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Manly can be one of the most entertaining teams in the NRL to watch, and one of the most confusing.
Once again, they have turned over a competition heavyweight, securing a dramatic 26-20 win over a Melbourne side that they dominated, but in the process, only adding more intrigue to their season.
This broke a three game losing streak and released an albatross that had been hanging around Antony Seibold’s neck: Manly’s shocking record in close games.
Melbourne are the masters of close games, with five victories by one try or fewer one just one defeat, while the Sea Eagles have won just once within a score distance – and that against the Titans – and lost four, plus a draw against the Warriors.
Like so many of those defeats for the Sea Eagles, this probably shouldn’t have been allowed to get close: they bossed field position and possession for an hour, accumulating plenty of chances to cross but failing to deliver.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Anthony Seibold’s side have been ultra-attacking since he joined and have dialled it up to eleven this year, but this was the most conservative they have looked.
Yet it worked against a Storm outfit that dropped far more ball than usual yet still came within a whisker of winning, only for a late rearguard action to keep them at bay.
“I was a bit nervous, but I thought we did I really good job to defend our tryline,” said Seibold.
“The Storm had all the field position and a heap of possession there at the end.
“We probably needed that – there’s been a couple of close games where we unfortunately haven’t been able to get the result so it gives us a fair bit of confidence.
“I felt like we deserved it and being able to defend our way to a gritty win was good.”
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Melbourne did everything to undermine themselves for a large part of this with poor handling, but is so often the case with Craig Bellamy’s men, they had the starch in defence to limit damage and keep themselves in it long enough to make it competitive, but ultimately, this time their luck ran out.
“Our start in both halves was poor,” said the Storm coach.
“Especially to start the game – I think we went 25 minutes and completed at not even 50%. That puts a lot of pressure on.
“We showed a lot of resilience to not get too far behind but you can’t start games like that and expect to win them at this level. That’s where I think we lost it.”
Manly played extremely conservatively by their standards, but unlike in those previous close defeats, were able to get the win when they might not have otherwise.
All eyes early on were aimed at the fullbacks, with debutant Lehi Hopoate facing off against Storm tyro Sua Fa’alogo. Both delivered.
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The next off the rank from one of rugby league’s most famous families was safe at the back amid continuous pressure and, when the moment came late to ice the game, he slipped the ball past an advancing Grant Anderson with superb sleight of hand to get Tommy Talau in for the clincher.
Fa’alogo was about Melbourne’s best on a night when their best didn’t always fire. His best moment came at with an in-goal escape that looked like it had changed the momentum midway through the second half before laying on a try for Nick Meaney.
The best of Manly this year has often been in fast starts, racing out into the lead on the back of hot starts.
They’ve scored eight times in the first ten minutes of matches this year and might well have expected the same tonight, such was the extend of their pressure, but against this Melbourne defence, made no headway at all.
There was a bit of deviousness in that: the Storm conceded three ruck infringements in just over two minutes with Manly applying the blowtorch but were able to escape without a man in the bin and just a two point deficit against as Reuben Garrick opted for easy points rather than forcing the issue.
Cynicism aside, this was not the regular Sea Eagles. The flair was missing and, at times, it seemed like the plan was simply to force their opponents to play as long a game as possible.
It was fortunate the Melbourne met their conservatism with incompetence. The Storm could not hold the footy and, as good as their defence was, no team could keep playing so fast and loose and expect to get anywhere.
The fear from a Manly perspective had to be that they had generally thrown away the leads that they accumulated.
At the heart of Manly’s strange new strategy was the kicking. With both Xavier Coates and Will Warbrick were repeatedly forced into action, but under next to no pressure: both Daly Cherry-Evans and Luke Brooks were simply throwing up innocuous bombs into the corner and catching the wingers as they landed.
It might have been sensible with the long game in mind, but refusing to make any attempt at an attacking end of set seemed a poor plan given the amount of pressure.
Inevitably with Manly, they could not see it through to half time and, when Eliesa Katoa scored from a kick just before the break, it was more than expected.
What could not have been expected was Melbourne continuing their issue with the ball – or, as it happens, Jake Trbojevic picking an opportune moment for his annual try.
The best footy of the night was yet to come with both sides finally finding some form – ironically, as Manly attempted to throw it while they should have been consolidating – and, eventually, the grandstand finish.
With the Storm afforded 90% of the last minutes of possession, the bulk of which was on the Manly line, the Sea Eagles finally showed the defensive resilience that has largely eluded them this year.
The question for Seibold now is whether he can make that more permanent.