- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles have rebounded from last week’s narrow loss to the Gold Coast Titans by thrashing the Wests Tigers 26-0 at Bluetongue Stadium.
This match was seen as an important match for both teams entering round four, as they both started the round with two wins and one loss for the season.
The Sea Eagles have been on fire to start the season, with wins over the Brisbane Broncos and Newcastle Knights preceding the Gold Coast defeat last week.
But it took them just five days to immediately rediscover their best form, dishing out a bagel to the opposition for the second time in three weeks after doing likewise to Newcastle a fortnight ago.
Everyone had the Tigers written off after an inept first round showing against the Knights in the opening round. But they rebounded to knock off the Panthers and Eels on home soil, the brief return to form preceding tonight’s shutout.
The first half of the match was a litany of unforced errors and, in particular, a poor completion rate by the Sea Eagles. It took them almost 15 minutes to even make it past the halfway line and they even had five consecutive sets with the ball.
Benji Marshall had the chance to put the Tigers on the board first through a penalty goal after an infringement involving Justin Horo of Manly, but he shanked the goal and that would be the Tigers’ only chance of scoring all match.
For all the floppy play-the-balls and errors Manly endured, their persistence finally paid off in the 28th minute through Tom Symonds.
That would be the only real scoring act of the first half, as a frustrating half of football from both sides came to an end with the Sea Eagles leading 4-0.
Manly started the second half with a try to David ‘Wolfman’ Williams, despite replays clearly showing the ball floated one metre forward. (Think the Matt Cooper try which came off a Ben Creagh offence for the Dragons against the Broncos seven years earlier. I can still recall THAT try.)
Shortly afterwards, the Wolfman was in again, this time through less controversial circumstances, and the scoreline blew out to 14-0 in Manly’s favour in the blink of an eye.
At this stage, the Tigers were still in with a chance to take the match, but any hopes of a comeback (and their third win in a row) were all but dashed when Daly Cherry-Evans scored what appears to be the most bizarre try in NRL history with six minutes to go.
Cherry-Evans had earlier been denied a try due to a Manly obstruction. Jamie Lyon’s successful conversion took the score to 20-0.
Steve Matai completed another impressive victory for the Sea Eagles by scoring in the shadows of fulltime to give the match its 26-0 scoreline.
Take away the fact the Sea Eagles lost to the Titans last week, and you’ll see why they are still premiership favourites, even with the initiator of their present day success, Des Hasler, now at the Bulldogs.
Geoff Toovey is doing a great job keeping the Sea Eagles in the upper half of the competition when many predicted a decline at the start of last year.
However, next week, they face their first real test of the season when they head to ANZ Stadium to face the Bulldogs in what should be a blockbuster.
As for the Tigers, their brief return to form has ended in another whimper, with their two most disappointing defeats sandwiching impressive victories over Penrith and Parramatta.
It’s too early to tell if the Tigers have adjusted under Mick Potter, but tonight’s defeat is a disappointing end to what had been a promising fortnight since their first round thumping by Newcastle.
Any return to form may have to wait until at least round six, as the Tigers’ next assignment is tackling the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne next Monday night.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.