Manly Warringah Sea Eagles suffered a 46-4 loss to the Sydney Roosters at the Sydney Cricket Ground today in the opening round of the Telstra Premiership.
The match saw winger Jason Saab, prop Josh Aloiai, and second-rower Andrew Davey make their Club debuts for Manly while experienced five-eighth Kieran Foran made welcome return after leaving the Sea Eagles at the end of 2015.
In front of a crowd of 15,097, the Roosters opened the scoring when full-back James Tedesco climbed high to defuse a bomb in front of Reuben Garrick for a 4-0 lead after two minutes.
Foran got the Sea Eagles back in the hunt seven minutes later when he put on a short side play for winger Reuben Garrick to score in the corner.
The Roosters regained the lead when forward Sitili Tupouniua shrugged off the defence out wide to score. Siosiua Taukeiaho converted for a 10-4 lead after 18 minutes.
Tedesco grabbed his second try when he stepped inside to shrug off three defenders to score next to the posts. Taukeiaho converted for a 16-4 lead after 27 minutes.
The Roosters jumped to a 20-4 lead in the 31st minute when they found open space down the right side for winger Brett Morris to finish off in the corner. The try was not converted.
Morris then stretched out with one arm to score his second try inside the final minute. Adam Keighran converted the try to leave the Sea Eagles trailing 26-4 at half-time.
Tedesco grabbed his third try when he backed up inside from a Luke Keary pass to score following a break down Manly's left side by centre Joseph Manu. The try was not converted for a 30-4 lead after 55 minutes.
The Roosters then had a try to second-rower Sitili Tupouniua overturned by the bunker after it ruled he lost control of the ball from a drop bomb by Garrick in the 56th minute.
Morris grabbed his third try when he took an intercept pass from Kieran Foran to race 80 metres to score in the 64th minute.
The Roosters went to a 40-4 lead when second-rower Angus Crichton scored a converted try next to the posts with eight minutes remaining.
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Josh Morris finished off the scoring for the Roosters with a converted try in the 78th minute.
The Sea Eagles now tackle the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Lottoland on Saturday, March 20, at 5.30pm.
