Francis Manuleleua thread

[KPGreatness]

Jermaine McEwen: Played his junior football for the Orange Bloomfield Tigers before rising through the Newcastle Knights pathways to make his NRL debut

Oh ok cheers

 

[Billy]

McEwen started at Orange, moved to western Sydney and played 1 year of Mats at Penrith, moved to Newcastle where he played Mats in the year it went from under 16s to under 17s, then played Ball and Flegg and reserve grade - so he played every lower grade here.

 

[PTB]

The spending on the junior base is starting to do it's job. Even if you don't include Manuleulua per se, McKewn, Hopwood and Hunt are already giving great value at NRL level. More to come in this space.

Also there is Sharpe who only came into first grade last year from our pathways and has exceeded expectations with his transition to 5/8.

 

[MattyM]

I can only speak for myself, but I am very, very happy we’ve now got McEwen/Lucas/Manuleleua locked up long term as our second rowers over KPP. Never rated him like everyone else and I’m glad he’s gone and not chewing up our cap like he was for someone fairly unknown/unproven.

 

[Wicket]

Unreal! I was expecting the usual fox sports mob to start the contract talk of Manu leaving in the next few weeks.

That’s outstanding, these re signings of quality players this year has been so impressive. Well done to the club, recruitment, coaching staff, and the players for creating a team good players want to be a part of. Our team, and top 30, is starting to look really good.

Also it looks like a very happy club, the players all get along and they are all enjoying their footy.

That helps massively in retention, happy players will want to resign and in most cases they will sign for unders

The transformation of this club should be commended by all of us

 

[Wicket]

In my perfect world we end up with Francis & Jermaine as our backrowers and Lucas returns back to the centres especially after such a brutal injury

That injury may limit his mobility, so centre might not be ideal.

Time will tell, but we need to find a way to fit all 3 into the team going forward

 

[Sheent14]

I can only speak for myself, but I am very, very happy we’ve now got McEwen/Lucas/Manuleleua locked up long term as our second rowers over KPP. Never rated him like everyone else and I’m glad he’s gone and not chewing up our cap like he was for someone fairly unknown/unproven.

100% would rather all 3 above KPP. KPP is a good player, his defence is great. But he isn't the "attacking beast" that commentators were banging on about early in the season. He is a good offloader, but he rarely dents the line beforehand, so many games where he'd barely run past 50m or so. He reminds me of Kiraz at times where he is so enamoured with offloading, even if they aren't impactful. Some deadset grenades for offloads being thrown at times.

 

[EASBay17]

Also there is Sharpe who only came into first grade last year from our pathways and has exceeded expectations with his transition to 5/8.

Sharpe debuted mid year in 2024 and even started 2025 rd 1 at 5/8. 2025 is a blur for me im not even sure how many games he got at 5/8 last season. Regardless, he certainly is exceeding expectations being a sub 50 game 22 yr old.

 

[PTB]

Sharpe debuted mid year in 2024 and even started 2025 rd 1 at 5/8. 2025 is a blur for me im not even sure how many games he got at 5/8 last season. Regardless, he certainly is exceeding expectations being a sub 50 game 22 yr old.

 

[PTB]

Sorry you are correct. The seasons roll on so quickly and it’s hard to believe it’s over 2 years since his debut. I watched him come through Ball and Flegg and was amazed at his pace and acceleration. He played Flegg 2 years above his age and was a continual match winner there. I have always felt that full back is his best position, however now feel he offers more at five-eighth in our current team. Maybe that’s reflective of the exceptional backline he’s part of and the coaching of Holbrook.