The Wests Tigers fell 46-18 to the Manly Sea Eagles at Suncorp Stadium in their Magic Round clash.
Benji Marshall’s side trailed by 18 points early in the match and struggled to get back into the contest. Despite periods of momentum and some strong individual efforts, the Tigers were reduced to 12 men mid-way through the second half, which Manly ultimately capitalised on.
Alex Seyfarth brought up his 100th appearance for the Wests Tigers, while WT #309 Ethan Roberts impressed on NRL debut.
Key stats:
Ethan Roberts: Recorded 128 run metres on NRL debut, becoming WT #309.
Terrell May: 165 run metres and a team-leading 41 tackles.
Luke Laulilii: Scored a try and led the side with 186 run metres, with 61 of those post-contact.
The Moments:
3rd minute: Tolutau Koula crosses the line to score the first try of the match. It is converted by Reuben Garrick, putting Manly ahead 6-0.
10th minute: Jason Saab scores in front of the posts for Garrick to convert, extending Manly’s lead to 12-0.
22nd minute: The Tigers spread it to the left wing, with Taylan May offloading to Luke Laulilii in space, who runs 15 metres to score. Jock Madden converts, bringing the margin to 18-6.
33rd minute: Clayton Faulalo goes through to score. Garrick is successful with the conversion. Manly lead 24-6.
40th minute: An offside penalty against the Sea Eagles gives the Tigers the opportunity to get two points on the stroke of half-time. Madden is successful, bringing the score to 24-8.
56th minute: Saab goes over for his second try of the evening. The try is unconverted, with Manly ahead 34-8.
58th minute: Heath Mason is sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes for a professional foul.
62nd minute: Saab scores a converted try on the right wing, bringing up a hat trick. Manly lead 46-8.
71st minute: Taylan May leaves the field of play with a suspected shoulder injury.
74th minute: A Kai Pearce-Paul offload sees the ball spread right to Jeral Skelton, who goes over in the corner. Madden is unable to convert; Manly lead 46-12.
79th minute: A Madden kick is put up and collected by Patrick Herbert, who puts Pearce-Paul through to score. Herbert successfully converts, with the match ending 46-18 in favour of Manly.
What they said
NRL Head Coach, Benji Marshall
“We’re not playing the footy we want to play. We’re lacking a bit of resilience, and we weren’t good enough today.”
“The bye next week is coming at a really good time for us. We're a bit wounded. We had a bye in round one, and we've played 10 games straight since, so we're stinging for it at the moment. It’s a really good time for us to reset.”
Captain, Jarome Luai
“The hardest thing to do right now is to be positive, but that's what I need to do for my teammates — address it head-on, walk towards this challenging period, and work it out ourselves. We’re the only people that can dig ourselves out of this.”
