Minor Premiers Canterbury Bulldogs are now one win away from the NRL Grand Final after a gritty 16-10 victory over the Manly Sea Eagles, who will be left counting the cost of a bruising 80 minutes of rugby league.
Geoff Toovey will wait nervously on the availability of several key players ahead of a sudden-death final next weekend, with Jamie Lyon picking up a leg injury and Jason King and Steve Matai both placed on report.
Despite finishing the season in top spot the Bulldogs came into this one as underdogs, with the Sea Eagles seemingly rediscovering the form that saw them crowned 2011 Premiers.
But pre-match expectations appeared unfounded when Bulldogs flyer Josh Morris sliced through some questionable Sea Eagles defence and set up winger Jonathan Wright to cross the tryline on the Bulldogs’ first meaningful attack of the night.
Manly slowly began to win the arm wrestle and were dominating possession without hurting the Bulldogs on the scoreboard, and the frustration began to show.
Jason King was the first to be placed on report after an errant high shot on James Graham and serial offender Steve Matai followed minutes later after another reckless effort that is certain to attract the scrutiny of the NRL judiciary.
A promising opening 20 minutes had all of a sudden turned sour for the Sea Eagles, and when Lyon limped off with a calf injury before the half hour it looked a long way back for the boys from Brookvale.
But a rapid-fire one-two punch from Mark Taufua and Brett Stewart turned the contest on its head within the space of five minutes and the Sea Eagles went into the break with a 10-6 lead and all the momentum.
The second half opened much like the first, with both sides trading punches in a tight, classically finals-like contest, before a superb solo effort from Bulldogs halfback Kris Keating put Des Hasler’s men back in the lead.
It seemed to invigorate the Bulldogs after the shock of the two first-half Sea Eagles tries and the Bulldogs’ two chief destroyers were at it again soon afterwards.
Morris and Barba have lit up defences throughout the season and they linked again to scorch Manly in a length-of-the-field try following an ineffective Daly Cherry-Evans kick.
The Dally M Medallist had his opponents at sixes and sevens and looked to have crossed again five minutes later, but video referee Steve Clark ruled that Cherry-Evans had been impeded in what appeared another controversial application of the obstruction rule.
The six-point margin proved enough for the Dogs, who showed the composure and professionalism that has served them so well througout the season to close out the final quarter of an hour and seal the 16-10 victory.
Adam Kidd
Roar Rookie
It always seems to be the sides that are successful are the ones who are aggressive and in turn get called 'dirty', 'cheap-shot' merchants and the rest. Manly and Melbourne have been criticised by every league fan who does'nt support them. Success breeds contempt. The Bulldogs have re-built themselves into a formidable side, which has co-incided with Josh Reynolds becoming a new poster boy for niggling tactics. Whenever Melbourne find themselves on top of the ladder - a new 'chicken-wing', 'grapple' or 'suplex' tackle is revealed as the reason behind thier success. Manly are hated by every fan who doesnt support them and called 'thugs' for playing hard football. Im not supporting high-shots, but both sides resorted to niggling tactics which provided compelling viewing for all. In regards to crowd numbers, even if Manly finished first they still would have had to play at ANZ. Advantage?
planko
Guest
Examples please ?
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
"Manly smashed the Cowboys last year" Only when the refs started allowing the cheats to hold down in the tackle longer than is legal.
Wests Life Member
Guest
You're sick
Wests Life Member
Guest
Qld's Game is Rugby League........you are very limited in your views. Manly smashed the Cowboys last year and to say it was due to 'grubby tactics' is pathetic. Please take emotion out of your posts. Manly face a tough prospect next week and yes they are physical but please..... all teams play dirty to fit their needs. Bulldogs were very grubby themselves. Did you notice Michael Ennis at all??????
