The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles have held off a late comeback from the St George Illawarra Dragons to record a 24-18 win.
Result
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 24
Tries: Tolutau Koula (22), Haumole Olakau’atu (30), Reuben Garrick (42), Jason Saab (52)
Goals: Reuben Garrick (24, 32, 43, 80)
St George Illawarra Dragons 18
Tries: Francis Molo (7), Billy Burns (58), Tyrell Sloan (70)
Goals: Zac Lomax (8, 19, 59)
Report
The Dragons welcomed the Sea Eagles to Win Stadium on a special night for Daly Cherry-Evans. He became the 49th player in NRL history to play 300 games. For the Dragons, Jack Bird was a late out, with Zane Musgrove coming onto the bench. The opening exchanges saw the Dragons gain the upper hand, and they soon had the first points of the game. Talatau Amone passed short to Francis Molo who crashed over for a try.
The Sea Eagles looked to bounce back, however their ill-disciple prevented them from building any pressure. They gave away a penalty right in front of goal and the Dragons opted for the two points. After going down by eight, the Sea Eagles found some life. They moved the ball to Jason Saab, who made a break and passed inside for Tolutau Koula to score. The Sea Eagles continued to wrestle back momentum, and they made the Dragons pay for some costly errors. Josh Schuster put Haumole Olakau’atu through a hole and he brushed through the Dragons defence to grab a try.
Following the Olakau’atu try, both sides went close to scoring just before halftime, but neither could add more points. The Sea Eagles holding onto a 12-8 lead at the break.
The second half started with a bang, when the Sea Eagles broke the line and ran away to score a long range try via Reuben Garrick. Five minutes later, they almost had another try, but Lachlan Croker knocked-on when attempting to score. Going back the other way, the Dragons looked to have scored when Dan Russell was held up in-goal, but the bunker supported the on-field call. In response, more ill-discipline from the Dragons gave the Sea Eagles a chance. Daly Cherry-Evans released Jason Saab for another break and he beat Tyrell Sloan to score.
However, the Dragons refused to go away. They responded quickly when Billy Burns scored off a Ben Hunt grubber, cutting the margin to eight points with 20 minutes left. In the last quarter of the game, Jack De Belin was controversially sin-binned for a hip drop tackle. Despite having the man advantage, fatigue showed for the Sea Eagles and they couldn’t capitalise. As a result, the Dragons built pressure and scored through Tyrell Sloan.
In the final minutes, the Dragons searched for the equalising try, but couldn’t find one. The Sea Eagles converted a late penalty goal to ice the game and secure a 24-18 win.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Haumole Olakau’atu (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)
2 – Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)
1 – Jason Saab (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)
