This report is based on notes made from the top of the hill on the 40m line. All care and no responsibility taken.
Okay, here we go. Not as hot as last year and the crowd was down a bit. The Cowboys kicked off and both sides completed their sets for the first few before Manly didn’t number up on a kick chase. Sorbello drew the defence and sent Ty racing 30m upfield over halfway. He was held down in the tackle and from the resulting penalty, Manly knocked down a pass after two tackles before the Cowboys turned it over after 4 on the next set. The Manly first receiver dropped the ball from the scrum, the Cowboys threw it wide and Ty flashed over on the left. Hed missed the kick but the boys led 4-0 after 8 minutes.
Manly again conceded a penalty but the Cowboys turned it over after 1 tackle. Manly worked back downfield before conceding two more penalties after 3 and 4 tackles, piggybacking the boys deep into their half. Norton stayed alive in several tackles and wriggled over from close range. Hed converted and the boys led 10-0 after 12 minutes.
Another penalty, this time on the third tackle had the boys deep in attack and LOD touched down after Manly failed to clean up a grubber on only the 3rd tackle. Hed made it 16-0 after 15 minutes and it looked a case of “How far?” Shep and Tex were cutting them to ribbons; the forwards were sharing the work and hunting as a pack. Manly, for their part, looked dangerous out wide when they held the ball.
We turned it over after two and Jye Mullane touched down a grubber after 4 tackles. Chris Hicks added the extras and the Cowboys went to the first break leading 16-6.
The Cowboys subbed Fein for LeMac, Myles/Hed, Sarge/RA and Southern for J-Lo. The 2nd quarter started in a scrappy fashion when Manly were forced into touch on the 2nd tackle. We turned it over after 1 and then helped them further by conceding a penalty to allow them easy ground. The sides then traded sets for a while until the errors started again. Tex knocked on after one tackle and Manly capitalised when Menzies, who has started on the bench, stood in tackles and sent Scott Donald over untouched. I was 70 metres away and perhaps there was some poor defence but it looked like quality work by Beaver to me. The kick was missed but Manly were back to 16-10 after 31 minutes.
Manly completed the 1st set after the restart but conceded another penalty before they made a tackle. Fein failed to find touch and knocked on a couple of minutes later, but Manly failed to capitalise. The boys went downfield in three tackles, forced a dropout and scored after one more tackle when Shep drifted left and passed inside for Fein to touchdown. Myles converted and we led 22-10 at halftime.
Ty and Sorbello swapped spots for the second half and the teams traded completions for a while until Shep knocked on the 1st tackle of a new set. Manly gave it back after 2 but RA! Gave them another shot with a loose ball, leading to 3 successive sets culminating in a try to Heckenberg when Ty messed up a grubber. Donald converted and after 55m, the gap was back to 6, a score unchanged at ¾ time.
Tex played dummyhalf in the last quarter, a strange one which he did well but which wasted his creativity around the rucks. Lillyman got a run but a series of errors from Sargent, Southern, Lillyman, Hannay and DC ruined our continuity at the start of the quarter. Finally Manly had 3 sets in succession and then another 2 when Ty fumbled a kick backwards and Mander didn’t have as good a view as me. Jarrad Taylor raced over form the scrum, Donald converted and Manly had tied it up. A few more sets, more errors by Ra and Norton and the game was over.
In the end, we were lucky to hang on in our error-riddled last quarter. Manly came home with a wet sail and possibly a lot of our early good form was due to the penalties they were conceding. When the boys switched on, they had Manly all over the park but concentration lapses and maybe some lack of combination with all the new faces cost us dearly.
For what they’re worth, my player ratings:
Sorbello: put Ty away early, not much opportunity after that.
Ty: good on the wing, doesn’t inspire me with any confidence at fullback.
Hannay, Bowman and Myles: Had trouble containing Manly out wide, Myles certainly added zip and enthusiasm when he came on.
Jensen: took two heavy tackles early, didn’t really notice him apart from that.
Norton and Shep: looked terrific together. The side didn’t go as well with Fein at half, though he was a terrier as usual.
Luck: hit high early, which left him groggy, typical effort from him.
LOD: 4 errors marred an otherwise strong game in defence and attack.
Strickland: didn’t really stand out, better at prop I think, he seems to get lost in the traffic if his job isn’t nice and simple.
J-Lo: Ran sideways early but improved later, tackled well instead of last year’s trick of leaning on guys his teammates are tackling.
LeMac: only played 20 mins, went okay, one error I think.
RA!: Bent the line repeatedly, a couple of loose passes amongst some quality off-loads.
Sarge: very good in his first outing. Southern, DC and Lillyman didn’t have too much impact apart from Lillyman’s enthusiasm, which was excellent.
