The Manly Sea Eagles have moved 2-points clear at the top of the NRL ladder after a convincing 21-12 victory against the St George-Illawarra Dragons.
FINAL SCORE:
Sea Eagles – 21
Dragons – 12
The Manly Sea Eagles travel to Kogarah to take on the St George-Illawarra Dragons and with the chance to cement their place at the top of the NRL ladder. Join The Roar for all the action from 7.00pm (AEST).
Table-toppers and having put four of their past five opponents to the sword, the Sea Eagles arrive in great form. We are coming to the business end of the season and this is when Manly shine.
They got the cash over St George-Illawarra in their last meeting, round eight last year, 24-18 and will be boosted this Monday by the return of Anthony Watmough. Dynamic halfback pairing Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans are back to their best and so is flying fullback Brett Stewart.
Off field there has been some dissent, but on the park the northern beaches club has continued to do the business.
Jorge Taufau comes in on the wing for the Sea Eagles, a huge plus considering it was the bullocking back who scored the winning try against the Dragons last year. But surprisingly Manly has an ordinary record at Kogarah, having won just once in their past six attempts.
That stat may give the joint venture outfit some hope.
It’s now or never for St George-Illawarra. The Red V is in 11th place but come into this match off the bye and three wins in a row. They edged the Cowboys 27-24 at home, secured a great 12-point win over the Storm and pipped the Titans by a point.
Paul McGregor seems to have turned them around of late and with Wayne Bennett potentially waiting in the wings next year, every win is important.
The Dragons are also only two points off the eight, with Melbourne sitting on 20 points. From the sixth-placed Broncos to the 13th place Eels there is just two points between eight teams, meaning a win tonight for St George Illawarra would be huge.
The keys for the Dragons are the growing partnership between Gareth Widdop, who has been sensational in 2014, and Benji Marshall, along with Josh Dugan in the centres. Expect Mike Cooper to provide grunt up front and underrated hooker Mitch Rein, always a handful, to add extra spark in attack.
Can the home team pull off an upset or will Manly stay on course for the minor premiership?
Join The Roar at 7.00pm AEST to find out.
JB
Guest
Funny that johnno Ryan girdler used to commute from Newport to Penrith for years nearly twice the distance than DCE will have to, with no problems, Having a house on the northern beaches won't stop him leaving
Muzz
Guest
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/whats-the-buzz-the-parramatta-eels-are-set-to-offer-daly-cherryevans-4-million/story-e6freuy9-1226994641441
Johnno
Guest
Manly players to Knights?!? Not in a million years! Badly-run club, poorly administered. Wasted money on grandpa-overrated coach, grandpa players and one single highlight, the 2013 prelim final appearance, to show for the last 12 years. The only good news for Knights is that Darius Boyd should leave to follow Bennett to Broncos.
Johnno
Guest
No way DCE to Parra. Just bought a house for nearly 1.5M on Northern Beaches and little one on the way. Why would he leave Manly and the beach for Parra, a fringe top 8 side and first week finals exit. Brad Arthur and was a great assistant coach for Manly but he is not that persuasive.
Muzz
Guest
Matai just confirmed on Triple M that he has asked for a release
nerval
Guest
A poor game not helped by another small attendance and an atmosphere as flat as a pancake. The crowd-pulling potential of Benji Marshall looks to be more than a little over-rated. I think that both the St George and Illawarra component parts of the Dragons are struggling off the field. I wish somebody better than I could write an article for the Roar outlining just why a de-merger might be the way to go.
Muzz
Guest
Lucky the 2014 transfer window is closed! There would be no 1st grade Manly players left by all reports. DCE to Parra?
john badseed
Guest
And a stadium roostermuzz!
The spectator
Guest
Snake putting on 2 more try assists and getting paid for one, as usual! Leading try assist 2014...
Muzz
Guest
They have much nicer dressing rooms.
Squirrel
Guest
Agree the refs are killing league
Squirrel
Guest
Refs ear pierce straight to Tom Waterhouse hq
john badseed
Guest
There is nothing wrong with NRL referees. Manly's inability to score is caused by the fact that everyone except Matt Ballin are going to ask for a release in the next few days to move to the Knights.
james t
Guest
Exactly
james t
Guest
+1 every game. Every week. Every year. Same BS.
uPelican
Guest
The NRL has a real problem with the quality of referees. It's wrecking NRL. The fans are sick of it. What's the point of watching a game of footy if it is ruined by referee incompetence. Every week. Every game. We all lose.
james t
Guest
That game was disgraceful. The refs have no idea what so ever. Peranara looks lost out there. They tried there best to get the dragons over the line.
Johnno
Guest
No idea mate. apparently matai faked a take of the ball which obviously, in the world of Badger and Perrenara, meant that the ball didn't travel 10 metres. As I said, those two basically did everything in their power to engineer a Dragons home win. Clearly, they were intimidated by the fact that Manly rarely win at Kogarah so therefore it was in their best interests that Manly didn't win tonight. Manly too good but should have won by 40
eagleJack
Guest
Cheers JD nice call. Although it was 21-12
Johnno
Guest
that game was a disgrace. Badger and Perrenara did everything to help the home team bar put on a red and white jersey. disgraceful!