidence out of playing for Australia,” Seibold said.
“It was the first time he’s played for the Kangaroos since 2018, and he was outstanding in that series and then he came back in January himself, and Chez and Jake and they trained really strong, and I feel they led from the front tonight.”
Cherry-Evans was just happy to win a first round game for a change, but knows it will count for little later in the season.
“I haven’t won too many Round 1 games, so that’s right up there,” Cherry-Evans said.
“So it’s nice to get the season off to a great start, but that’s all it is. It’s just a good start to the season, so it doesn’t guarantee anything later in the season.
“You still have to keep earning your way. There’s a great foundation that was laid there by most of the team tonight to be fair, so we’ve just got to keep building on that.
“We should be proud of this one. We’ll enjoy this one. But again, long-term, it doesn’t mean much, but we’ll take a lot of confidence out of it.”
Brookvale was rocking as Manly tore the Cowboys to shreds and Cherry-Evans and his players know the responsibility of playing in front of their home crowd, which they will do five times in the first seven weeks.
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“I think every time you play here, and it’s full, there’s an expectation that you need to win, so that’s not lost on the playing group,” Cherry-Evans said.
“But for as loud as they cheer, the work’s got to be done by the players, and the staff during the week, so it’s a really big team effort, so that was done this week.
“Coaches, performance staff, and then the transfer from the players, it was a really good effort from everyone, and something we should be proud of, but ultimately that’s the foundation, and that’s the standard we want to set for ourselves.
“People might start to talk a bit more about us because of the result, but ultimately, that doesn’t matter.
“It’s about what we’re trying to set in there, the examples, and like I said, the foundation’s there. We just got to keep building.”
It is hard to remember a side playing with such fluency in Round 1, but Cherry-Evans put that down to a perfect preparation.
“It’s a combination of everything, it’s never just one thing in footy,” Cherry-Evans said.
“So from game-planning with your coaching staff during the week, going out there and finding what works for you as a team, and then from there, you pick what’s best for the team.
“I thought our game plan this weekend was well thought out, and then well executed, so from the top down, everyone should be really proud of this week.”
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Another player to impress was Ethan Bullemor, who ran for 126 metres to go with 24 tackles and a try off the bench.
“Bull’s growing as well, and maybe he falls into that category, Seibs just talked about where he’s in that 50 to 100 games,” Cherry-Evans said.
“He’s really starting to understand what he looks like as a first grader, and I’m a big fan of the tape over the head.
“He’s a bit of a pretty boy with the long hair, so the bit of tape on the head was good for him, wasn’t it?”
Seibold allayed fears for centre Tolu Koula, who went off late in the game with a cork.
“He just had a cork, so he was just quite stiff, so we just thought we’d get him off, and look after him for that last 20 minutes,” Seibold said.
“He was out-sanding the first 60 minutes, and we were very good, so got a little bump there, but hopefully he’ll be okay.”
He also revealed Tommy Talau should be available for selection this week, which gives Seibold another welcome selection headache.
“Tommy trained last week, so hopefully he’s available for selection this week,” Seibold said.
“He’s had a bit of a disrupted pre-season, but he’s back healthy now, looking forward to getting back out there.”
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