The chance to test themselves against some new defensive structures was one of the lessons taken from Saturday’s unique opposed session against the St George-Illawarra Dragons.
In something new for the Sea Eagles, Manly Coach Anthony Seibold arranged with Dragons counterpart Anthony Griffin for both teams to hold a joint training session instead of a trial in the lead up to the official NRL Pre-Season Challenge starting next week.
“It was a really productive session because it’s the closest we can get to playing a real game,’’ Seibold said.
“We wanted the session to be structured. Each team got five sets with ball in the ruck and we just worked our way down the field.
“It was a good opportunity to test ourselves against different defensive structures and attacking systems. It’s fair to say we both got a lot out of it.”
Manly centre Brad Parker welcomed the concept.
“I thought it was unreal. We got a better understanding of how they (the Dragons) run their sessions,’’ Parker said.
“We certainly got a lot out of it in terms of coming up against plays we haven’t defended against all pre-season.
“It was good to be able to identify new plays in terms of what we may come up against this season.”
Parker added he has enjoyed the innovative ideas and training sessions introduced by Seibold this pre-season.
“When you do the same thing over and over again, it’s what makes pre-season pretty hard,’’ Parker said.
“By doing different things, it certainly makes pre-season a lot more refreshing. Not knowing what you are getting yourself into helps as well, so it’s all been great so far.”
