SuperCoach NRL: Sivo’s brain fade ends Eels hopes, SuperCoach Winners and Losers

While plenty were expecting Tom Trbojevic to star in the scores, it was another Manly weapon who produced an incredible tally. See who the top Friday SuperCoach players were in our Winners and Losers.

There promised to be niggle from the opening minutes, and both Manly and Parramatta didn’t disappoint with a wildly entertaining game.

The Eels let another halftime lead slip as they fell into old ways. They were outscored 26-4 in the second half.

They had two players spend time in the sin bin in the second half, with Maika Sivo’s stint the hammer blow to their chances, turning a two-point deficit with just over 10 minutes to go into a 14-point loss.

In a game where we saw 16 penalties and six set restarts, the Sea Eagles held their nerve late to force the Eels into old habits.

The boot of Reuben Garrick made a big difference, converting all five tries while the Eels failed to land one conversion from their four attempts.

He scored twice late to come up with a huge SuperCoach score, and it’s no surprise he sits atop our Winners and Losers from Friday Night Footy.

SUPERCOACH WINNERS

1. Reuben Garrick (138 pts) - His finish to the game saw him post a monster score. His breakeven was 149 coming into tonight and he went awfully close to hitting it.

2. Ethan Sanders (59 pts) - That was a debut to remember despite the result, and if he holds his spot he will be a popular pick among SuperCoaches next week.

3. Clint Gutherson (86 pts) - Continued his run of hot and cold SuperCoach scores with a great night for owners.

4. Ryan Matterson (59 pts) - That’s his best score since round two, largely boosted by playing the full 80 minutes.

5. Bailey Simonsson (66 pts) - Posted a score above 49 for the first time this season, rewarding the faith of those who had him in their side.

Ryan Matterson had a strong SuperCoach output. Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

SUPERCOACH LOSERS

1. Kelma Tuilagi (18 pts) - Was given a bit of time to show what he can do, but 18 points in 25 minutes was a tough watch.

2. Ethan Bullemor (16 pts) - His PPM wasn’t bad, but it doesn’t help owners when he played just the 13 minutes.

3. Joey Lussick (27 pts) - Played just the 53 minutes tonight and that will have owners nervous about keeping him.

4. Lachlan Croker (27 pts) - Posted a massive score in round one, but hasn’t been able to replicate it since.

5. Luke Brooks (37 pts) - After a hot start to the season his SC scores have started to bottom out in recent times,

Reuben Garrick and the Sea Eagles had a night to remember after a big second half. Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

FULL-TIME - Sea Eagles 32-18

The Sea Eagles score two late tries, a late double to Reuben Garrick adding some late pain to the Eels.

Sadly for the visitors the damage was done once Maika Sivo had a moment of madness and threw an elbow onto Garrick when the Eels got the margin back to just two.

A lopsided penalty count will be talked about in the second half, but ultimately it was the Eels who were their own worst enemy at key moments as they conceded 26 points in the second half to suffer a big loss in the end.

Manly vs Parramatta - Full-time SuperCoach scores

72nd minute - Sea Eagles 26-18

In the ultimate turnaround, Sivo’s heroics have turned to nothing after the Sea Eagles scored the very next set after he was sin binned for an elbow to the head of Reuben Garrick.

It was Garrick that made him pay with the four pointer to gift them an eight-point lead late in the piece.

70th minute - Sea Eagles 20-18

There’s plenty of resolve in the Eels tonight.

Maika Sivo has completed his hat-trick after a bomb is unable to be contained by the Sea Eagles, with a wide spread seeing the Fijian flyer cross in the corner.

Ethan Sanders and Junior Paulo played key parts in getting the ball wide.

Sivo now goes from hero to zero after a brain fade sees him throw an elbow at Reuben Garrick and sent to the sin bin for the rest of the contest.

