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The Canterbury Bulldogs have defeated the Manly Sea Eagles for the second time this season with a 28-16 win at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.
BULLDOGS 28
MANLY 16
After dominating the first half, and only being up by 2 points at the main break, the Bulldogs would score four tries to two to run out comfortable victors in the end.
Two tries to Curtis Rona, and a man of the match performance from Moses Mbye, gave the Bulldogs the win and moved them to fifth on the ladder.
In the case of Mbye, he was a late inclusion for the Bulldogs, as Josh Morris and Tim Browne failed pre-match fitness tests.
Manly also had one late change with Kieran Foran out and David Williams in for the Sea Eagles.
Unfortunately for the team, they got a horror start, as they conceded two tries in the first seven minutes.
After the kick-off Willie Mason would knock the ball on with the first contact of the game.
A few seconds later Curtis Rona was over for the Bulldogs and they had a 4-0 lead.
Five minutes later another mistake from the Sea Eagles would give the Bulldogs a 10-0 lead.
A conceded penalty from Manly allowed Bulldogs to attack from 20 metres out.
Chase Stanley would sell a good dummy, after a great pass, and score for the Bulldogs.
At that point it looked ugly for the Sea Eagles. They weren’t playing well and were struggling to complete sets.
To their credit though, they fought back, and reduced the lead to two by half time.
A try to Cherry-Evans, who continues to attract headlines, brought them back.
On the last tackle Cherry-Evans put in a grubber kick, which returned back to him.
He would then beat the defence and score.
A late penalty goal, right on half time, after a shoulder charge from Tony Williams would give Manly the momentum into half time.
Despite having just 40 percent of possession in the match, the Sea Eagles would take the lead in the second half with a try to Peta Hiku.
Cherry-Evans, who was the best for Manly, put in a great pass to Hiku to give Manly an unexpected lead.
The lead wouldn’t last long as the Bulldogs responded with two tries in ten minutes to Frank Pritchard and Rona.
When Mbye scored his first for the night on 65 minutes, to give them a 24-12 lead, the game was over.
A late Corey Thompson try made it a good night for the Canterbury Bulldogs.
For Manly it is their 5th straight loss. That is the first time it has happened since 2005.
To put it simply they didn’t complete enough sets and struggled to hold the ball.
When they did do that, they were competitive, but they were behind on the scoreboard and could not come back.
They now face the Storm next week who were the only team that they have beaten this season.
The Bulldogs now face the Tigers in a repeat of the Round 4 match that went to golden point.
The Canterbury Bulldogs will be looking to repeat their Round 3 win against the Sea Eagles when they face Manly again at ANZ Stadium tonight. Join The Roar for a live blog of the match from 7:35pm AEST.
In that match, which was only four rounds ago, two tries to Tim Lafai gave the Bulldogs a 16-12 win and their third win in a row against the Sea Eagles.
Since that clash, both teams have gone spiralling down the ladder.
The Bulldogs have lost two of their last three matches, and a lot of players through injury and suspension.
James Graham, Sam Kasiano, and David Klemmer are all still serving suspensions from the Good Friday clash with South Sydney. They are joined on the sidelines by Brett Morris, and Lafai, who will be out for at least the next six weeks.
This player shortage has hurt their team and they were resoundingly beaten by the Dragons last week.
The Sea Eagles haven’t fared much better and have lost their last four matches, including the last match between the two teams.
In short, they haven’t been competitive, and have been beaten comfortably by the Raiders, the Dragons, and the Panthers.
They’ve also been suffering with injuries with a range of players out for a long period of time.
Thankfully for the Sea Eagles, they get a vital player back for tonight’s match. Captain Jamie Lyon is back and will take his position in the centres.
Brett Stewart could also come back from a groin injury tonight but he hasn’t been named in the team. He could be a late inclusion into the team according to multiple sources.
For the Bulldogs Josh Reynolds is back in the halves and is ready to fight for his State of Origin spot for the Blues. Unfortunately for Canterbury there are doubts over Josh Morris and Tim Browne. They are named but could be late withdrawals for the match.
If both are unfit to play expect Moses Mbye and Antonio Kaufusi to replace them in the team.
Predicting a winner in this match is tough. Both teams are not at their strongest and the Bulldogs are depleted in the forwards.
This brings Manly right in the match and in line to cause an upset.
Despite this the match will be decided by the halves of each team. Both have plenty to prove and both are under pressure from their fans and media.
Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds need to find form to keep themselves in contention for the State of Origin series. For Manly they will hope Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans can lift the team to break their four game losing streak.
A loss tonight would give Manly five straight losses for the first time since 2005.
I see that happening and the Bulldogs will win a close contest between the two.
Prediction: Bulldogs by 2.
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