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Manly Sea Eagles 28
Cronulla Sharks 16
Manly started strong early with a try in the sixth minute going the way of Jorge Taufua after the ball was spread left for the massive winger.
>> MATCH REPORT: Manly claw off bottom of NRL ladder
Taufua struck again in the 20th minute leaping high and beating four Cronulla players in the contest to extend Manly’s lead.
Daly Cherry-Evans was denied five minutes later after Jayden Hodges lost the ball over the tryline.
With three minutes left on the clock, Sosaia Feki went over the line to put the Sharks on the board.
Steve Matai was the first to go over in the second-half after Brett Stewart kicked for Taufua on the sideline who passed it back in for his partner on the left.
Daly Cherry-Evans raced away after Ben Barba dropped the ball. Later on in the set, he went through a gap to put Manly in front by 18 points.
Ten minutes later, Kieran Foran kicked high to Tom Trbojevic. Stewart got the ball and went over, his try was disallowed however.
Andrew Fifita put the Sharks back in the game after a beautiful Jeff Robson pass sent him through a gap in the Manly line.
Jorge Taufua secured the Sea Eagles’ win with a hat-trick try on the left wing.
Andrew Fifita scored on the stroke of fulltime but it wasn’t enough to defeat the Sea Eagles who came away with a 12-point win in front of a 14,881 strong crowd at Brookvale Oval.
The battle of the beaches returns to Brookvale Oval when the Manly Sea Eagles take on the Cronulla Sharks in one of the biggest matches of the NRL round. Join The Roar from 3.50pm (AEST) on Sunday for live scores and commentary.
Manly have Daly Cherry-Evans in their side, and coming off an 18-point loss at the hands of South Sydney, they will need strong performances from all their stars as they try to scrape their way off the bottom of the table.
Matt Ballin needs to step up considerably as do the Manly halves. With Feleti Mateo essentially having carried the team over the past few weeks, Toovey’s men will need to work as a team to get back into the winner’s circle.
The Sharks are coming off the back of a win over North Queensland, finally ending the Cowboys’ dream streak. Cronulla are on cloud nine and have a load of confidence, plenty to shut down the Sea Eagles. The Sharks must look to their outside backs for spark and their huge forward pack to create holes in the line.
The Sea Eagles’ back-row will face a huge challenge in Cronulla’s Luke Lewis, Wade Graham and Chris Heighington, who collectively share over 650 first grade games compared to Manly’s paltry 350 first grade games collective – 200 of which come off of Feleti Mateo.
Experience in the forwards is key and it will help the Sharks to find their way over the line and muscle up to get the two points which may be enough to push them up into the top eight.
In the only change for the Sea Eagles, Willie Mason returns on an extended five-man bench. Cherry-Evans was not selected for State of Origin and will therefore play for Manly. Cronulla are unchanged.
Since 1998, Manly and Cronulla have played 23 games against each other with the Sea Eagles winning 15 and the Sharks eight. Last time the two teams met was in Round 15 of 2014 when the Sea Eagles won by 26 points, keeping the Sharks to nil.
Manly are currently sitting in last place and are coming off the back of a 8-20 loss to the Rabbitohs. Cronulla are at ninth spot and are coming off the back of a win over North Queensland 24-18.
Prediction
The Sharks’ recent form will prove too much for the Sea Eagles to overcome.
Sharks by six.
Join The Roar from 3.50pm (AEST) for live scores and debate in our live blog.
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