Manly dust Raiders at Brookvale 32-6
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The Sea Eagles started the season in style with a resounding 32 points to 6 victory over the Canberra Raiders at Brookvale Oval.
Both teams struggled early in the challenging conditions. A wet surface and a strong southerly wind resulted in numerous handling errors and neither team successfully applied any pressure in the opening exchanges.
Manly lost Steve Matai 12 minutes in with an ankle injury that initially looked very worrying, however after receiving some on field treatment he was able to walk off with the assistance of the trainers. A quick reshuffle saw Lyon go to left centre and Travis Burns take up his old role at 5/8.
A break by Glenn Stewart gave the Sea Eagles some attacking momentum in the 25th minute. From the following play captain Matt Orford saw the fullback was missing and put a kick downfield. Brett Stewart took off after the ball and he looked all set to score however a cover defender halted his charge. The ball came loose and Michael Robertson found himself in the perfect position to score the Sea Eagles’ opening try of the season. Orford was unable to convert from the sideline.
Manly’s second try came from another piece of Matt Orford brilliance. A perfect kick from the halfback popped up for Luke Williamson who led the charge for the line. Williamson grounded the ball and after going to the video ref was awarded the try. Orford was unable to convert.
The Sea Eagles were starting to get the upper hand and on the back of repeat penalties found themselves in prime attacking position. For the third time Matt Orford’s boot sliced through the Canberra defence and Jamie Lyon was on hand to grab his first points for the Sea Eagles. Orford converted from close range and that rounded out the points for the first half.
With Steve Matai (12th minute) and Steve Menzies (25th minute) out for the remainder of the match the Sea Eagles’ only comfort coming into the second half was the strong wind blowing at their backs.
A 4th minute try to Marshall Chalk certainly put fear into the side but as fate would have it a problem with the lights halted play for a few minutes and gave the Sea Eagles a breather and a chance to regroup.
A 40/20 from Travis Burns in the 9th minute gave the Sea Eagles an excellent opportunity to hit back. When George Rose planted the ball a few tackles later it looked as though Manly would kick on, however Rose grounded the ball on the goal post pad before projecting the ball and the Video Ref ruled a double movement.
It was another 11 minutes before the Sea Eagles finally cracked the line. A perfectly positioned cross field kick from Burns came free as Robertson and Best contested the ball. Lyon was on hand to grab the ball, improve the position and score the try. After again going to the Video Ref the try was awarded and Lyon converted his own try.
Orford was struggling with a knee injury and the lights were still playing up but it didn’t seem to be affecting the Sea Eagles performance. Five minutes after Lyon crossed his centre partner Steve Bell did the same. Sporting Maroon and White head gear Bell received an inside ball from Brett Stewart that gave him room to run, sidestep some defenders and dive over the line. Lyon converted from close range and the Sea Eagles had a twenty point lead.
The Sea Eagles were showing some fantastic form, down two interchange players, Matt Orford on one leg and Glenn Stewart struggling with a leg problem also it was quite amazing how dominant they were.
With nine minutes still on the clock the Sea Eagles were in again and not surprisingly it was on the back of another brilliant kick. Matt Orford set himself for the kick and Brett Stewart went inland.
The Banana kick was on.
Sure enough the ball came Stewart’s way and just as it looked as though Stewart would continue his amazing try scoring record at Brookvale a flying Jason King dived on the ball and scored! Oh boy did the celebrations begin and the smile on Kingy’s face was on par with Luna Park. Lyon converted the relatively easy shot at goal.
Michael Robertson was oh so close to scoring his second with three minutes remaining but he was unable to cleanly ground a lovely grubber from Brett Stewart. Robertson lay motionless for a few moments after copping a heavy knee as he went in for the try.
The remaining minutes counted down and there was a massive cheer from the fans when the siren finally went.
The Sea Eagles were fairly reserved and kept the play tight in the blustery conditions. Coach Des Hasler was especially proud of the effort from his forwards. Michael Monaghan played the entire match and took pressure of Orford and Burns when it was needed. Glenn Hall had a good debut and Luke Williamson was strong with a team high 37 tackles. Glenn Stewart made 162 metres and made 23 tackles in what was a tremendous game. All the props played strongly with King, Kite and Rose all making more than 100 metres. If our forwards continue to dominate all season as they did during this match the side will be set for big things.
The Sea Eagles only missed nine tackles all night which is quite amazing considering the conditions and their error rate was half that of the Raiders.
The Sea Eagles backs looked dangerous every time they got the ball. Even without Matai and Menzies running out wide the Sea Eagles showed they have great attacking depth.
Jamie Lyon played well and while he was a little patchy at the start he bounced back by scoring two tries and created a number of opportunities.
Matt Orford was lethal with the boot and in fact of Manly’s six tries 4 were scored from Orford’s kicks, one from Travis Burns and the other a solo run by Steve Bell.
There are a number of injury concerns specifically with Orford, Matai and Menzies but Coach Des Hasler was confident they would be right for next week as would Anthony Watmough, who was rested as a precaution.
It is just the result the Sea Eagles needed to kick off the season. They now sit top of the table with 3 games remaining this weekend.Manly Sea Eagles 32 (Lyon 2, Robertson, Williamson, Bell, King tries; Orford goal) d. Canberra Raiders 6 (Chalk try; Dobson goal) at Brookvale Oval
Penalties: Raiders 6-5
Referee: Ben Cummins
