Parramatta Eels ‘blown off the park’ by Manly Sea Eagles

The comments of Parramatta coach Brad Arthur were as emphatic as the scoreline.

Manly’s Jake Trbojevic withstands heavy pressure to flick the pass that put Lachlan Croker over the line for his first try for the Sea Eagles. Picture: AAP

The comments of Parramatta coach Brad Arthur were as emphatic as the scoreline.

“We were blown off the park,” Arthur said after his side’s 54-0 loss to Manly at Lottoland yesterday afternoon.

“We weren’t playing the same game. We just didn’t play. We did not have a go. Me going in there (the dressing room) and carrying on like a pork chop is not going to help anyone. We’re all hurting, we’re embarrassed but we need to make sure we do something about it. The attitude wasn’t great. You don’t play like that if you come ready to play.”

Parramatta, among the pre-season favourites for the premiership, played like wooden-spoon contenders on Sydney’s northern beaches yesterday.

As good as Manly were — and they were good — they were given an enormous helping hand by the opposition. The Eels were lethargic and lacklustre. They lacked intent and initiative.

Under the baking sun, they were battered. Arthur spent the second half on the sideline, having moved down from the coaches box in the hope of inspiring his side.

It only served to give him a ­closer look at the carnage as Parramatta picked up where they left off in the second half of their opening round loss to Penrith, when they threw away the lead.

Yesterday, they never threatened the scoreboard, let alone the lead. The Eels face Cronulla next week in a game that will leave one of the pair winless after three rounds.

Arthur has his work cut out ­attempting to lift the gloom ­surrounding the side after they suffered the biggest loss in their history at the hands of Manly.

Asked how his players could overcome such a devastating and debilitating loss in six days, Arthur said he would prefer they didn’t. He wants them to feel the hurt.

“We need to show more respect ... we need to show more respect for our club and the fans,” he said. ­Arthur’s devastation was only matched by the delight of Manly coach Trent Barrett. The Sea ­Eagles have rarely played better on his watch.

Barely a week after a disappointing one-point loss to ­Newcastle, they responded with a nine-try romp. Manly didn’t have a bad player. Parramatta didn’t have a good one.

“I was confident that we would play well today but certainly didn’t expect the scoreline to finish up like that,” Barrett said.

“We had to be disciplined at the back end. It would have been easy to put the cue in the rack. It gives us a lot of confidence.”

There was relief all round for Manly. After their loss to Newcastle in round one, many critics openly questioned whether they had the ability to overcome the loss of five-eighth Blake Green, who joined the New Zealand Warriors in the off-season.

Rookie Lachlan Croker took his place. Croker looked like a ­veteran as he toyed with Parramatta yesterday. He scored one try and laid on another for Addin Fonua-Blake.

“Surely the monkey is off the back now,” Sea Eagles captain Daly Cherry-Evans said.

“He is a first grader. He fits in with the group. There is no question of him fitting in this side.”

Barrett added: “I was really happy with the way everybody played, in particular our halves.

“We still had to work hard for our tries and defend well. It’s his third game. He dominated that game at important moments. If it was someone else he would be front and back page.”

Croker’s first try for Manly, off a flick pass from the impressive Jake Trbojevic, was the last of six in the first half as Manly took a 30-0 lead to the break.

After running riot in the first half, they took what seemed an eternity — 13 minutes — to add their opening try of the second half. Having helped Croker to a try, Trbojevic was gifted one of his own by Lloyd Perrett.

Manly were rampant, their cause aided by the sin-binning of Parramatta half Mitchell Moses for the second week in succession. The exclamation point was put on a brilliant performance from the home side in the final minute when Tom Trbojevic gave Jorge Taufua a saloon passage to the line and Manly a record win over their mortal enemies, beating the 64-12 they recorded 30 years ago.