Dual premiership winner James Maloney has called for Kieran Foran to sort out Manly’s glaring structural issues before bringing young gun Joey Walsh into the team, declaring not even Nathan Cleary could help them win a premiership.
The Sea Eagles interim coach’s tenure got off to a red-hot start on Thursday night with a thumping 52-18 win over the Dolphins.
Manly showed no signs of an Anthony Seibold hangover as they beat up on a woeful, poorly disciplined Dolphins outfit.
However, despite securing their first win of the season, it is clear that Foran has a major task ahead of him, with still significant deficiencies in both attack and defence, as seen in the Redcliffe outfit’s late three-try surge.
Young half Joey Walsh is seen as one potential solution, and he could soon come in for the out-of-form Luke Brooks.
But Maloney urged Foran on news.com.au’s The Extended Bench not to pull the trigger on the 19-year-old just yet, as he declared not even Penrith legend Cleary could fix their attacking issues and warned throwing Walsh in the deep end too soon could be detrimental to his future development.
“From all reports, he’s (Joey Walsh) a very good player and going to have a big future,” Maloney told news.com.au’s The Extended Bench.
“But it wouldn’t matter if you brought in Nathan Cleary he wouldn’t turn it around in a day. You could put an experienced half in there, and it would still be a struggle for him (Cleary).
“Jamal Fogarty was very good at Canberra, but he played off the back of a very good pack. “He was playing with momentum all the time and now he has different cattle.
“I wouldn’t put the young kid in. You have to fix up some things first.”
Maloney suggested Walsh should be slowly integrated into the team rather than thrown in the deep end.
“You have got to do it in spurts. You’d like to think when they get into some form they can start teething him through,” Maloney continued.
“Otherwise you are throwing him to the wolves. If you see him as your long-term option, I think you got to do the right thing by him.
“Because whether you are a young kid or a senior player if you are playing in a side that’s not going well it’s a hard ask for anyone.”
And it seems Foran is on the same page, stating he will be patient with their young star.
“There’s obviously been a lot of noise from the outside about Joey Walsh, but what people have got to understand is that Joey is 19,” Foran said.
“He’s come through as a rugby union kid, extremely talented and gifted, and he’s still very early on in his rugby league journey.
“My opinion of Joey is extremely high. He is an absolute superstar, and he is going to be a great player for our club for a long time, that’s how highly I rate him.”
“He’s got all the traits in him to be an outstanding player, but there’s a few components to rushing a guy in like that. We’re not travelling good enough to put the responsibility of turning a game around on a 19-year-old’s shoulders who has played 21 games of league – that’s not doing the right thing by Joey, and that’s not protecting his long-term career.
“Everyone has got to be a bit patient, we’ve got a plan for Joey, and he’s comfortable with the plan. It’s the outside noise; people are trying to beat up Joey.
“I talk to Joey every day, he’s loving what he’s doing on the footy field at the moment, and he knows where he’s going at this club. It’s just a matter of us getting our season up and going … by the end of the year, he should really be up and about.”
Manly’s win on Thursday also allows the club to be patient.
However, if they once again go on a streak of losses, calls will again grow for Walsh to be given his shot in the starting side.
You can watch all new episodes of news.com.au’s The Extended Bench on YouTube.
