Head to Head overall in the NRL:
Sea Eagles: 13
Panthers: 10
Drawn: 0
Last time they met:
Round 25 2014 was the last time these two sides faced off against each other and it was a memorable win for the Silvertails. The game was one of significance for Jason King as he farewelled the Brookvale faithful in his last home game.
The game started poorly for the Sea Eagles who trailed for most of the match. Nigel Plum and Josh Mansour scored early tries for the Panthers shocking the Manly faithful however, Kieran Foran linked up well with Jamie Buhrer to pull one back for the boys in Maroon.
It didn’t get much better for the Northern Beaches side after that either. A rare mistake from Jamie Lyon gifted Jamal Idris a try before half time extending the Panthers lead out to 16-6.
It was turning out to be horrible day at the office for Lyon with another one of his passes incepted. This time is was Jamie Soward who pounced on the poor pass before racing 80 metres down the field for a four pointer.
Manly responded quickly when Tom Symonds burrowed his way over the line for his first try of the evening, however the Panthers were allowed to extend their lead by two points when they were awarded a penalty right in front of the posts.
With 18 minutes to go a start of a remarkable comeback begun. Brett Stewart sliced his way through some weak defence before feeding the ball back to a rampaging James Hasson to reduce the deficit to six.
The Mountain men thought they had sealed the game nine minutes from time when Matt Moylan converted a field goal giving the Panthers breathing space.
But it was Jamie Lyon who turned from zero to hero in the remaining four minutes of the match. The Club Captain scored in the corner after the Sea Eagles stretch the Panthers out wide. He then played a huge role in Manly’s last try when he leaped up above Moylan to catch a towering bomb. The skipper then skilfully offloaded the ball allowing his team to swing the ball out wide for Tom Symonds who scored the winner right in the corner and a second for the game.
Manly won the game 26-25 to keep their chances of a minor premiership alive.
Last five meetings:
The last five matches against the boys from Penrith are almost evenly split with the Sea Eagles edging out the Panthers three times to two.
2011 Jul 24th Round 20 Manly 12-8 Penrith, Penrith Stadium
2012 Apr 9th Round 6 Manly 30-0 Penrith, Brookvale Oval
2012 May 27th Round 12 Manly 4-22 Penrith, Penrith Stadium
2013 Sep 8th Round 26 Manly 26-38 Penrith, Brookvale Oval
2014 Aug 31st Round 25 Manly 26-25 Penrith, Brookvale Oval
General Stats:
The Sea Eagles have played 11 times at Penrith Stadium, winning four and losing seven.
Tom Trbojevic made his debut last weekend scoring two tries against the Raiders; ironically, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak also made his debut in Round 5 of the 2014 season bagging two tries as well.
Brett Stewart only needs one more try to reach a milestone of 150 career tries.
The Sea Eagles have a better completion percentage rate than the Panthers this season with Manly on 75% to Penrith’s 73%.
Manly’s biggest win against Penrith in the NRL came in Round 6 of the 2012 season when they defeated the Panthers 30-0 at Brookvale Oval.
