Dragons upset Manly at Brookvale after Jake Trbojevic’s early head knock

The Dragons are in the top eight after holding off a spirited Manly comeback for their second win at Brookvale in 17 years.

A Tyrell Sloan double has lifted the Dragons into the top eight after they survived a spirited second-half comeback from the Sea Eagles to pick up their second win at Brookvale Oval in 17 years.

The 20-18 scoreline flattered the home side who played their best footy when they were down to 12 men, but the Sea Eagles were totally outplayed in the first half as St George Illawarra’s big men had a field day through the middle.

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Jack de Belin and Toby Couchman caused all sorts of problems for Manly in the opening 20 minutes, with Sloan eventually opening the scoring after some slick work from Clint Gutherson.

The visitors held a slender 8-0 lead at the break and looked set to run away in the second half when Sloan grabbed his second, but the Sea Eagles roared back into the contest after they were reduced to 12 men.

Tyrell Sloan (left) celebrates after a try. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

But after blowing a couple of big leads earlier this season, the Dragons lifted when it mattered most with a gutsy short side raid from Lachlan Ilias ending up with Kyle Flanagan, who found Jacob Liddle who burst through to put them back in front.

The Sea Eagles then cut the gap to two points thanks to a high-flying Jason Saab, but Reuben Garrick missed the sideline conversion.

The home fans thought they’d stolen it with a few minutes to go when Luke Brooks pounced on a loose kick to score, but Toff Sipley was off-side and interfered in the play to kill off the comeback.

Thursday night’s match showed how badly the Sea Eagles need Tom Trbojevic back in the team, with the superstar fullback a chance of returning next week from his knee injury.

Trbojevic hasn’t played since the round four win over the Eels, with Manly lacking his presence in attack even though Lehi Hopoate was outstanding at the back.

Jake Trbojevic was ruled out early after a head knock. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

While ‘Turbo’ could be back next week, the Sea Eagles will be without Jake Trbojevic after the workhorse lock was dazed following a tackle gone wrong on David Klemmer, with the Blues skipper to be out for the mandatory 11 days.

The Sea Eagles need all hands on deck after their third-straight loss without their main man at the back to fix their attack, with their eleventh error of the night leading to Sloan’s second try.

This was Sloan’s best game of the season and came at the perfect time with fellow winger Christian Tuipulotu out injured.

The speedster scored twice, made three line-breaks and ran for 209 metres with plenty of physical carries coming out of trouble.

That’s what coach Shane Flanagan wants to see from a man who is brimming with freakish natural talent.

The Sea Eagles could be down another forward for next week’s game against Penrith after prop Sipley was sent to the sin bin for an ugly hip-drop tackle on Dragons winger Mat Feagai.

It looked at first as if Feagai had been hit high, but replays showed Sipley got his tackle technique wrong and landed on the back of his foot.

Feagai was in agony and had to be helped from the field, with the Sea Eagles actually outscoring their rivals 8-6 with a man in the bin.

Originally published as Dragons upset Manly at Brookvale after Jake Trbojevic’s early head knock