Sea Eagles fullback Brett Stewart starred in Manly’s 26-point victory over Cronulla in round 15 of last season, playing a hand in three of his side’s five tries at Remondis Stadium.
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Even without former back rower Anthony Watmough, the Sea Eagles did little wrong as they kept their opposition scoreless in a clinical display away from home.
Halfback Daly Cherry-Evans overcame stiffness in his left knee to help guide his side to the comprehensive victory and claim the Steve Rogers Trophy for the second that season.
Fullback Stewart ignited Manly’s roll on when he took to the left edge with their first attacking opportunity.
The No.1 shrugged off Sharks centre Blake Ashford before darting through a gap in the defensive line to put Justin Horo over for his first try since round one.
Manly’s potent left edge proved lethal once again as Steve Matai produced some swift footwork and strength to muscle his way over to put the Sea Eagles 12 points ahead inside 20 minutes.
Skipper Jamie Lyon then extended his side’s lead as Cherry-Evans showed off his fancy footwork to put the centre over in the corner.
Cronulla looked to have hit back on the stroke of halftime when Sosaia Feki dived over in the corner, but a scrambling Stewart in cover forced the ball out to have his side leading by 16 points at the break.
The second half took a similar trend as the Sea Eagles scored back-to-back tries to all but end Cronulla’s hopes of a come back.
Tom Symonds bagged a double in the space of three minutes, with Cherry-Evans setting up his first before Stewart latched on to a chip kick from Lyon to hand it off to the flying forward for his second.
The Sea Eagles managed to keep Cronulla scoreless as they claimed a comprehensive win away from home.
