Gherkins on the bench: Manly’s recovery aid for their clash against the Eels

THERE was a very strange addition to the Manly bench against the Eels on Thursday night, but there was a perfectly logical reason for its inclusion.

PLAYERS? Check. Strapping tape? Check. Powerade? Check. Gherkins? Check.

Go ahead, pick the odd one out.

When Manly planned what they’d need on the sideline at Brookvale Oval when they took on the Eels, they’d clearly thought not just outside the box but outside the shopping centre the box came from.

Five minutes into the second half of their 22-10 loss to Parramatta, a Channel 9 camera panned to a table on the Manly bench, and in amongst the bottles of energy drinks and cups was a jar of gherkins.

The gherkins on the Manly bench during Thursday night’s match against Parramatta.

Spotted by commentator Ray Warren who initially asked, “Is that some sort of peptide?”, it was later revealed the pickles had a very specific purpose.

It wasn’t, as Phil Gould suggested, for the forwards to eat so that the opposite pack would be put off by their bad breath in a scrum. No, according to Brad Fittler, gherkin juice is the perfect anti-cramping medicine.

Sport science and strength and conditioning researcher at the University of Queensland Vince Kelly tweeted that Fittler’s explanation was bang on.

We’ve come a long way from half-time oranges.

"Gherkin and Powerade - is that some sort of peptide?" - Rabs. Wow. #NRLManlyEels

— Alicia Newton (@AliciaNewton91) April 14, 2016

Well that's the weirdest product placement ever.. #GherkinGate #NRLManlyEels

— Marko Milinkovic (@AusLoafer) April 14, 2016

Coles gherkins on the Manly bench. Who for? #NRLManlyEels

— Sami (@StormFanSami) April 14, 2016

@FOXNRLLive #NRLManlyEels gherkins on the sideline are to help with muscle cramp. Good sport science

— Vince Kelly (@VinceKellySport) April 14, 2016

"Hey, hey. What's this? Are they gherkins?" - Rabs. 😂 #NRLManlyEels #9NRLFootyShow pic.twitter.com/DO4vI7rzZw

— The NRL Footy Show (@NRLFootyShow) April 14, 2016

Gherkin juice? Anti cramping supplement now used in Rugby League. Ah the evolution of sport science. What's next? #NRLManlyEels

— Daniel Watson Hayes™ (@dwatsonhayes) April 14, 2016

Michael Jennings scored two tries in his 200th NRL game as Parramatta registered a fourth straight win.

It was a deserved win for the Eels, who were denied two controversial tries to Corey Norman and Brad Takairangi either side of half-time in Parramatta captain Kieran Foran’s first game against his old club on Thursday.

Under-strength Manly, who lost Matt Parcell and Brenton Lawrence shortly before kick-off in addition to having Daly Cherry-Evans sidelined, matched Parramatta for most of the first hour. But the Eels drew away after that, scoring three tries in the final 10 minutes through Jennings’ double and Semi Radradra.

After Brett Stewart blew an early try-scoring chance, Michael Gordon opened the scoring through a 12th minute Eels penalty goal. Five minutes later Stewart combined brilliantly on the short side with right winger Tom Trbojevic and Jamie Lyon for the Sea Eagles skipper to score and push the home side out to an 8-2 lead.

In a rough and ready game up front Manly dominated for much of the first 20 minutes and Parramatta enjoyed the ascendancy for the next 20 minutes.

Eels pivot Corey Norman had a try disallowed for obstruction in the 29th minute, before Dylan Walker spilt a Foran kick for Brad Takairangi to score. Michael Gordon’s conversion brought the scores to 8-8 after 34 minutes.

Michael Jennings was unable to put the Eels ahead before the break when he dropped the ball with the tryline beckoning.

The Eels had another try disallowed in the 48th minute when the bunker backed up the questionable on-field call of no try to Takairangi, due to offside. A Lyon penalty goal put the home side ahead 10-8 in the 56th minute.

Apisai Koroisau failed to clean up an Isaac De Gois kick in the 69th minute and the converted try to Jennings put the Eels ahead 14-10, before his double and Radradra’s effort sealed the win. Eels forward Tepai Moeroa suffered a first half leg injury and could be sidelined for a few weeks.

Manly winger Jorge Taufua left the field in the 60th minute with a suspected broken collarbone.

— with James MacSmith, AAP

Originally published as Gherkins on the bench: Manly’s recovery aid for their clash against the Eels