Manly vs Storm: Sea Eagles face battle to break Craig Bellamy’s Round One record
Daly Cherry-Evans believes Manly’s Silvertail days are a thing of the past as the Sea Eagles embrace a new identity based on blue-collar values.
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Craig Bellamy is the opening-round master.
Manly face the toughest of tasks at Brookvale tomorrow — having to overcome Melbourne, who have not lost a round-one match in 17 years.
Storm coach Bellamy’s first-day victims include Des Hasler – his opponent this Sunday - Chris Anderson, Michael Hagan, Ivan Cleary, Tim Sheens, Wayne Bennett, Ricky Stuart, Steve Price, Geoff Toovey, Paul McGregor, Dean Pay, David Furner and Anthony Seibold.
And the TAB think Bellamy’s record will continue, installing Melbourne $1.65 favourites with Manly $2.20 outsiders.
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Manly and Melbourne have a fierce and healthy rivalry which started about 15 years ago. The Sea Eagles and Storm have endured four months of off-season training to prepare for this game.
“Melbourne Storm is a renowned defensive side. They have a lot of attacking ability as well but certainly are a team that hangs their hat on defence,” said Sea Eagles captain and halfback Daly Cherry-Evans.
“We would love to be able to match them in that department this weekend. I can’t wait for Sunday. We feel like we’ve got the right structures in place here so now it’s around the attitude of the players on game day.
“Waking up this morning, knowing there is a game this weekend, it’s definitely exciting. Pre-season has been tough but this is the time we all get excited and game day is the part we look forward to most as players and we are nearly there.
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“Playing back at Lottoland, after the way we finished there last year was really special. The last five to six games there in particular, we had a really big following on game day, massive crowds.
“It’s really easy to get up for game day when you’ve got 16,000 people cheering for you. We are hoping to start the year against quality opposition and hoping people will come and it will kick off our year with good spirits and hopefully we can put on a great performance for our fans.
“There are always expectations about what I want to achieve and the role I want to play in the club. I know what it takes for me to have a good game on the weekend and what that looks like during the week.”
Cherry-Evans predicted all teams this weekend would be “rusty.”
“I think there will be rust in whole round one of the competition,” he said. “It’s the start of the year – there will be some games that look a bit scrappy.
“But, at the end of the day, you don’t win the comp in March. You want to make sure those effort areas are right, those focus points about what you want to establish as your teams identity.
“Hopefully we can work hard for each other on the weekend and – the old cliché – ball control, save some tries, stuff like that. The expectation will be there to win but the level of footy, we’re really not sure what we will get from anyone this weekend.”
Manly are expecting a near sellout crowd for the Brookie blockbuster.
MANLY THE SILVERTAILS NO MORE - DCE
Tough, resilient and blue-collar – that’s Daly Cherry Evans’ take on the today’s Manly Sea Eagles.
The northern beaches club has long been reviled as the ‘Silvertails’ of a working-class game by rival fans.
But Cherry-Evans told The Daily Telegraph the Sea Eagles have forged a new identity, one that is a far cry from being a NRL glamour club.
“The tag of Silvertails, I really do think that’s long gone,” he said. “I think Manly has become more blue-collar, I really do.
“It’s been no secret about the facilities we train in, the condition that Lottoland is in and even the field has been under scrutiny. It just screams hard, tough, resilient sort of stuff so I think as a footy club since I have been there that’s been our foundation.
“Not necessarily having the best but knowing you can go out there and come together and still win. Sure, they’re are probably many clubs that can relate to that but that’s my take on what Manly is now.”
The Sea Eagles and the Melbourne Storm will continue their fiery rivalry on Sunday afternoon at Lottoland.
After playing two consecutive grand finals in 2007 and 2008, the rivalry between the clubs reached a flash point in 2011. In a sideline incident that is now etched in rugby league folklore, a confrontation between Glenn Stewart and Adam Blair sparked an all-in brawl.
Cherry Evans insisted their rivalry is no longer underpinned by that famous fight.
“Obviously over the years the two clubs have played each other in grand finals so that’s naturally going to breed a lot of competitiveness between the two teams,” he said.
“On top of that there have been some really big battles during the regular season, usually those games are played at a high level and I can’t help but think that’s because of how much we respect each other.”
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Last year, coach Des Hasler was heralded for turning a team of rags tags into a top eight football team. Hasler battled through countless injuries including to Cherry Evans – who was sidelined for a month with an ankle injury – to sixth spot on the NRL ladder. According to the halfback, the burgeoning casualty ward helped galvanise the playing group.
“I don’t think we have had that sort of player turnover with injuries and be that successful as a club. That was the best part about it, we didn’t use it as an excuse to fall down the ladder. We used it as something to bring that together and that showed in how we played last year,” Cherry-Evans said.
New signing Danny Levi will play his first game for the Sea Eagles after a controversial exist from the Newcastle Knights. The hooker was recruited to replace Manase Fainu, who is banned under the NRL’s no-fault stand down policy. The Manly skipper is backing Levi to get back to the form that earned him a representative jersey for New Zealand.
“There’s a chance Manase isn’t playing this year. But we have Danny Levi now … he’s fit in very well. From what I have heard from him it’s the change he needed to make so we can see the best of his career, hopefully he can reboot his form to where it led to him playing for his country.