would be lovely to be able to claim that a podium this year might finally be possi

Teenage rookie Brad Parker put his hand up to lead a regeneration of Manlys backline over the summer as the club begins to move into the post-Jamie Lyon era.On the same day it was revealed Lyons problematic hamstring is set to deny him a Brookvale Oval farewell, local product Parker scored two tries and was a lone bright spot in a 38-18 loss to Melbourne.With Lyon set to retire at the end of the year and the future of stalwarts Steve Matai and Brett Stewart under a cloud, the Sea Eagles are likely to feature a new-look backline in 2017.And, in the second game of his career, Parker added a team-high four tackle breaks to leave a lasting impression on first-year coach Trent Barrett.You cant look at the semi-finals but its an opportunity for guys like Brad, whos still eligible to play NYC ... Hes only a year out of (SG Ball), Barrett said.He was terrific tonight. He did a really good job for us when we beat the Warriors seven weeks ago and he was terrific again tonight.Lyon was a surprise pre-game withdrawal on Saturday night, with Barrett later revealing that the two-time premiership-winner re-aggravated a hamstring injury that has plagued his entire 2016 campaign.The 34-year-old is now considered unlikely to play in the clubs final home game of the year next week.Which is massive shame for us, Barrett said.Whilst hell do everything he can to get there, its not looking great at this stage and hes devastated, obviously. He hurt it yesterday in the captains run.Thats something well have to manage and cross our fingers and toes that he can (play), because hes been a wonderful, wonderful player for the club and we want to send him out on the right note.The defeat against the Storm means the Sea Eagles have just three wins at home this year, their fewest since winning two of five back in 1965, and are on track for their lowest finish since 2004. Jenson Button is refusing to think of a first podium in front of a home Silverstone crowd despite his strong showing at the Austrian Grand Prix.Button turned in a memorable weekend in Spielberg, qualifying third in a session impacted by changeable weather before finishing sixth in the grand prix. The British driver admitted after the race it was a much better result than McLaren expected.Though he wants to end his Silverstone drought at the 17th attempt, Button is keeping his expectations realistic.Finishing on the podium at the British Grand Prix is top of my to do list in F1, Button said. Ive achieved pretty much everything else that I set out to do in F1, but Ive never stood on the podium at Silverstone. I really want to do that and it would feel like a victory if I were to achieve it.Of course, the result in Austria last week really motivates everybody, and it raises everyones expectations, too. It would be lovely to be able to claim that a podium this year might finally be possible, but, being realistic, that wont be possible this time.But I head to Silverstone feeeling hugely encouraged by our progress, and just what we can achieve as a team when the variables are thrown into the air and all the teams are left to somewhat improvise: we can do great things.ddddddddddddMcLaren racing director Eric Boullier is also keeping his feet on the ground, pointing out that Buttons teammate Fernando Alonso suffered a troublesome weekend which should refocus the team going to Silverstone.This year we do battle with a much improved MP4-31, Boullier said. Jensons result in Austria showed that, when everything comes together, we can perform operationally at a high standard; but, equally, the issues that affected Fernando on both Saturday and Sunday show that we still need to raise our game on every front.Its important to remember that we were able to punch above our weight in Austria, but, with so many McLaren-Honda fans in the crowd this weekend, well be doing our best to pull another strong result out of the bag. ' ' '