The Delmege Sea Eagles continued their winning form with a pleasing 38-16 victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Decked out in a retro 60’s commemorative jumper the Sea Eagles scored early when Brett Stewart found plenty of room out wide and sold a perfect dummy. The try ensuring his amazing try scoring record at Brookvale Oval continued. Orford’s conversion attempt from wide out came around but not quite enough instead bouncing off the upright and falling away.
Souths hit back with 25 minutes remaining, catching the Manly defence out and steam rolling Michael Robertson who happened to be covering at fullback. Champion’s conversion from the sideline handed the Rabbitohs a narrow lead.
Five minutes later Souths hit back again with a try to Nathan Merritt. The lead up was rather dubious with a pass being thrown from the ground but referee Russell Smith allowed play to go on and Manuokafoa did well to draw defenders and offload for Merritt. Champion’s conversion took the lead out to eight points.
Manly got back into the match with seven minutes remaining, a clear break and a dummy to beat the fullback from Matt Orford saw the Manly captain set his sights for the line. Only metres out with no defenders within cooee Orford inexplicably passed to Shayne Dunley who dived over to score. It appeared as though Orford had handed the hooker a sympathy try but after the match the truth was revealed. From the time Orford got away Dunley was chasing and yelling for the ball. With only 10m to go Dunley screamed at Orford to pass and assuming he had half the Rabbitohs team on his tail Orford instinctively offloaded to his support player. Dunley had a huge laugh after the event but is none the less content to have scored at least one try this season. Orford’s conversion from beside the posts brought Manly back to within two points.
It took the Sea Eagles only seven minutes more to regain the lead. Brett Stewart went wide and as the defence rallied to shut him down he popped a lovely ball inside for Steve Menzies who went for the corner. Orford’s conversion from the sideline gave the Sea Eagles a four point lead.
Three minutes later the Sea Eagles were in again when Brett Stewart slotted into the backline. After going to the video a possible obstruction was ruled to be a defensive error and the try was awarded. Orford again converted from the sideline.
Just as it looked as though Manly would run away with the match the Rabbitohs pulled one back courtesy of Joe Galuvao. A disappointing try softly conceded on the back of a Manly handling error within their own 30 metre area.
With twenty two minutes remaining the Sea Eagles skipped clear after Steve Matai grounded a ball lost by Nathan Merrit. Matai backed up again a few minutes later pouncing on a beautifully executed grubber from Matt Orford.
Manly had one more try left in them and star player Brett Stewart completed his treble by sprinting 60 metres through and around the Rabbitohs defence. Orford’s conversion rounded out the points and finished off a good win.
While it wasn’t a pretty game the players and coaching staff were happy to walk away with the two points and another 22 added to the differential. The only disappointing aspect being the number of handling errors particularly close to their own line.
Steve Matai received the Players’ Player award with two tries and a strong performance, made all the more impressive after enduring a week in the media spotlight.
Brett Stewart deserves a huge wrap for another outstanding performance. While not heavily pressured at the back Stewart’s attacking efforts are highlighted by his 3 tries, a hand in two others and another close call. Stewart has now scored 30 tries from 28 games at Brookvale and 19 tries for the season.
The defensive work was fairly evenly shared throughout the forwards but Anthony Watmough and Steve Matai really stood out in the “hard yards” department.
Travis Burns picked up a slight injury to his leg but is at this stage expected to play on Friday in what will be a MASSIVE game against the Bulldogs.
Manly now sit two points clear in 3rd place and remain set on securing a home final.
With a 19,000 strong crowd on hand to see Manly take on the bottom team we are hoping to pack the place on Friday when the Sea Eagles take on the team above them in second. It should be a cracker of a game.
Match Stats
Sea Eagles: Tries: Stewart 3, Matai 2, Dunley, Menzies. Goals: Orford 5/7.
Rabbitohs: Tries: Mellor, Merritt, Galuvao. Goals: Champion 2/3.
Penalties: Sea Eagles 6 - 2 Rabbitohs
Errors: Sea Eagles 9 - 8 Rabbitohs
