Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold explained he was “frustrated” after a shock downturn in form in a 30-10 loss to the Eels only six days after a strong win.
Seibold was hopeful Manly’s 24-6 Round 11 victory over the Cowboys marked a turnaround after an inconsistent season, however those dreams came crashing down against Parramatta.
The Sea Eagles were missing halfback Daly Cherry-Evans, however Jason Ryles’ side were also without No.7 Mitchell Moses and flyer Zac Lomax.
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Seibold cut a deflated figure in his post-match press conference, confused as to how the Sea Eagles form dropped so dramatically.
“So good last week against the Cowboys away from home, gritty and really connected. Then tonight we looked the total opposite,” Seibold said.
“In saying that I have to give credit to Parramatta, they played really well and did the hard things for very long periods.
“But it’s frustrating because as I said, we were so good last week and we felt as though we had turned a corner the last couple of weeks.”
The Eels recorded five linebreaks on Friday night, with four of those coming in the first half which Seibold attributed to losing his halfback to a HIA.
“I think, Jake Arthur came off early so we had a hooker defending at three man and Corey Waddell went into edge back rower today,” Seibold said.
“There was probably a little lack of cohesion for a few of them. The disappointing thing it doesn’t matter, they are inside shoulder tackles and that’s the golden rule defensively.
“They poked some holes through us there in the first half… as I said, Parramatta were too good for us tonight.”
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Meanwhile, key enforcer Jake Trbojevic could also be set for a further week on the sidelines after sitting out in Round 12 following an ugly head knock.
Seibold explained he was hopeful the gun lock would be able to return, however the club won’t rush him back after his second concussion this season.
“I’m not sure (he will be back), we need to do the right thing by Jake. He needs to see the independent doctor from what I understand,”
“But we will look after Jake, we need to look after him but he is feeling a lot better. He is back exercising.”
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