Manly Warringah Sea Eagles suffered a disappointing 20-12 loss to St George-Illawarra Dragons in Wollongong tonight in round four of the Telstra Premiership.
Trailing 14-6 at half-time, the Sea Eagles just didn't click into gear to suffer to leave them with two wins from four games.
Manly have now lost 11 of their past 13 games against the Dragons at WIN Stadium after winning last year at Wollongong for the first time since 2003.
Sea Eagles captain Daly Cherry-Evans equalled Cliff Lyons’ club record of most games for Manly in his 309th game.
Prop Toff Sipley made his first appearance for the season after serving a suspension from the pre-season trials.
Manly full-back Tom Trbojevic, in first game at WIN Stadium since June 2018, quickly reacquainted himself with the ground with a powerful dummy half run to pop a magical pass to centre Tolu Koula to score in the third minute. Centre Reuben Garrick converted to bring up 1000 NRL/Club points.
The Dragons hit back in the 10th minute with a converted try to centre Jack Bird off a spilt Ben Hunt kick to make it 6-all before some desperate scrambling defence from the Sea Eagles stopped winger Mikaele Ravalawa from scoring six minutes later.
St George-Illawarra centre Moses Suli was then denied a try on an obstruction call three minutes later before tries to full-back Tyrell Sloan and second-rower Jaydn Suá saw the Dragons take a 14-6 lead into half-time.
In a dour struggle, Sloan grabbed his second try in the 63rd minute off a Ben Hint kick for a 20-6 lead before Manly second-rower Haumole Olakauátu crossed for a late try for the 20-12 scoreline.
The Sea Eagles now take on premiers Penrith Panthers at 4 Pines Park on Saturday, April 5, at 5.30pm.
