Manly coach Geoff Toovey has played down the importance of the NRL premiers securing a top four finish despite history and Sea Eagles backrower Anthony Watmough suggesting otherwise.
Needing to beat Gold Coast on Saturday to guarantee a finish in the top four, Toovey said form was more vital than ladder position even with the NRL adopting the AFL’s finals format which seems to heavily favour those in the top half of the eight.
Not once in the 12 years the AFL has used the finals format has a team from outside the top four even made it to a grand final, let alone won a premiership.
Still, Toovey refused to label Saturday night’s road trip a must-win.
“Not necessarily – I think it’s always good if you go into the semi-finals with some form, so I’d hate to have played poorly this week which I’m sure we won’t,” Toovey said.
“We are positive and upbeat about how we’re going to perform. Whether we win or lose it doesn’t matter too much as long as we’re playing well.”
Should they lose however, the Sea Eagles could open the door for North Queensland to leapfrog them into fourth, the same scenario facing South Sydney ahead of their game against Newcastle on Friday night.
Those that finish in the top four get a second bite of the cherry and the chance to advance straight to a preliminary final, while fifth through eight face sudden death every week.
“If you can jag a top four spot and get that win in that first week, you get some time off to heal a few bodies and bumps and bruises,” Watmough said.
“We’re definitely looking forward to a top four fight-out hopefully.”
Watmough pin-pointed a change in attitude a few weeks back for sparking the Sea Eagles, the new outlook providing the impetus for a five-match winning streak and their elevation to premiership favourites.
It also coincided with Toovey having his best players available again, with key backrowers Tony Williams and Glenn Stewart missing large chunks of the season to suspension and injury.
“We were hopeless a couple of weeks ago, but we started doing the little things right, the basics, just working for each other again,” Watmough said.
“We weren’t far off, it was just a little bit of attitude here and there and it turned our season around.
“The boys have got that hunger back … I think as soon as the boys want to rip in and have a dig for each other, it makes a big difference.”
And while he may disagree with his coach as to the importance of the top four, Watmough couldn’t praise the rookie mentor enough for the job he has done since being handed the reins following the controversial parting of ways with two-time premiership winning coach Des Hasler.
“Tooves was pretty rattled at the start, to say the least,” Watmough said.
“For him to hold the team together the way he did is a credit to him.”
