SEN host Andrew Voss believes 2021 may be the year that the Manly Sea Eagles pick up their first wooden spoon in club history.
The Sea Eagles were left embarrassed on Thursday in their 6 to 46 loss to the Penrith Panthers, and Voss didn’t hold back in his analysis of the lopsided clash.
“The demise of Manly. What has happened?” Asked Voss.
“What a dreadful night last night was on home soil at Lottoland.
“There was nothing fortress-like of ‘Fortress Brookie’.
“Put simply, they were slaughtered by the Panthers.
“The gap between Manly and the top teams in this competition is massive.
“That has been backed up by score lines when they have played the likes of Penrith, 46 to 6 defeat. From Round 1 when they were wiped by the Roosters, 46 to 4.
“So that’s a combined 92 to 10 from those two games.
“Sandwiched between those two matches has been a 26 to 12 loss to Souths and 38 to 12 collapse against the Dragons.
“Through four rounds, they are dead last.
“They have scored just six tries and have conceded a whopping 28.
“Their point differential is an alarming minus 122.
“Now that can’t just be the result of star fullback Tom Trbojevic being sidelined.
"The rot has well and truly set in."
Voss says that this season could have been predicted when you look back over the past two decades.
“I suppose it has been coming, if you look back at the past 20 years, from 2005 the Sea Eagles made the finals for 10 years straight, what an effort.
“They won two premierships, they were runners up twice, that is a golden era in rugby league terms.
“But since 2015, they have missed the finals in 4 of the last 6 years.
“Last year was miserable, they actually didn’t start that bad, they won six of their first eleven.
“But since Round 12 last year they wheels have fallen off, what a decline.
“Manly won only one of their last nine games last year,
“They’ve trained all off season and now taking the first month of this year, that record is one win in the last 13 starts.
"Plenty would have already put their red pen through them.
"But the question now is, how low can they go?
“Manly has been in the competition since 1947, this proud club celebrating their 75th year has never won a wooden spoon.
"Well after a month of the 2021 season, plenty are thinking that record is about to end.”
Manly’s next chance to turn their dismal start to the season around will come next Friday when they play the New Zealand Warriors on the Central Coast.
Listen to the full Verdict here: