Manly coach Anthony Seibold was basking in arguably the gutsiest win of his Sea Eagles tenure before he looks to replace around $3 million in sidelined big men.
Seibold finished a remarkable 30-14 triumph over the Dragons, coaching from a bench that at various points had no one on it on Sunday afternoon in front of a sell-out crowd of 17,187 at Four Pines Park.
Taniela Paseka (feared thumb fracture), Tof Sipley (MCL), Corey Waddell (ankle) and Reuben Garrick (HIA) were all floored by various ailments throughout a six-tries-to-three triumph that lifts Manly back into the top eight.
Sipley and Waddell eventually returned to the bench as Paseka tried and failed to, and will join a Manly casualty ward that already includes Tom Trbojevic (hamstring), Matt Lodge (biceps), Josh Aloiai (suspension), Aaron Woods (calf), Lachlan Croker (neck) and Jake Arthur (foot).
If another front-rower goes down Seibold himself will be packing in Manly’s next scrum as he confirmed Sipley, Paseka and Garrick won’t be fit to take on Souths next week when Origin stars Daly Cherry-Evans, Jake Trbojevic and Haumole Olakau’atu will also be unavailable.
“We fought really hard, we didn’t have a lot go our way ... We were under the pump numbers wise,” Seibold said, having been reduced to just 13 fit players before half-time and Waddell’s limping return afterwards.
“The boys were really tough and well led by Chez, I thought Jake through the middle was really tough as well. It was a really proud afternoon for our club.
“There’s a fair chunk of middle forwards [missing]. But if we get a group of guys who want to work hard for each other like that, we’ve got enough speed and enough weapons to trouble Souths.
Jake Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans celebrate a try against the Dragons on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
“It’ll be a patched-up side but we’ll go over there to have a red hot crack.”
Tries were traded throughout an entertaining affair, with the Dragons enjoying a 10-8 half-time lead after also losing in-form centre Moses Suli to a hamstring strain in the warm-up.
Nathan Brown and Olakau’atu were enormous in keeping an undermanned pack above water, while Cherry-Evans and Brooks kept finding holes in the Dragons defence from long-range.
Four-pointers to Luke Brooks and Ben Trbojevic kept Manly in a contest they really shouldn’t have been after the break. The Dragons answered in kind with Zac Lomax latching onto a Ben Hunt long ball in between, but the Sea Eagles held the unlikeliest of 18-14 leads with 20 minutes to play.
The Manly masses then delivered an equal share of Bronx cheers and healthy boos when Kyle Flanagan stayed down from incidental contact by Olakau’atu cleaning up a grubber.
It earned the Dragons a penalty and Flanagan a 15-minute HIA at a critical juncture in the contest, with Queensland skipper Daly Cherry-Evans grubbering for his NSW counterpart Jake Trbojevic to touch down.
Lomax was a regular aerial target for Hunt and provided most all nervous moments for the locals, with the Bunker denying him a second try in the 67th minute.
A penalty wasn’t blown when Tolu Koula denied him a play at the next cross-field kick, and Manly had a deserving win in the bag with Cherry-Evans next grubber for Jason Saab to polish off.
The Sea Eagles’ win lifts them above the Dragons and into eighth on the ladder, with Shane Flanagan left ruing what could have been a third-straight victory heading into this week’s bye.
“We need to learn from it,” he said. “There are some boys in [the Dragons dressing room] that have probably never been in this situation. We need to learn from this experience, coming to Brookvale, a big game for both teams and just finding a way to get it done. It’s a learning experience.”
