Manly Sea Eagles required ‘police escort’ to NRL Preliminary final against South Sydney Rabbitohs

Manly needed a police escort to get to the preliminary final and after a horrible start to the night, it just got worse from there.

Manly have arrived. Photo: Fox Sports

Manly was given a police escort to its preliminary final against South Sydney, which many called early as a sign the Sea Eagles were in for a bad night.

The team was driving from the Sunshine Coast to Suncorp Stadium but got caught in traffic on the way.

The kick off had to be pushed back 15 minutes to 8.05pm AEST with Matty Johns telling Fox League that the Sea Eagles were “getting a police escort”.

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The team arrived just before 7pm after requiring the escort for the last 30km to the stadium.

Cooper Cronk said it was because “It’s the best ticket in town”.

It could have been a bad omen for the Sea Eagles who were demolished 36-16 by South Sydney meaning Souths coach Wayne Bennett will get to coach another game with the club.

Some wild conspiracy theories on social media speculated coach Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler might have deliberately delayed the team bus in some mind games.

Vision of the police escort. Photo: Fox Sports

But former player under Hasler Michael Ennis said it’s not the first time that this had happened to Des Hasler.

“We all know what a lunatic he is, the 2014 Grand Final on the bus for Canterbury, we were late,” Ennis said.

“We got stuck in traffic out the back of ANZ Stadium and the interrogation from Des on the bus driver was unrivalled. I could only imagine the torture he would have put on the bus driver tonight to find another route to get to the ground.

“Luckily the police turned up and got them an escort.”

Canterbury went on to lose that game — ironically a 30-6 loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs — which Cronk called “a bad omen”.

“How did 2014 end up?” a Cronk asked Ennis tongue-in-cheek.

“Not great,” Ennis replied.

Sea Eagles star Tom Trbojevic said it was “a bit different”.

“It’s not what you want but everyone’s really focused, the game’s been pushed back a bit so we’ll fly into it,” he said.

It was far from the ideal preparation for Des Hasler and his troops. Photo: Fox Sports

Hilariously, Queensland Police, who got the Sea Eagles to the stadium, also posted to social media at the same time, showing they’d picked a favourite — and they weren’t from NSW.

Expect extra traffic around Milton as the Sea Eagles and Rabbitohs vie to lose to the Sunshine Coast Storm next week 🏉🏉🏉

— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) September 24, 2021

The Rabbitohs will play the winner of the Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers in the NRL grand final.

Originally published as Manly Sea Eagles required ‘police escort’ to NRL Preliminary final against South Sydney Rabbitohs