An eight-minute hat-trick. A hair pull on a man wearing headgear. And yet another NSW Origin injury headache.
And of course Jarome Luai was in anything and everything, running the Panthers show and goading Luke Brooks in the lead-up to what proved to be a critical try.
Michael Maguire’s blood pressure will have hopefully been tempered somewhat after NSW Origin debutant Haumole Olakau’atu lasted just 24 minutes of Manly’s 32-22 loss to Penrith on Sunday afternoon.
Panthers winger Brian To’o.Credit: Getty
A calf injury laid Olakau’atu low as fellow Blues back-rower Liam Martin (toe) and Dylan Edwards (quad) watched from Ivan Cleary’s coach’s box, but both NRL mentors were reasonably upbeat on the injury front afterwards.
“The risk was that if we keep him out there that he does it properly,” coach Anthony Seibold said, with hope that Olakau’atu will be fit for a pre-Origin hitout next Sunday against the Dragons.
“Of course we would have loved to have him but if we keep him out there and he does his calf … the medical staff tell me he’s OK.”
Cleary is “pretty confident” Edwards will return as well against Newcastle in the last match before Maguire picks his Origin II squad. And “even if [Martin] can’t make it for next week, I’m sure he’ll be fine for Origin”.
But at least Luai and pocket rocket Brian To’o – with a treble of his own – had themselves a day out after Tommy Talau scored four tries and three in the first half hour.
When a Sea Eagles ambush loomed, Manly and Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans played like the million-dollar halfback he has been for almost a decade now.
In return, Luai showed promise once more as the million-dollar halfback Wests Tigers will pay him to be next year, with more than handy support from his own likely scrumbase replacement Jack Cole.
Luai simply wanted to be everywhere. Once again he seemed to relish being the Panthers first and second ball-playing option in the No.7 jumper the besieged Tigers will pay him a small fortune to wear.
“When we lost Nat and Brad Schneider on the same day, it was a real opportunity for him,” Ivan Cleary said.
“Not just an opportunity for him though, we needed him. He’s absolutely stepped up and played really well. I thought he played well [for NSW] on Wednesday night, he was good again today and I’m looking forward to when Nat and Romey can get back together.”
Liam Henry celebrates his try for Penrith.Credit: Getty
Right throughout the contest Luai had his hands on the ball and produced key plays without it, bundling Jason Saab into touch and forcing an error from Tof Sipley with strong contact.
From the resulting scrum Nathan Brown was put on report for grabbing Luai’s ponytail despite half of it hiding under his headgear.
After being pinned to a 16-12 half-time lead, the Panthers cracked on from Brown’s penalty.
Sunia Turuva crossed a few plays after his own lengthy break through Manly’s middle, and Liam Henry surged over at the hour-mark for a convincing 28-12 advantage.
In a surprise to precisely no one, Luai had tangled Luke Brooks up in the preceding play-the-ball, taking him out of the defensive line, as the two bantamweights exchanged pleasantries.
Manly’s protests over the fracas fell on deaf ears even as Henry was crossing the tryline, though Cherry-Evans and Seibold insisted Brooks hadn’t taken on Luai just for fun.
“I think he saw something there,” Cherry-Evans said. “You might think he got baited but I think he saw something there and was looking after his teammate [Ben Trbojevic].”