Awful defense by Parra & then absolute brain melt by Penisini. Parra deserve this L

— The Fall Guy (@gcampbell_88) April 26, 2024

60th minute - Sea Eagles 20-14

The official crowd is over 17,000 people to continue the great attendances over the past two days.

Will Penisini is in the sin bin after a nice piece of play from Luke Brooks to kick ahead with Clint Gutherson stuck out of fullback.

Tom Trbojevic was chasing hard and was brought down by the Eels centre. The Sea Eagles take the easy two and will look to pile on more points.

52' Now its DCE off big break off Jakey! Gaz converts

Sea Eagles 18
Eels 14

Match Centre - https://t.co/ylXh35xOgk#GoManlypic.twitter.com/bdbFGcHjl2

— Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (@SeaEagles) April 26, 2024

53rd minute - Sea Eagles 18-14

Nathan Brown puts Jake Trbojevic through a gaping hole in the middle of the field, and he draws the fullback to put Daly Cherry-Evans over to give Manly its first lead of the contest.

What a start to the second half its been for the Sea Eagles, and for Eels fans they’ll be having nasty flashbacks to last weekend.

48th minute - Eels 14-12

That is the start Manly needed.

Daly Cherry-Evans throws a dummy that Maika Sivo swings and misses at, allowing Jason Saab to race down the sideline before finding Tom Trbojevic on his inside to cut the margin back to two.

Plenty of Turbo’s SuperCoach owners will be happy with that.

Maika Sivo scores his second try of the half 🔥

📺 Watch #NRLManlyEels on ch.502 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/B1ijnGXtqA
✍️ BLOG https://t.co/5gthZsMUhf
🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/LTbHDa3fTLpic.twitter.com/jImg5flkp6

— Fox League (@FOXNRL) April 26, 2024

HALFTIME - Eels 14-6

What happened to Manly’s defence there?

Jason Saab was left flat-footed and Tom Trbojevic was out of position as Maika Sivo picks up his second try of the night in pretty easy fashion.

Nice lead-up work from Ethan Sanders as he continues a great debut.

Manly vs Parramatta - SuperCoach halftime scores

More sloppy defence from the Sea Eagles gives the Eels another try as Baily Simonsson touches down in the corner after Dylan Brown set him up.

Parramatta has been superb this half while Manly look like they don’t want to be out there at present.

There are 8 former Tigers forwards involved in tonight’s Manly Parra game, and it feels like all 8 were somehow at the club across about 5 different eras

— NBWT (@NBWT__) April 26, 2024

30th minute - 6-all

Parramatta are showing great signs in this game and really controlling things well. Fans would be very pleased with the fight they’re showing.

There’s plenty of feeling in this one with the two teams coming together and getting the official warning from referee Gerry Sutton.

Luke Brooks and Ryan Matterson are having a running battle.

Speaking of Brooks, he turns what appeared to be a wasted last tackle into gold, putting a lovely banana grubber through the line and Tommy Talau pounces to get the Sea Eagles on the board.

Haumole Olakau'atu was put on report and sent to the sin bin for this dangerous tackle on Shaun Lane.

📺 Watch #NRLManlyEels on ch.502 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/B1ijnGXtqA
✍️ BLOG https://t.co/5gthZsMUhf
🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/LTbHDa3fTLpic.twitter.com/MSGDL5bJy4

— Fox League (@FOXNRL) April 26, 2024

20th minute - Eels 6-0

Jason Saab has the first opportunity to post a try, but a nice tackle from Morgan Harper puts him into touch. It looked like he dropped the ball over the line as well.

Manly defence went to sleep down the other end, allowing a mountain of offloads on the last tackle with players just standing around watching as Maika Sivo repays the faith to score in the corner.

Ethan Sanders has 27 SuperCoach points already with Clint Gutherson on 33.

15th minute - Eels 2-0

Despite having the extra man advantage, the Eels had to hold out Manly’s attack. They showed a lot more resolve than they did last week.

