Manly took a step towards the NRL minor premiership with a 28-10 victory over the Gold Coast at Brookvale Oval tonight to claim top spot on the table going into next week’s final round.
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The 18 point win means the Sea Eagles leapfrog both Melbourne and Cronulla on the competition table and now hold an eight point buffer over the Storm on points differential.
The match was billed as a celebration for departing club stalwart Steve Menzies, who along with Immortal Bob Fulton had the southern stand named in their honour, but the 345-gamer was overshadowed as teammates Anthony Watmough and Steve Matai went on a rampage which could have consequences.
Matai scored a double while Watmough, who allowed Menzies to wear his No.11 jersey for the night, produced several bone rattling hits that highlighted the Sea Eagles’ vaunted defence.
But both players will be sweating the match review panel as Matai had a lazy swinging arm in the 72nd minute while Watmough crunched Daniel Conn only a minute later but may have also made incidental high contact.
Manly led 10-6 at the break but quickly blew the game apart with three tries in 13 minutes, two from fortuitous Matt Orford kicks, to grab a comfortable 28-6 lead with just over 20 minutes to play.
But instead of kicking on with a dominant result to increase their points differential buffer over the Storm, the Sea Eagles engaged in a sloppy slanging match with the Titans and exchanged several penalties before Nathan Friend started swinging punches at Manly prop Josh Perry.
The Titans scored a late consolation try to Jordan Atkins which means little to the Gold Coast’s belly-flop of a season but could have ramifications on Manly’s battle for the minor premiership.
“It was a pretty crazy week,” said Menzies of his career celebrations.
“I was hanging around and sniffing around for a try the last 20 minutes.
“At 10-0 we started playing a bit of touch football. We needed a little bit more composure.
“It was all built on the back of our defence tonight.”
Heading into the final round the Sea Eagles, Storm and Sharks can claim the minor premiership but Cronulla has to rely upon both Manly and Melbourne losing next week.
If Melbourne are to secure their third successive minor premiership they need either the Sea Eagles to lose or post a nine-point bigger win over South Sydney than Manly does over Penrith.
Manly coach Des Hasler said he would be happy with a top two finish next week, but backrower Watmough said the players wanted the minor title.
“That’s massive … if you finish top that is something you can remember for the rest of your life,” said Watmough.
“As (Melbourne coach) Craig Bellamy said, there’s probably not enough emphasis put on finishing first in the competition.”
Titans coach John Cartwright said Manly were the real deal this year and were one of only three teams who could win the premiership.
“It’s very close this year, closer than last year. Any one of three teams you can narrow it down too,” he said.
“I think the Storm and I think Cronulla the way they are going.
“Defensively I thought Manly was as good as we have come up against.”
Watmough meanwhile believes he has no concerns over his heavy shot on Conn.
“I thought if there was anything in it they would have pulled me up on the spot,” he said.
“It was good (to put on some big hits), it was about time. My shoulder has been missing this year so it was good to get some timing back.”
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