Canterbury-Bankstown: Fleming, Lester, Mellor, S Hughes, Halligan, G Hughes, Polla-Mounter, Norton, Reardon, Ward, Britt (c), Hetherington, Price. Res: Stone, Parkinson, Haumono, Ryan.
Manly-Warringah: Phillips, Hancock, Hopoate, Hill, Torrens, Lyons, Toovey (c), Kosef, Colella, Menzies, Taylor, Serdaris, Tierney. Res: Field, Duncan, Browne, Peters, S Fulton (one to be omitted).
FootyTAB: Canterbury +5.5
Lyons, 37 years old and planning to play again in 1999, was the stand-out star, but Toovey, Phillips and Serdaris also had great games. After the match coach Bob Fulton expressed concern over repeated high tackling on Geoff Toovey, and also spoke out about representative players having to back up just two days after State of Origin.
The Eagles are now on eight points, still two wins outside the ten. Next Sunday Manly play Canterbury at Belmore.
Manly: Phillips, Hancock, Hopoate, Hill, Torrens, Lyons, Toovey (c), Kosef, Colella, Menzies, Taylor, Serdaris, Tierney. Res: Hunter, Duncan, Browne, Peters, S Fulton (one to be omitted).
Cronulla: Peachey, Howland, Ettingshausen (c), Richardson, Zisti, Dykes, Healey, McKenna, Long, Ryan, Lang, Triester, Lee. Res: Maddison, Graham, Forrester, Sammut.
FootyTAB: Manly +4.5
Another Roosters try after the break made it 30-8 and things looked grim. However with 21 minutes remaining Cliff Lyons switched on and Manly racked up three tries in four minutes. At 30-24 the match looked set for a thrilling finish, but a penalty goal and then a couple of soft tries at the death made Sydney City's win look comfortable.
Geoff Toovey, Craig Hancock, Neil Tierney and Terry Hill all had great games, while Cliffy was everywhere in attack and nowhere in defence. The Eagles showed real guts in some parts of the match - it was thus even more disappointing that the tries scored against them came from nothing but shoddy tackling. Next Sunday Manly return to Brookvale to face Cronulla. Four players will be backing up from State of Origin on Friday night.
Sydney City: Cross, Elsegood, Cleary, Sing, Miles, Fittler (c), Lam, Gaffey, Ricketson, Gourley, Barnhill, Bonetti, Pickering. Res: Dooley, Fletcher, Wood, Rigon.
Manly: Phillips, Hancock, Hopoate, Hill, Torrens, Lyons, Toovey (c), Kosef, Colella, Menzies, Taylor, Serdaris, Tierney. Res: Hunter, Duncan, Browne.
FootyTAB: Manly +10.5
Meanwhile Terry Hill, Geoff Toovey and Nik Kosef have all been named in the NSW side for State of Origin I to be played on 22 May. Steve Menzies has been picked as a reserve.
It was a disastrous effort from Manly, who lacked any sort of competence or motivation. Right from the start it was clear that the Eagles were just not interested - the Knights led 14-0 before Manly had even completed a set of six. By half-time the score was 30-6 (including a burst of three Newcastle tries from successive restarts), and already Manly fans were heading home. There was at least some improvement from the Eagles in the second half. But transparent defence saw Newcastle continue to score tries at will, their ninth and final try coming from a Manly mistake on the siren.
A terrible effort in the defensive line was Manly's undoing: the side missed an unbelievable 44 tackles. Nik Kosef, Albert Torrens and Anthony Colella were the only players who can take something out of the debacle. Terry Hill was a late withdrawal from the side, but should return at the Football Stadium against Sydney City next week. After today's loss Manly sit near the bottom of the ladder, and it is hard to see how they can turn it around from here and make the semi-finals.
Manly: Phillips, Hunter, Hancock, Hopoate, Hill, Torrens, Toovey (c), Field, Kosef, Gartner, Menzies, Taylor, Serdaris, Tierney (one to be omitted). Res: Lyons, Browne, Colella, Bennett, Olejnik (one to be omitted)
Newcastle: O'Davis, Grogan, Gidley, Craigie, MacDougall, A Johns, M Johns, Richards, Fletcher, Sheils, Harragon (c), Jackson, Butterfield. Res: Grief, Piccinelli, Buderis, Peden, Moodie (one to be omitted)
FootyTAB: Manly +6.5
In the second half the rain came down and the wheels fell off. Manly were mistake-ridden and lazy as the Bears ran in four easy tries to match last year's similar thrashing of their neighbours. Luke Phillips spent most of the game on the sideline after being knocked out late in the second half, while Steve Menzies struggled with a leg injury.
After eight rounds, Manly are in 14th place on the NRL ladder, one win outside the top ten. Brookvale will be the place to be next Sunday afternoon, when the Eagles have their rematch with the Newcastle Knights.
Earlier stories: [Jan-Feb 98 | Mar 98 | Apr 98]
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