Manly Sea Eagles vs Newcastle Knights: NRL match result, highlights

Match result:

The Manly Sea Eagles have defeated the Newcastle Knights on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Lottoland in front of 15000 people.

Halfback Daly Cherry-Evans managed to get himself three try assists and an early rest five minutes from full time in what was a truly magnificent performance from the Manly captain.

The first half of the game was fairly even. The Sea Eagles scored first in the 11th minute through Curtis Sironen out on the right edge. He picked out the hole in the defence beautifully, crashing through two Knights defenders to score.

Reuben Garrick then scored his first try of the afternoon in the 25th minute. However, he failed to land two difficult conversions from out wide, resulting in the Sea Eagles leading by just eight points despite a dominant opening 25 minutes.

The Knights managed to hit back late in the half, with a brilliant individual effort from Kalyn Ponga cutting the Manly defence open close to the line.

He showed great footwork and strength to get in the clear and then past Tom Trbojevic to score. Five-eighth Mason Lino converted, with Manly taking a narrow 8-6 lead into the break.

The opening exchanges of the second half suggested that the remainder of the match would be a real tough arm wrestle.

The Sea Eagles gave away a number of penalties late in the set to give the Knights some good attacking opportunities which they failed to take advantage of.

The Sea Eagles then blew the game open, first with a try to Joel Thompson on the left in the 49th minute.

Marty Taupau scored in the 59th minute to extend the lead to 14 points, before Taufua crossed in the corner in the 66th minute for an unassailable 18 point lead.

Reuben Garrick managed to jag his second try in the 70th minute off a brilliant Dally Cherry-Evans cut-out ball to make the scores 30-6 with 10 minutes to go. The scores would remain this way until full time.

Both Daly Cherry Evans and Jake Trbojevic came from the field at around this time, with both receiving standing ovations from the partisan Manly crowd.

It was a fantastic scene if you’re a Manly fan. Not so if you’re a Knights fan. Newcastle now sit in 11th place on the ladder, their finals hopes in tatters after a very promising start to the year. The Sea Eagles now are in fifth place, on equal points with the Roosters who play the Titans tomorrow.

Final score
Manly Sea Eagles 30
Newcastle Knights 6

Match preview:

NRL Super Saturday Round 20 begins with a bang as the high-flying (yet still flying under the radar if you ask Des Hasler) Manly Sea Eagles take on the Newcastle Knights at Lottoland! Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 3pm (AEST).

The Sea Eagles are soaring at the moment, after doing last weekend what few teams have done in the last decade – beat Melbourne in Melbourne.

In stark contrast, the Knights are deep in a form slump. After an impressive eight-match mid-season winning streak going back to mid-April, they have now suffered four consecutive defeats and have dropped out of the top eight altogether.

Coach Nathan Brown has made mass changes to the side from last week’s two-point loss to the Wests Tigers. Jesse Ramien has been dropped in favour of Hymel Hunt who moves from wing to centre. Kurt Mann moves from five-eighth to wing to cover Hunt’s old position, while Mason Lino replaces Mann at five-eighth.

In the forwards, the return of backrower Lachlan Fitzgibbon from an elbow injury pushes Sione Mata’utia to the bench with Jamie Buhrer dropped. Jacob Saifiti also comes into the 17 on the bench for Herman Ese’ese.

Finally, Danny Levi has also been dropped and replaced with Connor Watson at hooker, who will likely have to play the full 80 with no back-up hooker on the bench.

Prediction
This is a big game for both sides. If Manly lose here it means their monumental effort against Melbourne away from home last week goes to waste, while the Knights are desperate to get what appeared to be a promising season back on track.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the Sea Eagles were a bit flat after last week’s effort – they would’ve had to get up big time for that game and it would’ve taken a lot out of them.

The Knights will be sensing this game as their own chance to ambush a side above them on the ladder. However, the Manly mad scientist Des Hasler will be wary of this – the Sea Eagles should have enough left in the tank to take care of the Knights in a tight one.

Manly by 4.

Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 3pm (AEST).

Where: Lottoland, Sydney
When: 3pm
TV: Fox League
Streaming: NRL Digital Pass, Kayo Sports

Sea Eagles
1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Jorge Taufua 3. Brad Parker 4. Moses Suli 5. Reuben Garrick 6. Dylan Walker 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Manase Fainu 10. Martin Taupau 11. Joel Thompson 12. Curtis Sironen 13. Jake Trbojevic 14. Lachlan Croker 15. Corey Waddell 16. Morgan Boyle 17. Taniela Paseka 18. Jack Gosiewski 19. Apisai Koroisau 20. Brendan Elliot 21. Lloyd Perrett

Knights
1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Shaun Kenny-Dowall 3. Hymel Hunt 4. Tautau Moga 5. Kurt Mann 6. Mason Lino 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. David Klemmer 9. Connor Watson 10. Daniel Saifiti 11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon 12. Mitchell Barnett 13. Tim Glasby 14. Jacob Saifiti 15. James Gavet 16. Sione Mata’utia 17. Aidan Guerra 18. Jamie Buhrer 19. Beau Fermor 20. Jirah Momoisea 21. Chris Randall