Match Report: NRL Round 14 vs Rabbitohs

A near capacity crowd on a chilly Thursday night were treated to another gritty performance by Manly, built on defence and won at the back end.

The match opened with six completed sets with teams going back and forth at Brookvale.

The Rabbitohs cracked first, handing Manly a penalty for a lifting tackle on Luke Brooks seven minutes into the contest.

The Bunnies were able to defend their line after that error, and were defensively strong again after fumbling a Jamal Fogarty bomb near their own line.

A Cody Walker 40-20 in the eleventh minute presented Souths with their first attacking opportunity on Manly’s line, and they made it count.

The very next set Cameron Murray put Keaon Koloamatangi through a hole on Manly’s left edge with the Dragons-bound prop dragging Luke Brooks over the line to score.

Souths were on the board again a few minutes later after Manly failed to defend a good long-range kick, allowing Jye Gray to make a break from his own goal line before racing downfield.

That defensive error had Manly on the back foot and soon they found themselves down a man down when fullback Clayton Faulalo was put in the sin bin for a professional foul for holding down.

The Rabbitohs took the two points on offer to establish an 8-0 lead after 16 minutes.

Manly managed not to concede any tries while down to 12 men and scored one of their own when Jason Saab crossed in the 23rd minute on the back of a trademark run by Haumole Olakau'atu.

Reuben Garrick provided a lovely ball, drawing two defenders, before delivering to Saab who crossed in the corner.

Garrick landed the conversion to have his team trailing 8-6.

The home team scored again on the half hour mark after a South Sydney blunder in their own end.

A dropped ball by Campbell Graham was swooped on by the Sea Eagles and sent to Lehi Hopoate who scored his tenth try in 12 games which put Manly ahead at 12-10.

Manly found themselves on the back foot early in the second half after a couple of errors but luckily, thanks to some try-saving defence, minimal damage was done.

Souths went oh so close to scoring in the 48th minute but were denied by the bunker when winger Ed Kosi’s flying putdown was deemed to have been grounded in-touch, in-goal.

A couple of minutes later the Sea Eagles scored the first points of the second half when an injured Clayton Faulalo crossed in the southwestern corner to score his sixth try in seven games.

It was a big effort from the fullback who was clutching at his left hamstring only moments earlier, before taking a sweet pass from Olakau’atu to score.

Garrick’s kick from the sideline grazed the upright before raising the flags to put Manly ahead 16-8 as Faulalo was brought from the field.

Manly crossed for their next try only minutes later when Ben Trbojevic burst onto an inside ball from Brooks, very similar to that scored last week at Cronulla.

The try was converted by Garrick to have Manly up 22-8 with 23 minutes remaining.

Souths forward David Fifita, in his first game since Round 6, hit straight back for the Rabbitohs scoring from close range of a Walker pass to have his team trailing 22-14.

Both sides were fighting for field position as the game entered the final quarter of an hour, before the Sea Eagles crossed for their fifth try of the night.

For Manly fans, it was just beautiful to watch.

Jason Saab’s try in the 72nd minute – his second of the night – involved both Manly Origin players Olakau’atu and Tolu Koula and was finished perfectly by Jason Saab.

Koula’s one-touch, no-look tap-on to Saab was just sublime, while Saab himself did a great job to beat his opposite number with precious little real estate to work in.

Garrick added his fourth from five attempts to put Manly ahead 28-14 and well on their way to their way to their eighth win of the season.

The result lifts Manly to third on the NRL ladder with a further seven games still to be played in Round 14.

The Sea Eagles have the bye in Round 15 before an away game against the Bulldogs in Round 16 on Saturday 20th June.