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The Brisbane Broncos have recorded a convincing victory over the Manly Sea Eagles at Suncorp Stadium, winning by 24 points and planting themselves on top of the NRL ladder.
REPORT: BRISBANE THRASH MANLY 30-6
The Broncos creative trio of Anthony Milford, Ben Hunt and Darius Boyd played exceptionally, setting the Broncos up on the back of a strong performance from the forward pack.
There was no question the Broncos forwards dominated for most of the game, being able to roll up the field with ease, and maintaining a strong defensive edge.
Manly though should have actually utilised the middle more than they did. Continually spreading the ball wide wasn’t the best idea, and they struggled to make any traction.
Brisbane will be a little disappointed in how many errors they made, especially during the second half. Luckily for them, Manly made plenty of their own and therefore couldn’t work their way back into the match.
The one real positive for the Sea Eagles was Daly Cherry Evans. He had a much improved performance, and even though he couldn’t spark the Sea Eagles attack to points, he looked positive taking on the line at every opportunity, and adding plenty with his kicking game.
There was no question Brett Stewart was missed by the Sea Eagles in a big way, and their attack floundered without him.
The scoring started in the 10th minute with Milford going to the line and putting a grubber kick. It was deflected off Manly, with Boyd picking it up 30 metres out and running straight through a gap.
The next try for Anthony Milford was long range, coming just four minutes later as Ben Hunt took on the line and passed inside to Milford who ran away, outclassing Tom Trbojevic to score under the sticks.
The Sea Eagles did have a try disallowed at the end of the half, with a forward pass being called from Daly Cherry Evans. It certainly didn’t look forward on replay, and Manly will certainly be feeling ripped off.
At halftime, the score was 12-0, and Manly would have been happy they weren’t further behind considering where possession and field territory was at.
The second half saw Milford and Boyd take over the match, while Corey Parker and Joe Ofahengaue were particularly impressive in the middle third of the ground.
The scoring started just 10 minutes into the second half with Anthony Milford crossing his second try of the match. With some absolute superb footwork and poor reading in defence, it was inevitable that he would crash over.
Sam Thaiday would be next to score off a pass from the inside and a determined run, beating Jamie Lyon to the line with ease.
The final try was for Corey Oates on the left wing after a superb spread play and cut out pass from Darius Boyd. He virtually scored untouched, and the Broncos ran away with the big win.
Final Score
Manly Sea Eagles 6
Brisbane Broncos 30
The Manly Sea Eagles complete a Saturday of NRL games with home teams away from home, taking on the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:55pm (AEST).
The Sea Eagles come into this game off a tough loss a fortnight ago at the hands of premiers, the North Queensland Cowboys.
It wasn’t a good performance by the Sea Eagles at all, as they got blown off the park during the first half and then struggled to recover despite plenty of possession during the second. While some late consolation tries lessened the size of the loss, it will take a much improved performance to be competitive against Brisbane.
Brisbane meanwhile suffered only their second loss of the season as they took on the Cronulla Sharks. They were smashed during the first half, and were in a worse position than Manly only to find their attacking rhythm and rediscover some defence before eventually going down by two points, 30-28.
It really is amazing to see how the Broncos attack falls away when their halves – Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt – don’t fire. They struggled during the first half, with errors being a constant theme and they couldn’t even remain anywhere near competitive against the Sharks.
Manly were without Brett Stewart for that clash against the Cowboys, and it showed in their attack despite the return of Daly Cherry Evans. Stewart will be at fullback for this match, with Dylan Walker back in the halves and Blake Leary onto a six man bench, joined by Tom Symonds and Pita Godinet who started a fortnight ago.
The Broncos will be without Alex Glenn for the match, with Adam Blair again out. Jai Arrow is the man to come onto the bench for his debut, while Jarrod Wallace starts in the front row.
Manly have been inconsistent at best this season having recorded a big win away from home against the New Zealand Warriors just three rounds ago. They do come into this on the back of two straight losses though, so there is no questioning the pressure is on them.
Brett Stewart has a massive role to play in this match, and as does Darius Boyd. Both are playing on the back of what should be very good kicking games from Daly Cherry Evans and Ben Hunt – but it is their controlling influence over the match, and big runs from the back that should set the trend for the match.
Prediction
At ‘home’, I would expect Brisbane to get the job done here. Manly’s form has been patchy, and Anthony Milford should be able to rip them to shreds.
Broncos by 10.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores and coverage of this match from 7:55pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add your own comments in the section below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde