Manly Warringah Sea Eagles went down 13-12 in dramatic fashion against the South Sydney Rabbitohs after Lachlan Ilias sealed the match with a field goal in Golden Point.
Manly didn’t go down without a fight, holding onto the lead from the 25th minute up until the scores were levelled in the 67th minute.
Jake Trbojevic was outstanding in defence, notching up a half-century of tackles in what was a grueling affair for both sides' forward packs.
Spectacular solo effort tries from Haumole Olakau’atu and Daly Cherry-Evans weren’t enough unfortunately to steer the Sea Eagles to victory as the side suffered their first loss of the year.
Before the match, a minute's silence in honour of legendary South Sydney forward John Sattler following his passing this week. ‘Gentleman John’ is famously remembered for the 1970 Grand Final between the two sides, where he played 77 minutes with a broken jaw to help steer Souths to victory.
There was also a minute of applause in the 13th minute from the crowd, representing the famous jersey number Sattler wore during his career at South Sydney.
Both sides put their best foot forward in the opening stages of the match, with their toughness and aggression showing what the match was going to be like and how much it was going to take to win.
The referee awarded South Sydney a penalty deep in their territory in the 6th minute, propelling the side forward. Rabbitohs centre Isaiah Tass found himself in space 20 metres out from the line after a pump fake to his outside winger, only to be wrapped up by fullback Tom Trbojevic who sweeped in to stop him.
Backs against the wall and the Sea Eagles once again showed how resilient they can be, keeping the Rabbitohs out from their tryline in the 15th minute with high pressure and great solo defensive efforts across several sets to wrap up the ball and force the error.
Repeat sets in South Sydney’s 20 metre line weren’t enough to make the home side crack as they held out the pressure from the boys in maroon and white. Manly switched their attack to both edges of the field but were met with even tougher shots in defence, with a forward pass call off a Tolu Koula flick pass resulting in a turnover.
Souths five-eighth Cody Walker scored the first try in the 22nd minute, chasing down a grubber kick from hooker Damien Cook and diving to ground the ball mere millimetres from the deadball line. Fullback Latrell Mitchell converted from in front for a 6-0 lead.
Manly hit back three minutes later with another amazing leaping effort from Haumole Olakau’atu off the back of a Daly Cherry-Evans crossfield kick. The big second-rower leapt ahead of two opposition players, bobbled the ball with one hand and gathered it before hitting the ground to score. Winger Reuben Garrick, who also had a barnstorming run a tackle prior, converted to level the scores at 6-all.
The ever-reliable Brad Parker made a break down the left sideline in the 29th minute and passed the ball back into five-eighth Josh Schuster who then passed to ‘Turbo’ who raced off for what seemed like a try. Moments later, the referee called the play back and ruled a forward pass on Parker’s initial pass, resulting in a turnover.
The Sea Eagles received another No Try call in the 35th minute when Koula found a gap in the defence from 10 metres outs. His blistering speed helped him get in between Walker and Tass, with the latter getting his revenge and putting enough pressure on Koula for him to drop the ball during his try attempt.
With three minutes until the break, Manly were once again putting the pressure on as the Rabbitohs seemed to be on the ropes. Second-rower Kelma Tuilagi roped in the winger and threw the ball to Garrick, who found space at the 30 metre line and was a shoe-in for a try, only to be taken high by Mitchell leading to a penalty metres out from the line.
Sparks flew between Olakau’atu, Koula and the Rabbitohs right edge in the next set as the referee awarded the home side with a penalty metres out from their own tryline. Olakau’atu was ruled to have tripped the opposition player when he was trying to poke the loose ball into the in-goal, leading to a short scuffle with both teams.
In the dying stages of the first half, Cherry-Evans scored a phenomenal intercept try and raced away 70 metres to score his fourth try of the season. The halfback read the play wonderfully and latched onto a pass from Rabbitohs lock Cameron Murray to score. Garrick converted to give the Sea Eagles a 12-6 lead heading into the break.
Jake Trbojevic and Weekes stood firm in the 41st minute to force an error on South Sydney’s Keaon Koloamatangi just past the halfway mark to set a statement for the incoming second half.
Walker scored his second try for South Sydney in the 50th minute after an overlap on the right edge freed up enough space for him to get to the line, despite Parker’s best efforts to drag him down. Mitchell missed his conversion attempt from the sideline as the Sea Eagles held a tight two-point lead, 12-10 scoreline.
The Sea Eagles soared downfield off the back of a penalty deep inside their own territory. The set ended at South Sydney’s tryline with a turnover following a last tackle running play. The last two tackles of the set saw forwards try to puncture the defence with hard-hitting runs, unfortunately with no success.
The momentum was looking to shift back in favour of the Rabbitohs, up until a sloppy error from try-scorer Cody Walker, dropping the ball ten metres out from the line as Souths’ chances ended for the time being.
A sloppy error from Manly at their own 30-metre line led to more mistakes, resulting in a penalty for Souths. They elected to go for the two-pointer and Mitchell was successful, converting from next to the posts to level the scores at 12-all with 12 minutes remaining.
With the scores locked heading into the final ten minutes, both sides were looking for the killer blow to seal the win.
The Rabbitohs scuppered their chances as Ilias kicked the ball dead while attempting to sit it up in the in-goal. At the other end of the field, the Sea Eagles weren’t so lucky as Parker forced an error while trying to get on the end of a Schuster bomb, leading to a failed Captain’s Challenge for his side and possession turning over.
With just over a minute remaining, Mitchell attempted a field goal for the Rabbitohs and shanked it towards the right, leading to a seven-tackle set for the Sea Eagles in the final set of the match.
Manly’s forwards ate up the metres and got the side in a decent position for a field goal attempt. From 37 metres out, Cherry-Evans' attempt was charged down by Damien Cook. The ball flew to the halfway mark and was poked along the ground by Cook, creeping closer towards Manly’s tryline. Thankfully, Koula reached the ball first and the tackle was eventually made, meaning the game was heading to Golden Point.
On the second tackle, Josh Aloiai unfortunately forced an error at his own 20 metre line, giving Souths an opportunity to win the match. In heartbreaking fashion, Ilias kicked a field goal from 32 metres out to win the match for his side, 13-12.
Manly head to Mudgee next week to take on the Newcastle Knights on Saturday April 1, at 3pm, in Round 5 of the NRL Telstra Premiership
