Manunda's massive defeat of the lowly Bulldogs was just what the doctor ordered ahead of next weekend's semi-finals,according to Hawks coach Clint Gribble. The pivitol midfielder tore his ACL last weekend and will play no part in finals footy. But he said he finally saw his side retain some confidence after big losses to North Cairns and Cairns City Lions. "That was just what we needed to snap out of a bit of a lull," Gribble said. "We did some things that weren't there in the last few weeks and I think we realised if we played individually, we were going to be in a fight. "We started to doubt ourselves. But I can see the confidence back now." Gribble said the injection of several reserve grade players had helped spark that. "Someone like Trent Freebody came in and probably made 15 tackles and put his head over the ball," he said. "They showed us how we are supposed to be playing. "He's every chance of keeping his spot for the semis." Manunda will now play South Cairns next weekend in a knockout semi-final. "We'll have a few injury concerns this week and won't really know until game day by the looks," Gribble said. "But we've started to play team footy again, which is the most important thing."
Last Modified on 25/09/2012 14:34