This afternoon saw the Wests Tigers succumb to yet another loss in the NRL, when they were once again beaten by the Manly Sea Eagles in Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
Manly, who have now won their last five games against Wests, earned themselves a 22:16 victory whilst being two players down by the end of the match.
The first half saw a back and forth affair between the two teams. Despite having 69% of ball possession throughout the first ten minutes, the Tigers were unable to find any tries. Manly’s Cherry Evans (7.) was able to capitalise on this failure and score the first try of the game in the ninth minute, which was converted by Reuben Garrick amongst boos (5.) to 6 points. Next to score a try was the highly touted Olakau’atu (11.), converted by Garrick to move the score to 12:0 at twenty-one minutes in.
Only four minutes remained in the 1st half, the Tigers were able to finally crack the Eagles’ defence. A massive jump from Charlie Staines (2.) over Schuster (6.) saw them score their first try and edge closer towards their first win of the season. 12:6 at the end of the first half – there was still hope for both the Tigers and their fans.
The start of the second half began with new Wests fallback Jahream Bula being ruled offside, leading to a penalty being scored by Manly kicker Garrick, moving the score to 14:6 off the bat. This, nor the slippery conditions could not hold the Tigers back however. Koroisau (9.) comes out the back of a scrum and muscles his way through the Eagles’ defence to drop onto the tryline. A welcome conversion from Wakeham (6.) makes the score 14-12 whilst nearing the midway point of the half.
At the 70th minute mark, Brad Parker (3.) was taken off the pitch and was not to return. The Sea Eagles were now a man down.
Utilising his team’s momentum, To’a (3.) scores a third consecutive try for the Tigers in the sixty fourth minute – allowing them to claw their way into the lead for the first time in the match. A missed conversion from Wakeham leaves the score at 14:16. Time running low on the clock meant that the Wests had no choice but to hold their ground.
Only ten minutes remained and to make matters even worse for the faltering Eagles, Tom Tbrovejic (1.) was subbed off due to a groin injury, rendering them a fallback down for the rest of the match.
With their backs against the wall, Manly pull it back. Cherry Evans kicks the ball next to the tryline and it is caught by a towering Jason Saab (7.) who stands at 6’6. Leaping into the air Saab is able to catch and deliver it past the tryline to pull the Eagles back into the lead with mere minutes left. Characteristically Garrick converts and puts Manly in front by 4 points, 16:20.
An offside ruling adds insult to injury to the Tigers’ effort. Manly wisely took and scored a penalty which sealed the deal for the Sydney based team. 16:22 to the Eagles at full time.
Drastic improvement from the Wests Tigers was still not enough to break their losing streak so far this year, with the Manly Sea Eagles continuing to be a nightmare for them. Extending their losing streak to seven and keeping them at the bottom of the league.
