With that last performance I think it’s fair to say they are well and truly ready for an inspirational finals push.
Not too long ago the boys from the beaches looked as if they could possibly be bringing home their first wooden spoon. But as any rugby league fan these days knows, Manly never back down.
If any team was going to make a legitimate comeback from the bottom of the ladder it was the Sea Eagles.
It was a near perfect game for the Maroon and White. After blindsiding the league leaders in the first half, by taking a 20-0 lead into the break they came out and more than doubled that score in the second – taking out an emphatic 44-14 win.
Jamie Lyon was the outright star of the first half as it seemed he could do no wrong, with every touch he had of the ball becoming a threat to the opposition. A try, q line break and two insanely skilful try assists in a full game would be an impressive stat sheet for most players – but Jamie managed it in just the first 40 minutes.
Kieran Foran also had an absolute b-e-a-u-t-y. In what can come as somewhat bittersweet for Manly fans, Kieran showed his true colours by having arguably his best game for the season running for more than 200 metres and picking up two memorable tries.
Tom Trbojevic was another outstanding player who gave fans a real show by crossing the line for his first of the night from some Jamie Lyon brilliance.
As the second half came around Tommy decided to have yet another crack at the sloppy Brisbane defence, which saw him gallop across the line and pop a sweet ball to big Taufua who assisted Foran to his well deserved second try. Tom later ran nearly the full length of the field off a one handed pickup intercept to cross for his second in the latter stages of the game.
His brother Jake also had a night to remember, picking up a handy 132 metres and an impressive grubber kick for the highlights real.
Daly Cherry-Evans showed class with two try assists and some consistent kicking and tackling work.
Although Anthony Milford of the Broncos gave it his all, his at times poor decision making lead to some errors.
Corey Parker the offload machine was kept under wraps by some brilliant Manly defence the whole night and only managed 1 offload. With Ben Hunt unfortunately racked up 8 costly missed tackles.
Honourable mentions for the night include: George Taufua with two line breaks and a try assist, Feleti Mateo with 14 runs, for 144 run metres and a unique try and Michael Chee Kam who showed promising signs and confidence in his first NRL game for the year.
This clash with the Broncos in Gosford was exactly what Manly needed to show to the rest of the league. They are serious about making the 8 for an 11th year in a row – and I think we can all agree they took well advantage of that opportunity.
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