Manly Warringah Sea Eagles suffered a 32-6 loss to the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium tonight in the NRL Magic Round.
A series of errors and missed tackles saw the Sea Eagles produce a poor first half completion rate to trail 20-0 at half-time in the annual home game against the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
The round 10 match, played in front of a crowd of 50,077, marked the 50th game between the two clubs since the first encounter in 1988 with Brisbane and Manly recording 24 wins each for one draw.
The Sea Eagles welcomed back full-back Tom Trbojevic and centres Brad Parker and Tolu Koula for the match but missed workhorse prop Jake Trbojevic with a calf injury.
The Broncos opened the scoring with a try inches from the dead ball line to winger Selwyn Cobbo from a Reece Walsh grubber kick for a 4-0 lead after nine minutes.
It led to a try to hooker Billy Walters after he darted over from dummy half to catch out the Sea Eagles on their line. Half-back Adam Reynolds converted from next to the posts for a 10-0 lead after 15 minutes.
Cobbo grabbed his second try in the 22nd minute when the Broncos shifted the ball right for Walsh to create an opportunity for his winger to score. Reynolds converted from the sideline for a 16-0 lead.
Brisbane took a 20-0 lead in the 35th minute when they shifted the ball to their left for winger Jesse Arthars dived over in the corner.
The score remained that way with Manly making 10 mistakes and 21 missed tackles in the first half as Brisbane dominated possession with Manly completing 9/17 sets.
Manly showed more resilience in the second half and created a few chances inb attack.
The Broncos stretched their lead to 26-0 when Cobbo crossed for his hat-trick off an intercept pass to race 80 metres to score in the 69th minute.
Two minutes later, Brisbane centre Herbie Farnworth crashed over from dummy half for a 32-0 lead.
Manly crossed for their only try in the 78th minute after Ben Trbojevic dived over in the corner. Reuben Garrick converted.
The Sea Eagles return to 4 Pines Park on Sunday, May 14, to take on the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