Ryan Matterson has been put on report for a tackle on Luke Brooks, that went unpunished by the referee live.

Manly gets through the period without Olakau’atu conceding just the two points. They’ll be pleased with that.

Who will you have your eyes on during tonight's clash? 👀#SuperCoach#NRLpic.twitter.com/sTiLO6qdqT

— SuperCoach NRL (@SuperCoachNRL) April 26, 2024

6th minute - Eels 2-0

Shaun Lane hit the ground hard after a dangerous tackle from Haumole Olakau’atu just five minutes into the game, where his head appeared to make tough contact with the turf.

He’s been sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes.

Lane will undergo a HIA as the Eels take the penalty goal on offer.

8PM: After another moving pre-game ceremony for Anzac Round, we are underway here at Brookvale as two old rivals prepare for a huge round eight clash.

Who are you taking tonight, and who will be the standout SuperCoach players?

For Tez 🖤#GoManlypic.twitter.com/3veqXNyABr

— Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (@SeaEagles) April 26, 2024

7.30PM: After the Eels were beaten for pace against Canberra, there was a notable omission the next week.

Maika Sivo (CTW $554,400) was dropped following that clash, but returns to the Eels side as they look to get their season back on track.

Will Manly’s outside backs be the beneficiaries with some big SuperCoach scores tonight?

Both Jason Saab (CTW $556,700) and Tommy Talau (CTW $334,800) can light it up close to the sideline and with Tom Trbojevic (FLB $824,400) leading the charge from the back, expect the wingers to get plenty of chances tonight.

Aaron Woods and Sean Russell are the 18th men for their respective teams.

Manly vs Parramatta - Pre-game average scores

7PM: There’s just the one game for our Friday night with Manly playing host to Parramatta.

These two had an enthralling clash just a few short weeks ago with the Eels getting the money, but recent form has them as outsiders.

The two sides will have their same 17 from their teams named on Tuesday.

In a move that surprised absolutely nobody, Junior Paulo (FRF $463,800) has been moved to the bench with Joe Ofahengaue (FRF $388,000).

Ethan Sanders (HFB $204,300) will make his awaited debut for the blue and gold, partnering Dylan Brown (5/8 $635,800) in the halves.

Another Brown makes his return for Manly, with Nathan Brown (2RF $361,300) coming onto the bench.

He was exceptional against the Panthers with his impact off the bench and the Sea Eagles will be looking for him to do similar tonight.

Tom Trbojevic is expected to score big tonight. Photo: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

EARLIER: Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Friday night’s clash between the Sea Eagles and Eels.

There’s a plethora of SuperCoach relevant players in action including the following key players:

* Tom Trbojevic - A premium target to replace the injured Kalyn Ponga. Turbo has scored the fourth most points of any player in SuperCoach, yet hasn’t quite busted out.

That could come this week at his favourite 4 Pines Park against the struggling Eels. A very popular captaincy choice, Trbojevic has a career average of 84 against the Eels and has averaged 84 at 4 Pines over the last two seasons.

* Luke Brooks - The second most sold player this week behind Ponga.

The former Tiger has done a serviceable job for SuperCoaches in averaging 52.3 this year, but the move up to a returning Nathan Cleary is an obvious trade for many.

* Ethan Sanders - Hyped young gun named to make his NRL debut for the Eels and has the chance to carve out a decent role, with Mitch Moses not due back until round 12.

Don’t jump on now though, take a week (or preferably two) to watch and see how the youngster handles first grade.

* Shaun Lane and J’maine Hopgood - The Parramatta pack is stacked with SuperCoach-relevant players with Lane and Hopgood among them.

SuperCoaches are hoping for improvement from both with Lane making only $30,000 so far despite being earmarked as a top cash cow, while Hopgood’s five-game average has dropped to 65 after a red-hot start.

Originally published as SuperCoach NRL: Sivo’s brain fade ends Eels hopes, SuperCoach Winners and Losers