Match Report: Harold Matthews Week 1 Finals vs Rabbitohs

When the two sides met in round five earlier this season, the Sea Eagles came away 24-12 victors.

It wasn’t to be this time round, with a hat-trick of tries to the Rabbitohs in the first half proving to be too much.

Manly managed to hold out South Sydney’s tiresome attack in the second half and kept them scoreless, but their errors were the deciding factor that sealed their fate.

It was Manly’s first appearance in the competitions finals since their famous 2021 campaign, in which they went undefeated en route to a 24-12 victory in the final.

The Sea Eagles started the match in the best way possible with a try after just two minutes to Oscar Crotty.

The full-back got on the end of a grubber kick from five-eighth Kobe Morris and grounded the ball in the in-goal area for an early 4-0 lead.

South Sydney didn’t sit back and quickly replied as centre Taj Aufai-Farani scored a hat-trick in emphatic fashion, with tries coming in the 10th, 14th and 21st minute.

Five-eighth Payton Tarau converted all three tries for an 18-4 scoreline at half-time.

An early penalty to start the second half gifted the Rabbitohs possession deep in the Sea Eagles’ territory.

But that didn’t phase the boys in maroon and white as they held out the attack with compact defence to regain possession in front of their own tryline.

South Sydney continued to pressure Manly deep in their own territory, with countless sets at the line as they searched for a fourth try.

The Sea Eagles continued to band together to hold out the tiresome attack and it paid off as they won the ball back, with a penalty being awarded moments later to help them out of their half.

The Sea Eagles went close to scoring in the 46th minute. Halfback Max Prykiel put a chip kick over the defence to the left corner for centre Tahj Hamilton, who was unable to maintain possession as he fumbled the ball in front of the tryline.

Manly capitalised off a penalty at the halfway line as Tom Longland crashed over to score in the 52nd minute.

A quick shift to the right edge freed up space for the winger to step past the defenders and force his way over, cutting the deficit to 18-10 with under ten minutes remaining.

A mistake from the kick-off momentarily paused any chances of a comeback as the Sea Eagles were forced to defend once again. 

After breaking out of a scrum in their own half, Morris kicked the ball deep into the Rabbitohs’ corner and the side regained possession after taking the player over the sideline.

With their fresh set and the clock continuing to tick down, Manly forced their way over for a try with three minutes to play to set up a grandstand finish.

Hooker Ashton Large burrowed under the defence with a strong run to score for an 18-14 scoreline.

Another error from the kick-off proved to be costly, with the Sea Eagles being forced to make a full field effort after retaining possession with less then a minute to play.

The siren sounded during a quick play the ball attempt at the halfway mark, bringing an end to the match and confirming the side’s four-point defeat.

Congratulations to the Harold Matthews team on making it through to this year's finals series.