Manly defied the odds in Las Vegas to upset South Sydney 36-24 and show they can be a headline act in 2024 to kick off the historic Round 1 double-header.
The NRL executives wanted to put on a show with their bold gamble of staging matches in the United States and both teams fulfilled their end of the bargain by providing a high-class match in their first hit-out of the year.
There are two kinds of teams that wear the maroon and white of Manly – the struggling side that routinely misses the finals when Tom Trbojevic is injured and the one that can topple the NRL’s top teams when the star fullback is providing top-quality attack from anywhere on the field.
He missed most of 2023 due to shoulder surgery and the Sea Eagles’ season petered out before finishing a disappointing 12th.
In his return match he was as incisive as ever and although denied a try twice by the barest of margins, he came with two line break assists, including one which yielded a try, and made a line break of his own on the way to racking up 210 running metres.
The addition of Luke Brooks at five-eighth got off to a promising start for the Sea Eagles with the former Wests Tigers playmaker settling into a secondary role behind skipper Daly Cherry-Evans and allowing Trbojevic the space to weave his magic.
“I’m really happy for him, he’s worked so hard in the pre-season,” DCE said of his halves partner. “Hopefully the best is yet to come but he was outstanding tonight.”
Latrell Mitchell of the Rabbitohs and Tom Trbojevic compete for the ball. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Brooks was thrilled with the unique circumstances of his Manly debut.
“It’s crazy to be able to come here and make my club debut where the Super Bowl was, it’s a pinch yourself moment. I’m just happy we got the two points as well,” Brooks added.
Rabbitohs journeyman Richie Kennar, brought into the centres for the suspended Jack Wighton, will be the answer to many a trivia question in the future when it comes to who scored the first NRL try on US soil?
He accepted a pass from Damien Cook to crash over from short range in the seventh minute for a 6-0 lead.
Manly looked certain to equalise in the 17th minute when Jason Saab galloped into the backfield but a desperate ankle tap from Lachlan Ilias brought him down just inside the condensed Allegiant Stadium sidelines.
They managed to get on the board five minutes later when Latrell Mitchell fumbled the ball on his goal line with Tom Trbojevic denied a try by Ilias spoiling his attempted put-down just before the stripe.
Haumole Olakau’atu beat the stretched defence from the ensuing scrum win.
Souths went 10-6 up when Mitchell fired a bullet pass wide to Jacob Gagai for the 28-year-old winger to touch down in his NRL debut.
Trobojevic again went within millimetres of scoring in the 35th minute when he lost possession following a Damien Cook try-saving tackle which needed the NRL Bunker to confirm the ball just spilt free.
Mitchell added another try assist of the wrong kind when his quick-release pass went no further than Jason Saab near halfway just before half-time for Manly to take a 12-10 advantage to the break.
Even though he’s slimmed down in the off-season, Mitchell has retained his trademark power and carried three defenders over the line to make up for his intercept blunder.
He then provided a split-second catch-and-pass for Alex Johnston to touch down for a 20-12 buffer in the 49th minute.
But with Souths turning over the ball with regularity, the Sea Eagles refused to lie down with Lachlan Croker burrowing over from dummy-half and then Tom Trbojevic assisting brother Ben over the line to go up 24-20.
And when Reuben Garrick spiked the ball in the end zone NFL style after pouncing on a Daly Cherry-Evans grubber midway through the second half, Manly had blitzed their way to a 10-point margin.
“It’s round one, when you’re not holding onto the ball the fatigue gets the better of you,” Souths coach Jason Demetriou said.
Brooks cut through down the left edge to seal the victory four minutes from full-time before Kennar added a consolation four-pointer.
Saab failed to finish the match due to a hamstring injury, which was the only sour note for the victorious Sea Eagles who will be genuine finals contenders this season as long as Trbojevic stays on the park.
“Ultimately this year we’re just trying to play our football, and sometimes our football is going to look like that regardless of the shape of the field,” Cherry-Evans said. “We said that coming over here, we didn’t want to just completely disregard our pre-season worth of training.
“We have a style that we want to play, there were probably glimpses of it tonight. I hope the Americans have taken notice.”
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
So you rate Lodge, Sipley & Schuster alongside of rep players like Wighton, Graham, Arrow and also gun rookie Munro? How long have you been following the NRL? Since the Dolphins inception? :laughing:
NSWelshman
Roar Rookie
Really? Lucky your team played Manly without Lodge, Sipley & Schuster!!! Oh yeah plus the 4 possible disallowed try’s! Next time the score will double mate! How did you go last night?
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Souths have no kicking game, especially no long kicking game, and no organiser in their halves. The biggest mistake the club has ever made was forcing Adam Reynolds out of Redfern. Reynolds is exactly the sort of player Cody Walker thrives on playing outside of. At the very least, when Latrell is ON, Walker can lift his game with that outside threat from Latrell. Ilias offers NOTHING! Jye Gray looks like a real player but stands in size somewhere between Preston Campbell and Matt Bowen (Gray: 170 cm, 77 kg), and I'm not sure how he will handle the heavy traffic defending in Souths front line defence. His last minute kick for touch in the Charity Shield game showed he has a long kicking game, and he would definitely offer more to Souths, and Walker, than the Greek Trojan Horse, Lachlan Ilias. Jack Wighton would best serve Souths, playing in the centres. But he would still be a noticeable improvement on Ilias regardless.
