Match Report: NRL Round 13 vs Sharks

The Sea Eagles were unable to peg back an 18-point half time deficit but did well to take the game down to wire.

The Sharks ran in three tries in ten minutes from the half hour mark to take a 22-4 lead into the break.

The home side opened the scoring with a penalty goal from in front before bagging their first try in the eighth minute to take an 8-0 lead.

Backing up from Origin, Blayke Brailey caught Manly with just one marker on the half-way line, splitting the defence with his striking speed before sending rookie half Niwhai Puru on his way to the line.

Manly second row Jackson Shereb was sent for a HIA in the 12th minute but was cleared to make his return later in the match.

Manly’s first points came in the 22nd minute when Clayton Faulalo crossed for his fifth try in his past six games.

The in-form fullback sliced through out wide after throwing a dummy to his winger Jason Saab.  Reuben Garrick, being heavily heckled from the sideline, was unable to add the extras, leaving Manly trailing 8-4

Cronulla scored their second try in the 32nd minute on the back of a string of set restarts.

Left edge forward Teig Wilton wrong footed Manly interchange middle Nathan Brown from close range to put Cronulla ahead 14-4

They were in again only moments later after being gifted good field possession from a penalty. 

A kick in behind by Braydon Trindall was unable to be cleaned up by Faulalo with Billy Burns on the spot to score in the southwestern corner.

On the stroke of half time the Sharks were in again, and again it was Burns scoring in the same corner off another well-weighted kick by Trindall.  Burns’ double in four minutes put the Sharks ahead 22-4 at the break.

It wasn’t a great start to the second half for Manly when Brooks dropped the ball in Manly’s opening set, but the tide soon started to turn.

Ben Trbojevic showed great strength to score Manly’s first try of the second half, accepting an inside pass from Brooks before carrying three Sharks defenders with him over the line to peg the score back to 22-10.

Manly made another mistake coming out from their own end in their next set when Shereb was carried into touch by a determined Sharks defence, and Manly were made to pay.

Trindall showed plenty of zip to score from close range to put his team ahead 26-10 with just under half an hour to play.

Manly hit straight back when Cronulla allowed a bomb to bounce with Jason Saab there to collect the spoils. Garrick added the extras to reduce the deficit to just 10 points with 24 minutes remaining.

Less than a minute later Manly scored again to make the potential great escape a distinct possibility, now trailing by just four points.

Brooks made a long break down the left edge from inside his own half after receiving an offload from Ben Trbojevic.

He then threw a pass to Jamal Fogarty who was hunting up on the inside, with Fogarty toeing the ball through before diving on it to score. Garrick added the two points to have Manly behind 26-22.

Fogarty landed a booming 40-20 with 18 minutes to play and with his team on the charge but the visitors were unable to convert the good field position into points.

After trailing 22-4 at half time, the contest was going down to the wire but more mistakes by Manly inside their own end didn’t help their cause.

Saab was dragged into touch before a forced pass on their own line ended in a knock-on, giving the Sharks an opportunity to close out the game.

Minutes later the Sharks were awarded a penalty from in front which gave them a six-point buffer as the clocked ticked down.

A kick out on the full from the restart by Manly made the unlikely mission just about impossible as the Sharks held on to win 28-22, to retain the Steve Rogers Memorial Trophy.

It’s a quick turnaround for Manly with just six days before their Round 14 match against the Rabbitohs at 4 Pines Park on Thursday 4th June.