Jimbo
Guest
When I played league, our coach would be furious with us if we didn't give away at least a couple of penalties for holding down in the ruck. You play to the ref, and if the Cowboys didn't do that, they only have themselves to blame.
eagleJack
Guest
Nope not on drugs. The Cowboys limped into the finals losing 4 of their last 5 games. It was 2 v 7 and Manly were in great form. It's an 80min game QGIRL so being in it for 50mins means very little. I'd suggest the final score of 42-8 justifies many people's feelings. This Friday will be a different story. The Cowboys are in great form. Best of luck.
lobsang rampa
Guest
Richie, The judiciary have thrown the rule book at Manly - with the instructions, "Ignore this!" and "Any dramas, call Bill Harrigan"
Richie
Guest
When is the NRL going to do something about the Manly thugs!! We just saw Glenn Stewart,twice, and Brett Stewart both elbow tackled Bulldog players in the back of the head.Jason King up to his normal head hunting and the biggest grub of all, Steve Matai trying again to take someones head off. He does this every game and is allowed to get away with it.Matai should be rubbed out of the game for good. What is the difference between what he done to Sam Perrett and what Travis Burns done and got 12 weeks for? Maybe the answer is - he plays for Manly- and they are obviously a protected species. I hope the NRL throws the rulebook at these thugs!!
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
Cowboys were all over the unskilled Sea Eagles for the first 50 minutes. Then the grubby Manly forwards started holding down the Cowboys players in the play-the-ball so they could get an unfair advantage. The ref allowed it to happen. Manly didn't get onto the board until they started doing that. It didn't help that we lost one of our second-rowers to a serious neck injury at that stage of the game. Hard to beat a team that has a grubby forward pack when there's one less second rower on the bench. The fatigue from having one less big man to rotate the fowards around, combined with the extra energy our fowards had to use in the play-the-ball due to Manly holding down longer than is legal, really hurt us. The ARLC should strip Manly of their 2011 Premiership for being a grubby team of cheats and putting the game into disrespute through their unsportsmanlike conduct.
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
If the refs are fair then the Cowboys should put 30 or 40 points on the Sea Eagles. The halves for Manly aren't good ball players. The Manly five-eighth is just a ball runnier and a thug who needs to be given a few shoulder charges by big James Tamou. Daly Cherry-Evans was rejected by the Cowboys when his father was a talent scout for theme. Enough said. Manly can only get the rejects. Manly can't win unless they play grubby. I'd like to know why the refs allow them to get away with it.
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
"3) it was the Cowboys so save money to go to game a week later. No chance of a loss." Are you on drugs? Cowboys were all over Manly for 50 minutes of that game, despite the ref favouring the Sydney side. The only reason Manly got out of jail is because they fouled up the ruck by holding down the tackled Cowboys players longer than is legal. The refs never penalised them. Cowboys lost a second rower around that stage to a neck injury. Hard to play out a finals match against a grubby team with one less forward on the bench.
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
They won't be charged because they play for a Sydney team. If they did that while playing for the Cowboys then they would miss the rest of the final series. Remember Carl Webb in 2005?
Michael
Guest
And even then the Broncos crowds are pretty poor, for a one team city of over 2m they should be getting more.
eagleJack
Guest
True Watmough is no scholar but Im quite sure he knows the difference between the numbers 1,2 and 3. Ennis on the other hand......
eagleJack
Guest
oikee one could argue that all NRL fans protest too much. Crowds on the whole are pathetic. Really only your team can say it has consistently high numbers.
lobsang rampa
Guest
Even with Manly refereed back into the game in the first half they never really looked the goods. The much lauded Stewart brothers were missing in action last night. It seems that when the pressure is on, they wilt. Glenn Stewart's elbow to the head, while not put on report by the refs, should at least go before the judiciary - a classic bitch play and to my mind in no way unintentional. As for Brett Stewart; after last nights performance I'll continue to maintain that when the chips are down, he sooks out. How a lard head like Jason King got a role of responsibility in the team is beyond me. But then Toovey got the coaching job so I guess it's a 'who you fellate' culture on the North Shore. I'm not a Dogs fan but compared to Manly last night they did everything to bring the game into repute!
Michael
Guest
So by that analogy nobody should bother to turn up for the first 10 rounds, or even state of origin game 1? There are a million reasons to turn up, most fundamental of which is to see two fantastic teams go head to head.
oikee
Guest
2) Not at Brookvale so fans protested Me think Manly and their fans protest too much.
Scott
Guest
A fan of the team employing Watmough having a dig at someone's intelligence. Now I've seen everything. What next, Matai giving lessons in exemplary conduct?