A dominant performance from a red hot Sea Eagles side has seen Manly move even closer to cementing an NRL finals position with a crushing 46-24 victory over the Canberra Raiders today.
Trailing 12-6 after 20 minutes in front of a parochial home crowd of over 16,000, the Sea Eagles dug deep in defence before clicking into gear in attack to take an 18-12 lead into the break.
From there, the second half was just all Manly as the Sea Eagles slick attack continued before Canberra fought back late in round 23 of the Telstra Premiership.
The match marked the return of winger Lehi Hopoate and hooker Lachlan Croker, with Croker playing his first NRL game since suffering concussion against the Raiders in May at 4 Pines Park.
It was also a special occasion for second-rower Karl Lawton with the respected forward playing his 100th NRL match in front of a crowd of 16,690.
The Raiders were denied a try in the third minute after the bunker ruled winger Jordan Rapana stripped the ball free of Reuben Garrick’s hands for five-eighth Ethan Strange to pick up to run away to score.
Two minutes later, Manly winger Lehi Hopoate was denied a try on a forward pass from Tom Trbojevic.
With the Raiders celebrating their 300th game of prop Josh Papalii, it was the man himself who opened the scoring with a powerful run to score under the posts for a 6-0 lead after 11 minutes.
Not to be outdone in the milestone stakes, Lawton broke free to offload inside to five-eighth Luke Brooks, who got a foot on the ball for full-back Tom Trbojevic to pounce on to score next to the posts for a 6-all scoreline after 13 minutes.
Canberra went to a 12-6 lead after former Manly full-back Kaeo Weekes stepped past Brooks and Nathan Brown to get around Tom Trbojevic to score out wide in the 20th minute.
Jamal Fogarty missed a penalty conversion attempt in the 24th minute from 20 metres out before Tom Trbojevic pulled off a trysaving tackle on Rapana in the corner.
The Sea Eagles drew level when Hopoate leapt high to defuse a Brooks bomb to send centre Tommy Talau over in the 27th minute for a 12-all scoreline.
The Raiders then bombed a certain try up the middle when a pass from second-rower Hudson Young went to ground in the 37th minute.
Manly took a six point lead into half-time when Trbojevic broke through the middle to send forward Ethan Bullemor on his way to score next to the posts two minutes later for the 18-12 scoreline at the break.
The Sea Eagles started the second half perfectly with a try to half-back and captain Daly Cherry-Evans for a 24-12 lead after 45 minutes.
A tremendous piece of work by Hopoate to score in the corner six minutes later saw the Sea Eagles take a 28-12 lead.
The Raiders were then left a man short when captain Joseph Tapine was sin-binned for dissent after losing a captain's challenge in the 53rd minute.
The Sea Eagles took full advantage with two tries in two minutes to giant prop Taniela Paseka and a second to Trbojevic off a break by Jason Saab for a 40-12 lead after 61 minutes.
Manly were not done with either three minutes later when Brooks darted over next to the posts for a 46-12 lead to the quietness of the Raiders crowd.
The home side had something to cheer in the 70th minute with a converted try to centre Sebastian Kris for a 46-18 scoreline.
The Raiders then scored again through winger Xavier Savage for the 46-24 scoreline.
Manly now return home to 4 Pines Park to tackle the Warriors on Friday, August 16, at 6pm