That’s all I can think of at the moment, Cheers.
Okay, here we go. Not as hot as last year and the crowd was down a bit. The Cowboys kicked off and both sides completed their sets for the first few before Manly didn’t number up on a kick chase. Sorbello drew the defence and sent Ty racing 30m upfield over halfway. He was held down in the tackle and from the resulting penalty, Manly knocked down a pass after two tackles before the Cowboys turned it over after 4 on the next set. The Manly first receiver dropped the ball from the scrum, the Cowboys threw it wide and Ty flashed over on the left. Hed missed the kick but the boys led 4-0 after 8 minutes.
Manly again conceded a penalty but the Cowboys turned it over after 1 tackle. Manly worked back downfield before conceding two more penalties after 3 and 4 tackles, piggybacking the boys deep into their half. Norton stayed alive in several tackles and wriggled over from close range. Hed converted and the boys led 10-0 after 12 minutes.
Another penalty, this time on the third tackle had the boys deep in attack and LOD touched down after Manly failed to clean up a grubber on only the 3rd tackle. Hed made it 16-0 after 15 minutes and it looked a case of “How far?” Shep and Tex were cutting them to ribbons; the forwards were sharing the work and hunting as a pack. Manly, for their part, looked dangerous out wide when they held the ball.
We turned it over after two and Jye Mullane touched down a grubber after 4 tackles. Chris Hicks added the extras and the Cowboys went to the first break leading 16-6.
The Cowboys subbed Fein for LeMac, Myles/Hed, Sarge/RA and Southern for J-Lo. The 2nd quarter started in a scrappy fashion when Manly were forced into touch on the 2nd tackle. We turned it over after 1 and then helped them further by conceding a penalty to allow them easy ground. The sides then traded sets for a while until the errors started again. Tex knocked on after one tackle and Manly capitalised when Menzies, who has started on the bench, stood in tackles and sent Scott Donald over untouched. I was 70 metres away and perhaps there was some poor defence but it looked like quality work by Beaver to me. The kick was missed but Manly were back to 16-10 after 31 minutes.
Manly completed the 1st set after the restart but conceded another penalty before they made a tackle. Fein failed to find touch and knocked on a couple of minutes later, but Manly failed to capitalise. The boys went downfield in three tackles, forced a dropout and scored after one more tackle when Shep drifted left and passed inside for Fein to touchdown. Myles converted and we led 22-10 at halftime.
Ty and Sorbello swapped spots for the second half and the teams traded completions for a while until Shep knocked on the 1st tackle of a new set. Manly gave it back after 2 but RA! Gave them another shot with a loose ball, leading to 3 successive sets culminating in a try to Heckenberg when Ty messed up a grubber. Donald converted and after 55m, the gap was back to 6, a score unchanged at ¾ time.
Tex played dummyhalf in the last quarter, a strange one which he did well but which wasted his creativity around the rucks. Lillyman got a run but a series of errors from Sargent, Southern, Lillyman, Hannay and DC ruined our continuity at the start of the quarter. Finally Manly had 3 sets in succession and then another 2 when Ty fumbled a kick backwards and Mander didn’t have as good a view as me. Jarrad Taylor raced over form the scrum, Donald converted and Manly had tied it up. A few more sets, more errors by Ra and Norton and the game was over.
In the end, we were lucky to hang on in our error-riddled last quarter. Manly came home with a wet sail and possibly a lot of our early good form was due to the penalties they were conceding. When the boys switched on, they had Manly all over the park but concentration lapses and maybe some lack of combination with all the new faces cost us dearly.
For what they’re worth, my player ratings:
Sorbello: put Ty away early, not much opportunity after that.
Ty: good on the wing, doesn’t inspire me with any confidence at fullback.
Hannay, Bowman and Myles: Had trouble containing Manly out wide, Myles certainly added zip and enthusiasm when he came on.
Jensen: took two heavy tackles early, didn’t really notice him apart from that.
Norton and Shep: looked terrific together. The side didn’t go as well with Fein at half, though he was a terrier as usual.
Luck: hit high early, which left him groggy, typical effort from him.
LOD: 4 errors marred an otherwise strong game in defence and attack.
Strickland: didn’t really stand out, better at prop I think, he seems to get lost in the traffic if his job isn’t nice and simple.
J-Lo: Ran sideways early but improved later, tackled well instead of last year’s trick of leaning on guys his teammates are tackling.
LeMac: only played 20 mins, went okay, one error I think.
RA!: Bent the line repeatedly, a couple of loose passes amongst some quality off-loads.
Sarge: very good in his first outing. Southern, DC and Lillyman didn’t have too much impact apart from Lillyman’s enthusiasm, which was excellent.
That’s all I can think of at the moment, Cheers.
