‘Brain explosion’ costs Roosters dearly as Luke Keary pass panned

Daly Cherry-Evans has nabbed an opportunist try which has come back to bite the Sydney Roosters in a thriller against Manly.

The pass didn't need to be thrown. Photo: Fox Sports

The Sydney Roosters have suffered another heartbreaking loss with Manly holding on for an 18-16 loss at 4 Pines Park on Sunday afternoon.

Sea Eagles captain Daly Cherry-Evans led the way with two tries including an opportunist intercept just before halftime to snatch the lead.

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While Roosters and NSW captain James Tedesco responded to the criticism about his position at fullback with a 27 run, 299m performance, the Manly and Maroons skipper once again claimed the chocolates.

Late in the first half down 10-6, Cherry-Evans anticipated a Luke Keary pass perfectly to sprint away to snatch the halftime lead.

Michael Ennis said: “They talk about the greats being one step ahead of everyone on the field.

“Whenever you hear people talk about Thurston and Johns and those sorts of guys, they say they’re always a step or two ahead of everyone else.

“You see there, he saw that coming before it even came out of the hands of Keary, he was sweating on that pass. He really is one of the champion halfbacks of the game Daly Cherry-Evans.

“I can’t believe Keary threw it. He was so far out of the defensive line moving forward, I can’t even believe Luke Keary threw the pass.”

The Keary pass was the difference. Photo: Fox Sports

At halftime on Fox League, Greg Alexander slammed Keary for throwing the pass.

“Complacent stuff there from Luke Keary — he wasn’t looking,” Alexander said.

Former Roosters half Braith Anasta called it a “brain explosion” as it gifted the Sea Eagles the halftime lead.

In the post-match press conference, Manly coach Anthony Seibold paid tribute to his captain.

“I’ve said it a couple of times now, but I think ‘Chez’ has been our best player this year,” Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold said.

“It’s a credit to where he’s at. There are a lot of distractions this time of year with State of Origin, and he’s also led them exceptionally well.”

It turned out to be the pivotal moment of the match as the Roosters scored through Joey Manu early in the second half but couldn’t get a decisive blow.

It left the door just wide enough for Ben Trbojevic to run through and steal the lead with 10 minutes left.

Three losses in four weeks is tough for the Roosters. Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images

The grandstand finish went right down to the wire as with one minute left, the Sea Eagles were deemed to have knocked on on their own line.

Although James Tedesco almost grounded his head on the line with the first run, the Roosters weren’t able to get close again with Keary’s last-gasp kick knocked dead by Manly winger Christian Tuipulotu to seal the win.

Roosters coach Trent Robinson said his side had “an awesome” performance but had execution let the side down.

“The best thing about tonight was that you saw a Roosters team tonight, that was Roosters-style, that was a Roosters performance,” he said.

“And it wasn’t good enough tonight, and so be it, but we played our style.”

The Roosters have now slumped to 13th on the ladder, four points out of the top eight, while Manly move to 11th, three points out of finals contention.