Manly Sea Eagles Coach Trent Barrett has praised the work ethic of prop Addin Fonua-Blake ahead of tomorrow’s do or die clash against the Bulldogs.
Fonua-Blake has been rewarded for his strong performances in the Intrust Super Premiership with Barrett naming him in the starting side for the clash at ANZ Stadium against the heavyweight Canterbury-Bankstown pack.
“I think he (Fonua-Blake) deserves it. He has been getting limited minutes for the past 6-8 weeks, so we put him back in reserve grade and he played two games in one week and perfomed really well,’’ Barrett said.
“I’m excited for him, it definitely give us a bit more size and the Bulldogs, as we all know, have a big pack.
“The Bulldogs are a very good side. We know they are big and physical, and they got the better of us last time we played. The start tomorrow night will be important for us.”
Barrett admitted his players were frustrated with the result against Parramatta last week.
“The boys were disappointed, it was a tough way to lose at the death there, but we shouldn’t have put ourselves in that position,” Barrett said.
“We have to win the remaining four of our games. We’ve had a good week at training. Getting (Captain) Jamie Lyon back is a positive for us..he brings a level head and a different dimension to our kicking game and the boys are really happy to have him back.”
Rivals the Melbourne Storm travel to Brookie in Rd 24 of the NRL, tickets available here!
