By Emma Kemp
The fight was in the air before it even began. Two plumes of machine-made mist shot up above the field, clouds of maroon and blue coming together in pretty, hostile colours.
Like Harry Potter’s duel with Voldemort in the cemetery, the glow of each wand seeking to overwhelm the other, with the threat of sudden death looming for the loser.
Quite who the Dark Lord was on Sunday felt unclear, for this elimination final was a genuine hate-watch. For the neutral viewers outside Accor Stadium who, for one reason or another, loathe both of these clubs.
For the 50,704 mostly Canterbury supporters witnessing their team’s biggest game in recent memory, and for the smattering of Sea Eagles fans hoping to claim a first finals victory over the Bulldogs since 1976 – their only such triumph from six previous post-season matches.
Similar to the sparks of the mini-fireworks flying amid the pre-game smoke show, much of the pre-game chat danced on the fumes of Manly’s 34-22 win two weeks ago. The Sea Eagles had the blueprint for how to beat the Bulldogs; all they had to do was repeat it. Get the forward pack charging through the middle and generate quick play-the-balls. Make this about power over lightness of foot and big, brute force over shrewd short stuff.
Except that, as Reed Mahoney told Nine’s broadcast coverage at half-time, “both teams came with baseball bats”. As possibly the smallest one out there, Mahoney would know what it means to try and physically dominate a more physically dominant side. Yet dominate they did, for the good part of 70 minutes, pinning the Sea Eagles to their own end until they inexplicably ill-disciplined themselves out of their own fairytale season.
Some will say this late capitulation is the fallout from a distracting week of headlines surrounding Josh Addo-Carr’s positive drug test.
Matt Burton after missing a match-turning field goal just before full-time.Credit: Getty Images
But Addo-Carr had nothing to do with the mass confusion when, two minutes from full-time with two points in it, the hosts seemed to miscount their tackles, before realising they were on their last and Matt Burton tried to turn a botched set-up into a field goal that fell short of the crossbar. And crucially, Addo-Carr was not present when Burton went for and missed another in the dying seconds under off-putting winds of up to 60km/h.
To give some credit to Manly, he also had no influence on the try that finally turned the game. Tom Trbojevic, his shoulder flooded with painkilling injections that were topped up at the break, made the run to set up the opportunity for Tolutau Koula, who skipped past three defenders to transform a 22-18 deficit into a 24-22 lead after Reuben Garrick had slotted his conversion.
Daly Cherry-Evans celebrates with Luke Brooks.Credit: Getty Images
This had not been the way the dominoes were falling. Viliame Kikau had been in charge of that, with his catch-and-pass to set up Jacob Kiraz to score the opening try and his searing run to score the second himself. The dominoes – if this is the analogy in play – had started with Lehi Hopoate falling over his own feet during that successful Kikau run down Manly’s frail right edge. It prompted Garrick and a couple of other teammates to trip in similar fashion and, soon after that, the literal stumbles became figurative and the Dogs led 16-6 after 23 minutes.
The old-timers, wearing their Canterbury jumpers you just know they’ve owned since the 1980s, sat silently satisfied in their seats. Headphones in their ears, listening to the commentary. The younger generation around them were on their feet in a frenzy, holding up countless sets of 10 fingers when Tommy Talau put a big hit on Connor Tracey and raging when Ethan Bullemor scored off what appeared to be an unchecked forward pass from Hopoate.
Even after all of that, this still looked to be the Dogs’ day. The next step in a season defined by momentum, featuring 14 regular-season wins that doubled the seven of last year’s squalor. Yes, the last two outings were categorically not wins – particularly last week’s 44-6 flogging by the Cowboys.
But the defensive vulnerabilities exposed there were not permanent. And Burton did not play last week. Stephen Crichton – himself the scorer of a scarcely believable try on Sunday – did not play the week before that, when Manly last got the better of them.
This time the Sea Eagles had no right to be in the game, let alone secure their spot in next week’s semi-final against the Roosters. Even they appeared stunned once the final whistle went and the highway robbery was complete. Perhaps everyone except Daly Cherry-Evans, whose kicking game and second-half try kept his side in their 2024 campaign and who, when handed the microphone post-match, drew the loudest boos of the afternoon. Except from the holders of that famous banner: “Guess what? Manly hates you too.”
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now