Rd 1 Sea Eagles Key Stats vs Souths

Las Vegas, 'the Entertainment Capital of the World'....and didn't the Sea Eagles just do that and more in the historic NRL season opener.

We take a look at the key stats from Manly's 36-24 victory at Allegiant Stadium in the first ever NRL game in America.

Six

Six tries were scored by the Sea Eagles as both sides put their best foot forward in Las Vegas.

Second-rowers Haumole Olakau’atu and Ben Trbojevic got on the scoreboard, with the former crossing for the first of the season in the 22nd minute.

Winger Jason Saab, hooker Lachlan Croker, centre Reuben Garrick and new five-eighth Luke Brooks also crossed for tries.

Six also represents the successful conversions Garrick converted between the yellow posts!

Seven

The Sea Eagles snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Rabbitohs, with the result being their first win over the side since April 6, 2019.

On that day, half-back Daly Cherry-Evans kicked Manly home with field goal for a 13-12 win.

247

On top of his spectacular 60-metre intercept try, Jason Saab also blew the Rabbitohs out of the water with his metres.

Saab made an astronomical 247 metres from 14 runs, beating out his nearest opposition Cameron Murray by 85 metres and his nearest teammate, Tom Trbojevic, by 29 metres.

Break it down

Despite the field being 5.5 metres shorter in length and 4 metres shorter in width, Manly continued to play their sensational football for the Las Vegas crowd. So much so that 12 of the 17 players recorded a tackle break, showing their ability to strike at any moment.

Olakau’atu led the way with six tackle breaks, followed closely by Ben Trbojevic (4) and Tom Trbojevic, Saab, and Tolu Koula with three apiece.

The Rabbitohs pipped the Sea Eagles for tackle breaks by six for a 37-31 total.

Possession and Completion

Manly edged South Sydney for completion by 2% (51-49) as both sides finished with decent completion rates. The Sea Eagles had 78% (33/42) and the Rabbitohs had 80% (32/40).

Defence

With a more restricted field, the players' defence was put to the test. Manly finished with 330 tackles made (37 missed tackles) and South Sydney weren’t too far behind with 308 tackles (31 missed tackles).

Usual suspect Jake Trbojevic led the way for most tackles in the match with 46 made, followed closely by his brother Ben (35 tackles), Lachlan Croker (33) and Olakau’atu (32).