NRL 2021: Tom Trbojevic stars as Sea Eagles hold off Bulldogs

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs threatened to pull off a huge upset but the NRL’s form player ensured his side left with the two points.

Trbojevic (L) ensure the Sea Eagles would finish the round in the top four for the first time this season. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

Here come the Sea Eagles. With hat-trick hero Tom Trbojevic returning from a cheek injury, right on cue Manly climbed into the top four for the first time this year with an unconvincing 36-18 win over the Bulldogs.

They were made to work for it at Redcliffe and won’t want to repeat their diabolical first half display, but whatever Des Hasler said at halftime did the trick.

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There was fire and brimstone with Manly firebrand Josh Aloai binned for lashing out with a boot to the face of Josh Jackson as tempers flared.

Canterbury coach Trent Barrett also flared up over Trbojevic’s first try where he appeared to lose control of the ball and a penalty against Joe Stimson, who was put on report for pulling the hair of Marty Taupau.

Talk about perfect timing. The Sea Eagles will stay in the top four so long as they beat the Cowboys in Townsville next week and will get the vital two bites at the cherry in the finals series.

All three teams above them will be looking over their shoulders at Hasler’s team, but they must be way better than what they dished up against the Dogs.

The fact remains that the Sea Eagles were last after four rounds and have found a way to get themselves in the premiership fight.

Daly Cherry-Evans was born just up the road at Redcliffe Hospital but the Bulldogs were not respecting any birthright and stunned a shoddy Manly to take a 12-10 lead into halftime.

Bulldogs enforcer Jack Hetherington was put on report again for a high shot on Morgan Harper but like the rest of the Canterbury pack he refused to be intimidated.

The Sea Eagles bombed try after try and were ragged in defence as Canterbury took a shock 12-4 lead when former Australian Schoolboy Matt Doorey split them down the middle and Jayden Okunbor barged over.

Cherry-Evans took matters into his own hands and set up Haumole Olakau’atu before the break. Tom Trbojevic went in for three in the second half to get Manly home, but without him they would have struggled.

The 2021 wooden spooners led the Sea Eagles at halftime. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

“We have got our nose in the top four now so we just want to manage that and keep working on those parts we can control. We’ve got to finish it off and get the job done next week,” Hasler said.

“It takes a season, and then we arrive at this point where are not in too bad shape.

“We recognise we were down in a few areas but we will make sure when the big games come around that we are ready to go.”

The Dogs woes continued when Doorey suffered a suspected ACL rupture.

Barrett said “fingers crossed” it wasn’t but he was just cross about a couple of calls.

“I thought to be in front 12-10 was a really good effort from our boys and then there was the try to Trbojevic which wasn’t a try. How they get that wrong, I just don’t know,” Barrett said.

“And it changes the game. That was a bad one. There was a few.

“Joe Stimson, his hand got tangled up in (Taupau’s) hair. He gets put on report, so they get a free interchange in the searing heat which would have worked in our favour as well and it costs us two points.

“It’s not Joe’s fault Marty’s got long hair. I watched Trent Robinson’s press conference the other day and I can see why he was so frustrated. I haven’t got that good a rant in me but those two in particular, coupled with the possession was 70 per cent against us in the second half. In that heat against a red hot team like Manly, you can’t win.”

Record breakers

Manly keeps notching individual and team records.

Jason Saab, Garrick and Trbojevic are having their own internal competition for club leading try scorer. Trbojevic has 22, Saab (22) and Garrick (20). It is the first time a team will finish with three players in the same team having scored 20 or more tries in a season.

Garrick, already the highest Manly point scorer in a season, notched his 40th linebreak for the year and joined Nathan Blacklock (1999) and Preston Campbell (2001) with the most in history.

Tom Trbojevic’s second-half hat-trick helped Manly to avoid the biggest upset of the season. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

Dogs dig

It was a horror week off the field for the Bulldogs with Lachlan Lewis and Adam Elliott both stood down and under investigation by the NRL Integrity Unit for off-field indiscretions.

“You don’t need those distractions,” Barrett said.

“The club certainly doesn’t need any adverse publicity as well so that was disappointing, but you saw the effort from the players today. They do care a lot about their performance and they’re disappointed in the sheds again. Been a tough week.”

That didn’t stop Canterbury from rolling up its sleeves and taking it to Manly with Jackson leading his pack with grit.

The Bulldogs will claim their first wooden spoon since 2008 and another unwanted record of the first Canterbury side to lose 10 games in a row in the same season.

Originally published as NRL 2021: Tom Trbojevic stars as Sea Eagles hold off Bulldogs