Jack Harbidge reviews the Round 19 clash between Manly and the Gold Coast at Lottoland. Here’s how the game went.
MATCH TIMELINE
| Minute | Scoring Play | Score |
| 1st | Try Jack Gosiewski (Manly Warringah) | Manly Warringah 4-0 |
| 2nd | Goal Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Warringah) | Manly Warringah 6-0 |
| 11th | Try AJ Brimson (Gold Coast) | Manly Warringah 6-4 |
| 13th | Goal Ashley Taylor (Gold Coast) | Scores Tied 6-6 |
| 21st | Try Corey Thompson (Gold Coast) | Gold Coast 10-6 |
| 26th | Try Young Tonumaipea (Gold Coast) | Gold Coast 14-6 |
| 27th | Goal Ashley Taylor (Gold Coast) | Gold Coast 16-6 |
| 31st | Try Young Tonumaipea (Gold Coast) | Gold Coast 20-6 |
| 32nd | Goal Ashley Taylor (Gold Coast) | Gold Coast 22-6 |
| 36th | Try Taniela Paseka (Manly Warringah) | Gold Coast 22-10 |
| 38th | Goal Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Warringah) | Gold Coast 22-12 |
| 42nd | Try Sam Stone (Gold Coast) | Gold Coast 26-12 |
| 49th | Try Kevin Proctor (Gold Coast) | Gold Coast 30-12 |
| 52nd | Try AJ Brimson (Gold Coast) | Gold Coast 34-12 |
| 53rd | Goal Ashley Taylor (Gold Coast) | Gold Coast 36-12 |
| 59th | Try Treymain Spry (Gold Coast) | Gold Coast 40-12 |
| 61st | Goal Ashley Taylor (Gold Coast) | Gold Coast 42-12 |
| 62nd | Try Jack Gosiewski (Manly Warringah) | Gold Coast 42-16 |
| 63rd | Goal Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Warringah) | Gold Coast 42-18 |
| 72nd | Try Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Warringah) | Gold Coast 42-22 |
| 73rd | Goal Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Warringah) | Gold Coast 42-24 |
MATCH SUMMARY
1st Half
With Tommy ‘Turbo’ Trbojevic back, Manly got off to a fine start with Jack Gosiewski crossing easily, if not untouched, on the Manly left edge: with Turbo seemingly throwing the defence mentally, if not physically, towards the right edge out back to open up a gap for Daly Cherry-Evans and the left backrower. After such an impressive start, Manly were caught of guard by the effervescent AJ Brimson off a 20 metre tap from Young Tonumaipea, who went 80 metres to square the ledger after a conversion. The Titans didn’t stop there however, as Corey Thompson finished a cut-out pass in the corner to extend the lead to four points.
Tonumaipea added to the damage with a double of his own, clinching it with a solo running effort from just under 40 metres out to put Gold Coast three tries ahead with just under eight minutes to play. Manly rallied though, and struck back with Taniela Paseka under the sticks to go into half time 10 points down.
2nd Half
The Gold Coast kicked on in the second half and showed their class with a flurry of four unanswered tries after the break, with – most notably – Manly’s star inclusion Tom Trbojevic showing a little bit of ring rust: conceding a try to Kevin Proctor off a Jamal Fogarty kick that could have easily been dealt with.
Of the four, Brimson backed Proctor’s try up with a fine individual effort from over 20 metres out to score under the sticks and Treymain Spry got across the whitewash in fine style. The Titans’ onslaught provoked a reaction from Manly who, to their best efforts, tried to stop the rot. Their efforts were rewarded soon enough with Gosiewski crossing for his second of the game and ultimately cutting Manly’s blowout loss to 24 points.
GAME HIGHLIGHT
The Gold Coast’s clinical nature was without doubt the highlight of the game. They took opportunities they shouldn’t have scored from, such as AJ Brimson’s 80 metre try from a 20 metre restart. While that was somewhat of a miracle, they defended well (conceding only 12 points until a soft consolation try from Manly late on) and made Manly pay for their errors, with tries in the ensuing sets. While Manly where somewhat weakened (that’s being kind), the nature they were put away in was top class. People may class the win as a shock but, in reality, this has been coming for Justin Holbrook and his Titans and it was certainly a well deserved blowout win.
SQUADS
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles: 21. Tom Trbojevic 2. Albert Hopoate 3. Brad Parker 4. Morgan Harper 1. Tevita Funa 6. Lachlan Croker 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 14. Morgan Boyle 9. Danny Levi 10. Martin Taupau 11. Jack Gosiewski 12. Curtis Sironen 13. Jake Trbojevic. Interchange: 5. Abbas Miski 15. Corey Waddell 16. Sean Keppie 17. Taniela Paseka.
Gold Coast Titans: 1. AJ Brimson 2. Anthony Don 3. Treymain Spry 4. Young Tonumaipea 5. Corey Thompson 6. Ashley Taylor 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Jarrod Wallace 9. Mitch Rein 10. Moeaki Fotuaika 11. Kevin Proctor 12. Sam Stone 13. Tyrone Peachey. Interchange: 14. Tanah Boyd 15. Jai Arrow 16. Sam Lisone 17. Jai Whitbread.
