2021 NRL Round Seven, Tigers 6 Sea Eagles 40 – Report

Brendan Wood reviews the Manly Sea Eagles dominant 40-6 win over the Wests Tigers on ANZAC Day. Here’s how the game went.

SCOREBOARD

Player of the Year Points

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3 pts – Tom Trbojevic (Manly Sea Eagles)
2 pts – Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Sea Eagles)
1 pt – Josh Schuster (Manly Sea Eagles)

MATCH REPORT

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1st Half

In the first ANZAC Day clash between these sides since 2004, the early exchanges were close with both teams trying to gain the upper hand. The Tigers were the first to make a break when Luciano Leilua found space down the left. Jake Trbojevic gave away a penalty when he held back David Nofoaluma supporting the break.

As a result of the penalty, the Tigers pounced. They kept Manly pinned inside their own half and received some six again calls to test Manly’s goal line defence. Eventually they broke through when a grubber from Luke Brooks was knocked down by Daly Cherry-Evans. Luciano Leilua grounded the ball to score first points.

It wasn’t long before Manly received some six again calls of their own. Off the back of these, they got their first crack at the Tigers’ line. Unlike the Tigers, Manly were unable to strike on the scoreboard as they made an error early in their second attacking set. The following 20 minutes saw the two sides exchange sets back and forth with neither side adding points, until Manly levelled the score.

They posted their first points after Josh Schuster made a break and passed to Daly Cherry-Evans who scored under the posts. Just two minutes later, Manly hit the lead when Tom Trbojevic made a break from inside his own half. He found Cherry-Evans in support again, who raced away to score his second try.

Tom Trbojevic continued to tear holes in the Tigers defence, making yet another break just minutes later. Again, it was Daly Cherry-Evans in support, but this time he couldn’t make it all the way to the line. He had Martin Taupau following up down the middle and offloaded to him to get Manly’s third try in four minutes.

After leading for most of the first half, the Tigers found themselves licking their wounds at the break with Manly leading by 12 points at halftime.

HALF-TIME: Wests Tigers 6 Manly Sea Eagles 18

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2nd Half

Manly continued where they left off after the break, making plenty of metres through the middle. They received a penalty close to the line and opted to take the two points. With their lead extended to 14, they ripped through the Tigers again when Daly Cherry-Evans put Haumole Olakau’atu through a gap. He broke into the backfield and found Tom Trbojevic supporting inside, who raced away to score a try of his own.

Cherry-Evans was in the thick of the action again, nailing a 40/20 to keep pressure on the Tigers. In their following set, they spread the ball to the left and Tom Trbojevic created an overlap for Reuben Garrick to score in the corner. Not long after the Garrick try, the points kept flowing for Manly.

They rolled down the field again and Daly Cherry-Evans chipped a kick over the Tigers defence for Jason Saab to soar above the pack and extend the lead. With this try and the lead at 28 points, Manly coach Des Hasler had seen enough and gave Tom Trbojevic well deserved rest on the bench for the last 20 minutes of the game.

Despite their star fullback being off the field, Manly continued to torment a tired Tigers defence. Daly Cherry-Evans had his fingerprints all over the play again when he threw a cut-out pass to Kieran Foran who strolled over the line untouched. With the Tigers on the ropes, Manly couldn’t land any further blows on a demoralised Tigers side. They finished off the game to secure a convincing 34 point victory, improving their overall record to 3-4, sending the Tigers to 1-6 in the process.

FULL-TIME: Wests Tigers 6 Manly Sea Eagles 40

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Injuries

To be advised

Match Review Committee

To be advised

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