The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles have run riot over the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, winning a high scoring shootout 42-24 at Accor Stadium.
Result
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 42
Tries: Jason Saab (16, 66), Toafofoa Sipley (23), Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega (37), Haumole Olakau’atu (47), Daly Cherry-Evans (54), Lachlan Croker (64)
Goals: Daly Cherry-Evans (18, 24, 48, 56), Gordon Chan Kum Tong (76)
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24
Tries: Corey Waddell (4), Jake Averillo (59), Kyle Flanagan (71), Toby Sexton (73)
Goals: Matt Burton (6, 60, 72, 74)
Report
Despite both sides being eliminated from finals contention, there was plenty of pride to play for as the Bulldogs hosted Manly at Accor Stadium. The Bulldogs drew first blood, starting fast with a try inside five minutes. Jake Averillo caught the Manly defence napping down a short side and Blake Wilson broke free. He drew the fullback and passed inside for Corey Waddell to score.
The Bulldogs went close to following that with another try, but were narrowly denied by some desperate defence. Turning defence into attack, Manly found a breakthrough when Tolutau Koula linked up with Jason Saab to score a long range try. Koula was in the action again just minutes later, when it looked like he scored a try of his own. However, the try was overturned by the bunker due to an obstruction.
In the following set, Lachlan Croker nailed a 40/20 to get Manly back on the attack. As a result, Toafofoa Sipley brushed through some flimsy defence to get Manly’s second try. They added another try just before halftime to Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega, extending their lead to 16-6 at the break.
After halftime, it was more of the same from Manly. They made an early break through Tolutau Koula, who was eventually shut down by the Bulldogs. On the next tackle, Daly Cherry-Evans passed short to Haumole Olakau’atu who crashed over for a try. That was the breaking point for the Bulldogs. As a result, Daly-Cherry Evans split the defence from dummy half and raced away for a solo try.
Against the run of play, the Bulldogs found some life when Blake Wilson scooped up a loose pass and linked up with Jake Averillo for a try. However, the ill-disciple of the Bulldogs kept Manly on the attack, and the floodgates opened. Poor defence saw Lachlan Croker and Jason Saab add two more tries. The Bulldogs eventually stopped the flow of tries, and scored two quick tries of their own to Kyle Flanagan and Toby Sexton.
However, these proved too little too late. Manly added a penalty goal for Gordon Chan Kum Tong on debut to secure a 42-24 win.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles)
2 – Tolutau Koula (Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles)
1 – Haumole Olakau’atu (Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles)
