Mark Geyer has questioned the work ethic of the Sea Eagles under Anthony Seibold after the club’s statement win over the Dolphins on Thursday.
The Dolphins were left shellshocked in Redcliffe this week as Manly claimed a 52-18 win, in what was a perfect way to kick off Kieran Foran‘s tenure as head coach.
There had been small glimpses in the first month of the season of what Manly were capable of, but only Foran managed to unlock the team’s full potential.
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While Foran could not hide his excitement to start his journey as head coach with a bang, he did recognise post-match that some old bad habits crept back in.
As for the playing group, it was clear their spirits were higher than they were in the past.
Manly had not scored more than 30 points in one game prior to facing the Dolphins this season. Â Getty
But Geyer is unsure if the attitude and resilience of Manly shown on Thursday was always around when the playing group ran out under the guidance of Seibold.
“I tell you what, if Manly were a race horse the stewards would be calling for a swab. That was just unbelievable,” Geyer said on 2GB’s The Continuous Call Team.
“The Fozball era has begun, that was an amazing accomplishment. This clearly isn’t the same team we had seen over the opening month of the competition.
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“Tommy Turbo (Trbojevic) was back to his 2022 form. Jake Trbojevic, who has averaged about three runs this year, he had three runs in the first 10 minutes.
“The attitude was there … you just gotta question their work ethic. If they could do it (on Thursday) then they could’ve done it every week under Seibold, but obviously they didn’t like him as a coach.
“And they did everything in their power to make sure that he got the boot.”
Kieran Foran and Tom Trbojevic speak to media. Nine
Foran has been with the team all season, having worked as an assistant to Seibold in the opening three games. It’s his first role since retiring from the NRL last season.
It seemed as though it was going to be a long journey for Manly if they wanted to play finals football, but Geyer believes Foran has made that an achievable goal.
“This is a team that looks like they could make finals footy if they played like that every night,” he said.
As for the Dolphins, Geyer recognised the team has a fair bit of work ahead of them.
“They were woeful,” he continued.
“Some of that defence on Haumole Olakau’atu – he looked like a first grader playing against the under 7s. It was just embarrassing for the Dolphins.”
Foran’s next challenge with Manly will be against the Dragons next Friday.