NRL: Dragons breathe fire in crushing win over Manly
They live on Sydney’s well-to-do northern beaches but Manly suddenly find themselves on Struggle Street.
They live on Sydney’s well-to-do northern beaches but Manly suddenly find themselves on Struggle Street. Three successive losses, injured and suspended players and a looming game against competition leaders Parramatta leave Manly in a precarious position.
The Sea Eagles now sit in 10th spot with four wins from nine matches after a horrible 34-4 loss to St George Illawarra at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
It was St George Illawarra’s third win of the season, the pressure on under-performing stars and head coach Paul McGregor easing. The Dragons now sit in 11th place, just a win behind Manly and they finally look to have found their strongest side.
Their stats were brilliant – six tries scored and 39 of 42 sets completed. Delighted Dragons fans clapped as When The Saints Go Marching In echoed around the famous suburban ground.
Manly’s season is sliding amid refereeing blunders, the Addin Fonua-Blake drama, injuries to star players Tom Trbojevic and Dylan Walker. But it was handling errors that dented their victory chances on Sunday night.
There can be no excuses, the Sea Eagles just couldn’t find any sustained field position.
Winger Jorge Taufua was sin-binned for a professional foul while halfback Daly Cherry-Evans endured a challenging game with his handling. And while some last-minute changes altered Manly’s dynamics, they were still well short of victory.
Before 1571 noisy fans, St George Illawarra thrived on returning to their spiritual home. The Dragons were committed and enthusiastic. They still don’t look like a finals-bound side but their defence off their line was effective. Where has this form and energy been all season? Victory was deserved, the Dragons powering home to belt Manly on the back of four second-half tries.
Fullback Matt Dufty looked sharp again while winger Mikaele Ravalawa was brutal in defence.
Ravalawa poleaxed Jorge Taufua, the Manly winger known for handing out his own defensive punishment, in the first half before he struck again minutes later by hammering Manly’s Cade Cust. And then in the 67th minute, Ravalawa whacked Manly centre Brad Parker.
It was Saints first major scalp this year, having previously beaten lowly Cronulla and Gold Coast.
And it was nice seeing St George Illawarra back in the famous Red V jumpers for a match at their spiritual home.
A key moment came in the 32nd minute when Cherry-Evans cut a sizeable hole in Saints defence only to throw a pass directly to Dragons centre Zac Lomax, who sent Dufty on an electrifying 70m run to the tryline.
With their own try looming, gutted Manly players then had to trudge back to their own tryline after Dufty’s dash. The Dragons enjoyed a super first half, completing 19 from 21 sets, but were even better in the second.
Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler made a series of pre-game changes after successive losses. Brendan Elliot was brought in as starting fullback, Ruben Garrick shifted to wing with Tevita Funa dropping out.
Cust was elevated to start at five-eighth with Lachlan Croker coming from the bench. Big Taniela Paseka was pushed back to the bench with Morgan Boyle promoted to starting prop.
The Daily Telegraph
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