Mitch Dransfield reviews the round six clash between the Canberra Raiders and Manly Sea Eagles at Campbelltown Stadium. Here’s how the game went.
MATCH TIMELINE
| Minute | Scoring Play | Score |
| 13th | Try Tom Trbojevic (Manly) | Manly 4-0 |
| 14th | Goal Reuben Garrick (Manly) | Manly 6-0 |
| 36th | Try Tevita Funa (Manly) | Manly 6-0 |
| 38th | Goal Reuben Garrick (Manly) | Manly 12-0 |
| 49th | Try Elliot Whitehead (Canberra) |
Manly 12-4 |
| 50th | Goal Jarrod Croker (Canberra) |
Manly 12-6 |
| 55th | Penalty Conversion Reuben Garrick (Manly) |
Manly 14-6 |
MATCH SUMMARY
1st Half
This blockbuster started off with two injuries to the Sea Eagles, with Dylan Walker collecting his ankle in a tackle, while centre Brad Parker fell into a nasty head knock: concussed, he wouldn’t return to the match. Clunky and uninspired attack from the Raiders allowed Manly to grind to their first points in the 13 minute to Tom Trbojevic, moving across the ground to force himself over for a try on the left edge, giving Manly a 6-0 lead. Multiple errors from Manly allowed Canberra to challenge their line, but resilient defence pushed all threats back. In the 36th minute, a set play from Trbojevic and company had the fullback stretch the outside defence to allow winger Tevita Funa to cut back in to score and take Manly’s lead to 12-0 at half time.
2nd Half
Under the pump, the Sea Eagles were under threat of leaking early points with the Raiders coming out of the half time break with newfound energy. A catch and pass from the Canberra edge after a late set restart saw Brendan Elliot rush out of the line with Elliot Whitehead to score back on the inside on the 49th minute, with the score at 12-6. A rocky few sets from either side after points, unfortunately, had Tom Trbojevic succumb to injury and have Manly reshuffle once again. Hard-edge plays by the Sea Eagles started to close out the match; with a penalty kick allowing them to go ahead 14-6 in the 55th minute. Multiple chances on Manly’s line had Jarrod Croker spill the ball over the line and winger Jordan Rapana taken out in touch by the Sea Eagles’ resilient defence. Strong defence allowed Daly Cherry-Evans to manage the game, with Manly winning 14-6 after a horrible run of injuries to their side.
GAME HIGHLIGHT
Despite being wounded and completely reshuffled with three key players off the field with already players missing before kickoff, Manly were able to hold it together and be tough in defence; the highlight of the match was late in the piece, with Curtis Sironen coming off his line to track Rapana to the corner to cover tackle and take the winger out in touch. It was a clutch play to potentially save the game from the desperate Raiders.
SQUADS
Canberra Raiders: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Jordan Rapana 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Curtis Scott 5. Nick Cotric 6. Jack Wighton 7. George Williams 8. Josh Papali’i 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Iosia Soliola 11. Joseph Tapine 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Corey Horsburgh. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili 15. Emre Guler 16. Ryan Sutton 17. Hudson Young.
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles: 1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Tevita Funa 3. Brad Parker 4. Brendan Elliot 5. Reuben Garrick 6. Dylan Walker 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Danny Levi 16. Sean Keppie 11. Joel Thompson 12. Curtis Sironen 13. Jake Trbojevic. Interchange: 10. Taniela Paseka 14. Lachlan Croker 15. Jack Gosiewski 17. Morgan Boyle.
