Tom Trbojevic, Daly Cherry-Evans injured as Warriors stun Manly Sea Eagles
Manly may have suffered a devastating blow, with superstars Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans suffering mystery injuries, as the Warriors stunned the Sea Eagles.
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In a horror night for Manly, Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans both left the field injured and the Warriors kick started their 2025 NRL campaign with a form reversal for the ages.
Gun fullback Trbojevic left the field with 13 minutes remaining in the match and went straight up the tunnel, giving no indication of why. Six minutes later his veteran skipper followed, clutching at his lower back.
Such was Manly’s night from hell, they played the last four and a half minutes with only 12 available players.
Manly coach Anthony Seibold, who attended the post match press conference with Jake Trbojevic in place of the injured Cherry-Evans, gave little away on the status of his two superstars, failing to even reveal which part of the body was of concern for Trbojevic.
“I think Chez had a little back spasm there, so again, he needs to get checked, and Turbo was feeling a little bit of tightness. Again, we need to get both those guys checked. So other than speaking to them briefly, then, yeah, I haven’t spoken to the doctor yet.”
What a difference a week can make in rugby league.
If you missed round one of the season and showed up at a pumping Go Media Stadium in Auckland tonight you would have thought it was the Sea Eagles who had struggled mightily and the Warriors who had looked every bit a top four side.
But in a role reversal that will give nightmares to tipsters and experts alike, it was the home side that showed they are not a spent force just yet, returning to form with a 36-16 win.
Conversely, despite starting where they’d left off in round one, scoring first inside four minutes, the star-studded Manly side showed they still have plenty of work to do.
The Warriors’ monster forward pack were immense on both sides of the ball in the first half, allowing hooker Wayde Egan and halves Luke Metcalf and Chanel Harris-Tavita to run amok.
Manly on the other hand were ill-disciplined, giving away six set restarts in the opening half and subsequently making 54 more tackles than the Warriors in the first 40 minutes. They had five set restart infringements in the second period too.
MAGIC METCALF
After an indifferent performance in the Warriors Las Vegas calamity, Luke Metcalf eased concerns about the Warriors post Shaun Johnson era with a complete display.
Metcalf was brilliant in the first half, first combining with halves partner Chanel Harris-Tavita to strip Manly’s defence on the left, before delivering a sublime pass to put Ali Leiataua over on the right.
The number seven threatened with the ball and peppered the Manly back three with towering bombs, one that boom Manly winger Lehi Hopoate dropped cold. He ended the game with a runaway try of his own and six goals from as many attempts.
Speaking at halftime on Fox Sports, four time premiership winner Cooper Cronk was impressed.
“Metcalf two try assists. I like what Metcalf did, particularly for his ball play. That’s top shelf, half back play there from the young man.”
CONTROVERSY AVERTED
After trailing 18-6 at half time, Manly attempted a second half comeback that was punctuated by controversy with first Jason Saab awarded a try when the ball appeared to slip from his grasp in the put down, sending Fox League commentator Andrew Voss into a spin. There was a fingernail in it.
“They’re saying they didn’t have clear evidence. Now find that absolute malarkey, absolute malarkey. They’ve ruled on the grounds of inconclusive.”
Then it looked as though Rueben Garrick’s toe had brushed the dead ball line as he miraculously tapped back a kick through from Saab for Daly Cherry-Evans to plant the ball down for a stunning try. This time there was a blade of grass in it.
Both were line balls but the Warriors but there is little doubt Manly got the rub of the green on at least one of those occasions.
TURBO UNPLUGGED
Trbojevic came into the game having scored 10 tries in 10 starts against the Warriors and Manly had won every match when he crossed the stripe.
Three minutes into this match it looked like there’d be more of the same when Trbojevic combined with Cherry-Evans and Rueben Garrick to send speedster Jason Saab sprinting down the sideline, only to back up and make it try number 11 against the Warriors.
From that point on it was all downhill for Trbojevic. He made four errors in the first half alone and was a shadow of the attacking force he was last week before he left the field.
TOHU HONOURED
Making the night even more special for Warriors fans was two special presentations made to former Warriors and Storm forward Tohu Harris.
Harris retired in January due to after a poor prognosis following surgery on his troublesome wrist.
A premiership winner with Melbourne, Harris played 234-game NRL games – an uncanny split of 117 each for the Storm and the Warriors, where he also captained the club 52 times.
Pre-game Harris handed a traditional Māori paddle to new co-captains James Fisher-Harris and Mitch Barnett, before he was recognised for his services to the club at half time.
Originally published as Tom Trbojevic, Daly Cherry-Evans injured as Warriors stun Manly Sea Eagles
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