Match Report: NRL Round 6 vs Dragons

The Sea Eagles trailed the Dragons 18-16 early in the second half after surrendering a 16-0 lead but fought back to seal their second victory in as many weeks.

A couple of errors from the Dragons out of their own end saw Manly open the scoring in the seventh minute.  Jason Saab tapped back a pin-point cross field kick from Jamal Fogarty with Reuben Garrick there to finish it off.

The Dragons went close to scoring in the 11th minute but for some desperate defence from Manly.  A kick in behind from Luciano Leilua found winger Christian Tuipulotu who was cut down by Garrick just metres from the line.

Manly jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the 16th minute on the back of a wonderful 40-20 kick from Fogarty.  After a couple of ruck infringements from the Dragons, Tom Trbojevic then sliced through, stepping of his right foot to beat Kyle Flanagan.

Manly then scored from the kick restart to make it 16-0 in the 18th minute.  It was an audacious play with Jason Saab taking the catch and then sending Garrick on an 85-metre race down the eastern touchline to score.

The Dragons were denied a try due to an obstruction call in the 22nd minute but their first four-pointer was not too far away.

Manly lock Jake Trbojevic was forced from the field on the half hour mark with a cut below the eye and did not return.  Although passing his HIA, he watched the remainder of the match from the bench.

Momentum was slowly starting to turn in the Dragons’ favour and their first try came in the 22nd minute.

A cheeky quick tap from Luciano Leilua resulted in the edge forward diving over from a couple of metres out and with the conversion from Valentine Holmes, had the Dragons behind 16-6.

The Dragons were in again a few minutes later, again a close-range effort, this time from Jacob Liddle who scooted out of dummy half beating a couple of defenders to ground the ball over the line.

The home side almost crossed again on the stroke of half time but a desperate tackle by Turbo dislodged the ball just in time.

After being ahead 16-0, Manly went into the sheds up 16-12.

The home team took the lead five minutes into the second half when they scored a third unanswered try.

After being stripped of possession, Manly were made to pay.

The Dragons quickly went to their right with Tyrell Sloan throwing a long pass for winger Setu Tu who slipped over, regained his feet, and crossed in the corner.

Manly regained the lead in the 55th minute when Kobe Hetherington crashed over underneath the black dot to score his first try in Manly colours.  The tireless No.10 played a key role in the lead up as well, gaining some good metres through the middle.

The Sea Eagles gave themselves a 10-point buffer with about 14 minutes remaining when Lehi Hopoate crossed in the southeastern corner after receiving a crafty pass from Turbo. 

Fogarty’s conversion from wide out were the final points of the match, putting his team ahead 28-18

The five-tries-to-three victory for Manly, with a double to Garrick, consigned the Dragons to their sixth loss of the season, and handed new coach Kieran Foran a second win in as many games.

It caps one of only a few successful visits to Wollongong for Manly, just their third win at WIN Stadium in thirteen games.

Next up is a trip to Townsville to face the Cowboys on Thursday 16th April.