William W
Roar Rookie
I didn't bother reading any of that but the secret ingredient to winning the comp is simply... 1) HOLD the FRIGGING ball and MAKE your BLOODY tackles! Rabbitoh Members and True Fans are getting sick of the poor excuses and the propaganda. 2) Demetriou is 70% of the Problem, Ellison is 20% and Solly is the other 10% of the problem! The reason is poor recruitment and retention. 3) Team selections??? How is selecting J Host and Havili better than Tallis Duncan and Shaq Mitchell??? Lachlan Ilias is a Reserve Grade standard halfback. It is all mind-boggling. 4) The Sam issue last year is real and it still affects the fans! If Demetriou had listened to Sam, the Rabbitohs would have won 4 extra games and made the Top 4. I expect Demetriou to be Sacked by Rd 11 if he continues to refuse to listen to voices other than his own. After Rd 11, the Rabbitohs will be lucky to have won 2 games... The Dogs and Dragons!
Short Memory
Roar Rookie
Additional point - both teams played on the same field.
Bingo
Roar Rookie
Rabbitohs had a reserve grade centre, a reserve grade winger, and the same 7 who is not sparking any creativity in attack. But leaking 36 points on a smaller field says a lot about round 1 attitude. It’s going to be a long season for the red and green without Campbell Graham and with an ageing Cook and Walker. The rest look like they are trying hard but you need a general and Lachlan Illias is not it. Look at the way DCE (in a dinner suit) controlled the second half.
steveng
Roar Rookie
I won't make any excuses for this Vegas performance, I thought that the Bunnies have learned from last year, but its the same old same old as it was a continuation of and from their performance(s) in the 2nd half of the 2023 season. I will get back onto how the Bunnies will pan out in 2024 after Jack is in the side and he plays a few rounds and then finally when Strech is back mid season, as the way things are panning out now, they have NO chance if this what we will get from the Bunnies. Very disappointing effort overall by all the players when we had a 20 to 12 lead and looking good at the 48th min mark and didn't score a point until the 78th min when it was all over, as the Bunnies completely collapse and allowed Manly to win comfortably.
Bonza
Roar Rookie
I'd be concerned about the lack of anything from the Bunnies halves GB. Not even Jackie Boy can help with that.
SSTID
Roar Rookie
I am yet to see the game, but listened to it on the radio and few things. I think I have to reassess my earlier assessment of a 6th to 8th finish to 8th to 10th finish. Richie Kennar seem to get caught out in defence on a number of occasions. That gap will need to be filled or changed quickly, or it will be a thoroughfare in the future. Walker was not mention much in the call in attack. If father time catching up with him? Souths sounded gone by the 60th minute. Laterell needs to spend a bit more time practising his kicking. I am pretty sure we will lose a few matches this year by a few goals that a top quality kicker would normally get.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Wighton, Graham (BOTH rep players), Munro and Duncan (future rep players) compared to 3 duds. Manly were better off without that driftwood, as it turned out.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
I use exaggeration and hyperbole for effect, and it always has the effect I intended. It's like playing with a laser light and kittens! :laughing:
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Yet Kenner was the first and last Try scorer yesterday. Go figure! Milne is ill-disciplined, slow, and the game moves too fast for him. He continually comes up with the wrong defensive reads and bombs at least 4 times more tries than he scores. Milne and Kennar both belong in NSW Cup. It's time to give younger players like Tyrone Munro, Leon Te Hau and even 28-year-old Jacob Gagai a go instead. I would also hook Ilias and play Jye Gray in the halves, or play him at FB and move Latrell to left centre. At least, Gray has shown he can kick a ball 50 metres. Neither Walker or Ilias seem capable of that. When Souths lost Adam Reynolds, they went from having one of the top 2 kicking games in the NRL to being near the bottom with Ilias and Walker. Souths are running uphill and trying to make up the metres without a decent long range kicking game, and that needs to be addressed as a priority.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Blame Nathan Tinkler, club owner at the time, for failing to meet his commitments to pay his players. Even Wayne said at the time, "No one works for nothing. Everyone has the right to get paid", or words to that effect. Effectively, the Knights players went on strike as they were the ONLY players in the NRL not getting paid and yet were still expected to play. Most people taking a swipe at Bennett's lack of success at the Knights forget the real reason that undermined Bennett's record of success during this period.
Moz
Roar Rookie
Seems it was decided that Latrell and Walsh were the stars and main attractions, that's for sure. It was way over the top, reminded me of back when Billy Slater would run with left foot after his right, and we would hear about it for weeks!
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
and yet he got a huge talk up... If I had the time I'd replay all games and record the commentary about each fullback. But I'll just go on impressions
Albo
Roar Rookie
Yep ! I thought Latrelle was probably the 4th best fullback on display yesterday. I thought Turbo looked awesome and should have had 3 tries in the first half. Teddy was back to his 100% best and Walsh was always dangerous. Latrelle popped in and out of the game as usual.
NSWelshman
Roar Rookie
For what it’s worth mate I think you will beat the Mules…….
NSWelshman
Roar Rookie
Yep & Manly played Souths without Schuster, Lodge, Sipley
NSWelshman
Roar Rookie
And acting…..
NSWelshman
Roar Rookie
A dumb peasant !