A spirited Manly Warringah Sea Eagles suffered their first defeat of the season in going down 28-24 to the Parramatta Eels today in round three of the Telstra Premiership.
Off the back of two consecutive victories, Manly looked to be off to a flying start with a 14-point lead in the opening stages to take a two point lead into the break.
The Eels jumped out to 10 point lead midway through the second half before Manly rallied late before a tough obstruction call proved costly in the end.
Manly Coach Anthony Seibold spoke about taking the small wins in the match.
“I thought the start of our game was as good as we’ve been in my time here at the club,'' Seibold said.
Sea Eagles: Round 3
"Despite the downsides (errors and penalties), we were one score behind with five to go. We were in the contest. We’ll keep growing as a team."
Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans addressed the obstruction call that denied a try to centre Tolu Koula.
“It’s black and white, right? But those ones are really hard to watch. Do you think he would’ve got there? But as it stands, that’s just the way it goes” said Cherry-Evans.
“We’ve got some room to improve but I think we’re a hard team to defend at the moment."
It wasn’t to be despite the impressive start, as the Eels clawed back to outscore Manly five tries to four.
The Sea Eagles struck in the fifth minute through full-back Tom Trbojevic after re-gathering a kick for an 8-0 lead thanks to a converted penalty goal a minute earlier from Reuben Garrick.
Manly continued to display their dominance early on as winger Jaxson Paulo crossed for a try in the 11th minute after some nice work from five-eighth Luke Brooks for a 14-0 lead.
Parramatta bounced back seven minutes later with a try for centre Will Penisini to cut the deficit to 14-6.
The Eels capitalised on Manly’s missed chances and scored in the 25th minute through halfback Mitchell Moses to bring them back within touching distance at 14-12.
The home side had all the momentum and eventually cracked Manly’s defence after four consecutive sets to take the lead through a try to centre Blaize Talagi to bring the score to 16-14.
Manly hit back hard and re-gained the lead with a try through Garrick in the dying stages of the half. A quick shift in play towards the right edge and a smart dummy pass freed up some space for Garrick to dive over for an 18-16 scoreline at halftime.
Parramatta scored in the 42nd and 58th minute through former Manly players Morgan Harper and Kelma Tuilagi to take their lead to 26-18.
The Sea Eagles looked to have scored in the 64th minute through Tolutau Koula but the play was called back 60 metres, with the referee ruling that Jake Trbojevic impeded the defence with an obstruction prior to Tom Trbojevic’s line break. Moses converted a penalty goal one minute later to give his side a ten-point buffer.
With eight minutes to play, Manly forward Corey Waddell stepped up to score his first try for the club since round 20, 2020, after returning to the Sea Eagles this year.
Koula scooped the ball out of dummy half and passed to Waddell who stepped past the defence to reach out and score for a 28-24 scoreline.
Tempers flared in the dying stages of the game with Manly prop Josh Aloiai sent to the sin-bin.
The Sea Eagles take on the St George-Illawarra Dragons in round four of the NRL Telstra Premiership on Saturday, March 30, at WIN Stadium at 5.30pm.
Eels 28 (Tries: Penisini 18’, Moses 25’, Talagi 32’, Harper 42’, Tuilagi 58’. Goals: Gutherson 3/5, Moses 1/1) def. Sea Eagles 24 (Tries: T. Trbojevic 5’, Paulo 11’, Garrick 39’, Waddell 72’. Goals: Garrick 4/5)
