When Chris Cottee fell limp to the ground at Nepean Rugby Park last week, a collective gasp went out amongst the players and supporters watching on.

'Cotts' is one of the competitions most durable and talented players so to see him felled by a cripling achilles injury was a setback no-one wanted.

The inspirational number 9 has been a standout performer this year, as he was last year and the four before that. He's the ultimate competitor is Chris and his influence will be sorely missed in our game tomorrow.

Paddy Pearce comes in at the base of the scrum to try and fill those boots and the pair share a number of traits. Pearce joined the club from Gordon, went to the same high school and is a strawberry blonde like Cottee. Actually, he's more 'ginger ninja' than strawberry blonde but they share a similar style of play.

Like his predecessor, Pearce is an angry little ant. It's an inherrent trait in most scrum-halfs and Pearce is no exception. He's earnt his shot at the big time and has some previous first grade experience with the Highlanders, which will mean he's not overawed by the occassion.

Controlling the ball at the back for him will be the latest addition to the team, George Smith. I'm told this guy goes OK, I suppose he'd have to be considering he's walked straight into the side. I believe he's actually played a couple of games for the club, but that was so long ago nobody seems to remember exactly when.

With Cotts out, I've been given the great privelege of captaining the side and I can say I'm both proud and humbled to be able to do it.

Manly's a club dear to me and has been for a long time so to be out there calling the shots is the realisation of a very long dream.

Hoping to see all of our friends family and fans at the oval tomorrow, it's looking as one of the bigger ones in recent years.

Catch you at the Oval

Seanny

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it