Sea Eagles officially enter Struggle Street with loss over Dragons
Three successive losses, injured and suspended players and a looming game against competition leaders Parramatta. The Sea Eagles are officially battling.
Dragons
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They live on Sydney’s well-to-do northern beaches but Manly suddenly find themselves on Struggle Street.
Three successive losses, injured and suspended players and a looming game against competition leaders Parramatta leaves Manly in a precarious and dangerous position.
The Sea Eagles now sit in 10th spot with four wins from nine matches after a horrible 34-4 loss to St George Illawarra at Netstrata Stadium on Sunday night.
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It was St George Illawarra’s third win of the season, the pressure on under-performing stars and head coach Paul McGregor easing. The Dragons now sit in 11th place, just one position behind Manly.
St George Illawarra finally look to have found their strongest side. An under-fire spine — which includes Ben Hunt at dummy half and Cameron McInnes at 13 — looks to have finally settled. The Dragons stats were brilliant, scoring six tries, completing 39 sets from 42 and missing just 12 tackles.
Delighted Dragons clapped and sang as “When The Saints Go Marching In” echoed around the famous suburban ground.
Manly’s season is sliding amid a myriad of refereeing blunders, the Addin Fonua-Blake drama, injuries to star players Tom Trbojevic and Dylan Walker, while 11 handling errors dented any ambitions for victory.
The Sea Eagles have lost eight of their past nine games without Trbojevic. There can be no excuses though, the Sea Eagles just couldn’t find any sustained field position.
It was Manly’s equal biggest loss under Des Hasler since 2005 and the first time the Sea Eagles have lost three straight games under Hasler since 2010.
Winger Jorge Taufua was sin-binned for a professional foul while halfback Daly Cherry-Evans endured a challenging game with his handling. And while some last-minute changes altered Manly’s dynamics, it wasn’t enough to secure victory.
“Our execution, our skill … we made something like 13, 14 errors,” said Hasler. “I was disappointed with some of (their) tries. It’s probably the week in, week out performance I’m concerned about.
“We’re just not competing well enough. We need to fix it. They’re trying, they’re trying. Having injuries doesn’t contribute to you making errors with the ball.”
Hasler denied the Fonua-Blake drama distracted his side’s preparations.
SUPER SAINTS
Before 1571 noisy fans, St George Illawarra thrived on returning to their spiritual home, Jubilee Oval. The Dragons were committed and enthusiastic.
They still don’t look like a finals-bound side but certainly Saints’ defence off their line was effective. Where has this form and energy been all season? Victory was deserved, the Dragons powering home to belt Manly. They are now just one win outside the top eight.
“We certainly valued possession,” said McGregor. “We only had one missed tackle in the second half – that’s where we won the game.”
MATCH CENTRE: Game details and stats
Fullback Matt Dufty looked sharp again while winger Mikaele Ravalawa was brutal in defence.
Ravalawa poleaxed Jorge Taufua, the Manly winger known for handing out his own defensive punishment, in the first half before he struck again minutes later by hammering Manly’s Cade Cust. And then in the 67th minute, Ravalawa whacked Manly centre Brad Parker.
“He brought some shoulder pads with him tonight, didn’t he?” McGregor said.
Victory snapped a two-game losing streak for St George Illawarra. It was Saints first major scalp this year having previously beaten struggling Cronulla and Gold Coast.
And it was nice seeing St George Illawarra back in the famous Red V jumpers for a match at their spiritual home.
In his first game back from suspension, Dragons winger Jordan Pereira was placed on report for a shoulder charge.
TURNING POINT
A key moment came in the 32nd minute when Cherry-Evans cut a sizable hole in Saints defence only to throw a pass directly to Dragons centre Zac Lomax, who sent Dufty on an electrifying 70 metre run to the tryline.
With their own try looming, gutted Manly players then had to trudge back to their own tryline after Dufty’s dash. The Dragons enjoyed a super first half, completing 19 from 21 sets. Asked about Cherry-Evans modest performance, Hasler said: “Sometimes you just have those games. It’s very rare.”
MANLY MOVEMENT
Hasler made a series of pre-game changes after successive losses. Brendan Elliot was brought in as starting fullback, Reuben Garrick shifted to wing with Tevita Funa dropping out.
Cade Cust was elevated to start at five-eighth with Lachlan Croker coming from the bench. Big Taniela Paseka was pushed back to bench with Morgan Boyle promoted to starting prop.
Asked about the 120kg, 197cms Paseka, former Test prop Steve Roach told Fox Sports: “He needs to get more mongrel in him.”
Jake Trbojevic played, injured brother Tom sat on the Manly bench while younger brother Ben acted as a ball boy on the eastern side, Manly co-owner Scott Penn made the journey to Kogarah in the Sydney rain to watch his beloved Sea Eagles.
Dragons relief after snapping up Graham replacement
St George Illawarra has finally landed a replacement for James Graham after signing Penrith back-rower Kaide Ellis immediately.
The Dragons have been scrambling to add some much needed depth to their playing stocks since Graham’s decision to finish his career back in England.
It is understood Ellis’ deal is for the rest of the season.
NRL NEWS
The 23-year-old is expected to link up with the Dragons as early as Monday after being farewelled by his Penrith teammates on Saturday night following their resounding 56-24 victory against Cronulla at Ellis’ new home-ground of Netstrata Jubilee Oval.
Ellis, who was off-contract at season’s end, has not featured in first grade this year, playing the last of his 10 top grade games in round 10 last year.
He made his debut in 2018.
Ellis could be available for selection in time to play for the Dragons against the Bulldogs on Saturday, but is one of the players who have been hampered by a lack of reserve grade competition.
The Dragons have been desperate to add some forward power following Graham’s exit and the unlikelihood Jack de Belin will be available to play this year. The Dragons also have cap space after Issac Luke joined Brisbane.
They were linked with a host of players including Jarrod Wallace, Billy Magoulias and Elijah Taylor.
Centre Tim Lafai is the latest player expected to make an early exit out of the Dragons with an immediate switch to the Bulldogs on the cards.
And despite featuring in first grade recently, young gun winger Jason Saab remains far from settled with his discussions with the club about his future ongoing.
Lafai, who has not played since round two, and de Belin headline a host of off-contract players at the club. Tyson Frizell is already Newcastle-bound while Euan Aitken, Jacob Host and Tristian Sailor are all free agents.
— Michael Carayannis