Manly Warringah Sea Eagles suffered a 30-18 loss to the Canberra Raiders at GIO Stadium tonight in round 13 of the Telstra Premiership.
The Sea Eagles went into the match with centre Steve Matai ruled out with a neck injury, resulting in Matthew Wright coming into the team.
In chilly conditions, the Sea Eagles opened the scoring in the fifth minute when half-back Daly Cherry-Evans split the defence to score under the posts. Jamie Lyon converted the try for a 6-0 lead.
The Raiders were denied a try five minutes later when the bunker overruled the referee’s call of a try to Jordan Rapana after replays showed he fumbled the ball in trying to ground a grubber kick.
Four minutes later, the home side were not to be denied when they shifted the ball left for winger Brenko Lee to score untouched. Centre and captain Jarrod Croker converted from the sideline for a 6-all scoreline.
Canberra full-back Jack Wighton then dropped the ball over the line in trying to score in the 30th minute.
Manly winger Tom Trbojevic tried gallantly to put the ball down to score in the 32nd minute but replays confirmed he was taken over the sideline.
The Raiders went to a 10-6 lead in the 38th minute when Josh Hodgson threw a dummy to score near the posts. Croker converted for a 12-6 lead at half-time.
2nd Half
The second half started terribly for Manly with Cherry-Evans not returning due to an ankle injury. The Raiders poured on three converted tries to Elliot Whitehead, Jack Wighton and Josh Papalii to lead 30-6 after 55 minutes.
To make matters worse for the Sea Eagles, prop Brenton Lawrence, Lyon, and Jamie Buhrer left the field with injuries during this period.
The Sea Eagles pulled one back when hooker Matt Parcell scored under the posts. The try was converted by Dylan Walker to reduce the margin to 30-12 after 72 minutes.
Apisai Koroisau added a late consolation try for the Sea Eagles to bring the score to 30-18.
The loss leaves the Sea Eagles with just four wins for the season.
