Trent Barrett wants his forwards to be more creative with the ball and has pinpointed Assistant Coach John Cartwright to make it happen.
In his first pre-season as Manly Warringah Head Coach, Barrett says Cartwright’s experience as a former representative forward and inaugural Gold Coast Titans Coach would be invaluable.
“Carty is responsible for the attack. He is going to be very important for all our middle forwards. He was a very skilful forward himself,’’ Barrett said.
“I will share the attack with Carty, but he will do a lot of one on one work with our forwards. I think it is important for Jake Trbojevic and Darcy Lussick, and even the older guys like Nate Myles, that they do spend a lot of time with Carty.
“I do want all of our forwards to be able to pass the ball. Whilst there is a time and a place for it, I will encourage them to promote the footy, create an offload, and create some second phase.
“We have got some really good backs, a couple of really good dummy halves, and a terrific half-back. I want to bring them into the game.
“One thing we will be good at is playing against unstructured defence. How you do that is create second phase play. It is up to Carty to try and create that for us.”
Cartwright said Barrett’s calm nature would be an asset to his coaching style.
“Trent was such a cool head as a player. He probably was ahead of his time. He was extremely skilful,’’ Cartwright said.
“He was a strong defender, had a great kicking game, and encouraged success wherever he went. He won State of Origin series, played Tests, and won big games in Wigan.
“Trent knows the game very well. He never changes under pressure. As a player, he never changed the way he played which means he was able to stick to a plan.
“He is a man’s man. I was involved with him as a coach at Origin level when he was playing. He knew when to switch on but also knew when you needed a bit of down time and fun.
“Finding all of those things as a coach is very, very important. He covers the right areas you need to be a successful coach.”
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