One gutsy punter put over $100,000 on Manly to beat Cronulla on Monday night

ONE Sydney punter is likely still celebrating after winning over $200,000 courtesy of Manly’s defeat of Cronulla on Monday night.

Tom Trbojevic (centre) of the Sea Eagles scores a try that was later disallowed during the round 3 NRL match between the Manly Sea Eagles and the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks at Brookvale Oval in Sydney on Monday, March 21, 2016. (AAP Image/Paul Miller) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

TRENT Barrett’s first win as an NRL coach is worth $210,000.

Well, not to him.

But certainly to the gutsy Sydneysider who threw six figures on the Manly Sea Eagles only minutes before kick off in Monday Night Football.

A TAB spokesman last night confirmed a punter had placed $109,000 on Manly at $1.93 to beat Cronulla.

“The bet came in two minutes before kick off,’’ the TAB’s Gerard Middleton said. “And despite trailing by eight early, they did it comfortably for their punter in the end.

“We’ve now seen some huge bets to start the season and, so far, the big punters have largely been of the right side of the results.”

Indeed, with all eight NRL games now being shown live on either Channel Nine or Fox Sports, the TAB is reporting a double-digit increase in betting revenue.

The Sea Eagles bet, which came from outside the peninsula, is the second biggest win of the season, sitting behind the $290,000 collect a punter had after backing Canberra, with minus six, against Penrith in the season opener.

Another punter earned $195,000 after backing Cronulla, with eight start, against North Queensland later that evening.

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Not so lucky, however, was the league fan who that same Saturday threw $60,000 on the Warriors to beat Wests Tigers.

Regardless, Manly are now on the move with bookies.

Thanks largely to the arrival of Barrett — plus big name recruits Nate Myles, Dylan Walker and Marty Taupau — the Sea Eagles took the largest chunk of premiership betting cash in the pre-season.

Going into Monday Night Football as a $21 premiership chance, they have now firmed to $13.

They will start $1.70 favourites next up against the Roosters.

Manly are on the move with bookmakers.

“Manly was the best backed team pre-season,” Middleton said. “With so many new faces it was always going to take time for things to gel, but they were desperate to win against Cronulla in front of their home crowd.

“Initially, they got out to $3 in betting when down 8-nil early. But they did it comfortably in the end.”

Despite earning plenty of hype over summer, the Sea Eagles actually went into Monday night’s game as outsiders having dropped their first two games against Canterbury and Wests Tigers.

However, apart from the return of fullback Brett Stewart, the home side also had history on their side — with the Sharkies having won only five matches in 39 visits to Brookvale Oval.

Originally published as One gutsy punter put over $100,000 on Manly to beat Cronulla on Monday night