Five and a Kick: Eagles roll Raiders but rocked by Achilles tear, Dogs offside with ref over dodgy ploy to bamboozle Eels

https://ift.tt/9hfWIPm RoarMarch 23, 2025 at 11:11AMhttps://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/13.1.0/72x72/270d.png

Manly mauled Canberra 40-12 with the kind of performance that puts them firmly in the premiership hunt but they also suffered an injury which will make that mammoth task immeasurably harder.

Sea Eagles pack leader Taniela Paseka’s season appears over after his Achilles went ping as he accelerated into contact from a stock-standard hit-up.

But that was the only moment of concern for Manly as they dismantled the previously unbeaten Green Machine.

In Sunday’s earlier game, Canterbury overcame a determined Parramatta outfit 16-8 in a match which contained one of the strangest penalties for many a year – Dogs forward Josh Curran called out for impersonating the ref to tell Eels defenders they were offside.

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1. Manly magnificent in making title statement

As impressive as the final scoreline was, the injury to Paseka took the gloss off this win.

“He’s such a presence in the forward pack. Devastating for the Manly side,” was Fox League expert Michael Ennis’ analysis of the impact.

His co-commentator Cooper Cronk was nonetheless ultra impressed about the Sea Eagles’ clinical display

“This team right now has all the ingredients that it’s shown to start the season can do it. It looks as though at different glimpses this season so far they are in the (premiership) window,” said the multiple premiership winner from the Storm and Roosters.

For the first 20 minutes the contest was deadlocked – the Raiders looked like they had opened the scoring but a Seb Kris try was disallowed due to a Corey Horsburgh obstruction, which Daly Cherry-Evans was blowing up about one nanosecond after referee Grant Atkins awarded the try.

Horsburgh was again in Atkins’ bad books and sin-binned for not getting square at marker a metre out from the line.

During his 10 minutes in the naughty corner, Reuben Garrick touched down, second-rower Ethan Bullemor capitalised twice on Daly Cherry-Evans kicks that were fumbled by Raiders fullback Kaeo Weekes and hooker Jake Simpkin plunged over as Horsburgh rejoined the scrambled defensive line.

The 24-point blitz was followed by another Garrick try in the 37th minute and the 30-0 half-time margin should have been 36 if not for Haumole Olakau’atu failing to pass to an unmarked Jason Saab on the fly just before the siren sounded.

Manly held an astonishing 70% of possession in the first half and Garrick, who had rocked the baby after his first try to celebrate the birth of his daughter Elsie on Saturday, had two more reasons to cheer as he ended up with four tries for the match, bringing his personal haul to 28 with his six conversions.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 08: Reuben Garrick of the Sea Eagles celebrates a try with Luke Brooks and Daly Cherry-Evans during the round one NRL match between Manly Sea Eagles and North Queensland Cowboys at 4 Pines Park, on March 08, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Reuben Garrick celebrates a try with Luke Brooks and Daly Cherry-Evans. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

2. Nightmare for Weekes

Weekes had the kind of night that all fullbacks dread.

Twice he failed to defuse a bomb in the first half and on both occasions Manly scored.

He fumbled a third in the second half to concede six more points when the result was well beyond doubt to complete an unhappy return to Brookvale for the former Sea Eagle.

Not that this loss was due to his unhappy performance – the Raiders, after two impressive wins to start the year over the Warriors and Broncos, were getting outmuscled even before Horsburgh’s sin bin triggered the avalanche of Manly tries.

They will get skipper Joseph Tapine back from suspension next Saturday for their trip north to face the Cowboys but could be without fellow middle forward Morgan Smithies after the Englishman failed an HIA during the half-time break.

3. Bulldogs grind past old rivals

Only bulldog owners think they’re pretty. Only Bulldogs fans would consider this anything other than an ugly win.

They were clunky without star playmaker Matt Burton and edge threat Viliame Kikau after they both suffered knee injuries during last week’s win over the Titans.

After racing in three tries to one in the opening half, they did not have the firepower to put the Eels away.

The final 34 minutes of the match hung on a six-point knife edge after a try to Josh Addo-Carr, who was mercilessly booed by his former Bulldogs fans in his first outing for Parramatta.

Stephen Crichton sealed the win after the siren with a penalty goal after he was foolishly taken out when chasing a kick in the final minute with the Eels denying themselves the chance of a frenetic last foray to draw level.

“We didn’t win it on smarts, and we learned a lot of lessons on how we can attack better considering we were missing our five-eighth, but we did what we had to do,” coach Cameron Ciraldo said.

“It was all about our defence this week and I’m pleased with the improvements we made.”

4. Moral victories not enough for Eels

Parramatta can take heart from their performance against the Bulldogs. They pushed one of the title contenders all the way and if not for a couple of poor choices down the stretch, they could have forced extra time.

But they do need to realise they caught the Dogs at a good time in their first outing without two of their best three players.

The absence of Mitchell Moses with his foot injury is making Jason Ryles’ introduction to head coaching a tortuous experience but if he can mould this team into a unit with the kind of resilience they showed against the Bulldogs, then their halfback’s class will propel them up the ladder.

“In key positions, while we have good players, we just need to build those combinations going forward,” Ryles said.

“We didn’t get the result that we wanted but we were much better in terms of our fight, our effort and what serving the badge looks like.”

5. Lomax unleashed

There is still plenty of doubt about whether his best position is on the wing or centre where Ryles is playing him but Zac Lomax could not be accused of failing to get involved on Sunday.

The ex-Dragon made a whopping 30 runs for 291 running metres, the most by any player on the field in either category, racking up 89m after contact and a line break from his 37 touches in possession.

This is the kind of output that the Eels shelled out big bucks to see and it’s the kind of display which will ensure the blowtorch is not applied to Lomax even though the team’s 2025 campaign is sinking quickly following three straight losses.

Lomax and Mitchell Moses struck up a potent combination when they wore the sky-blue of NSW in their Origin series win last year and the 25-year-old will be one of the biggest beneficiaries when Parra finally get their star halfback on the park in the next few weeks.

“That’s just Zac, he’s a quality player. We always want him involved, but he was doing stuff out there that he doesn’t need to positionally,” Ryles said.

“But that’s a sign of his character. He wants to help us win however he can. That was his best game [as an Eel] by a mile.”

The Kick: Curran pinged for impersonating ref

It’s hard to know whether Josh Curran should be castigated for his devious tactics or applauded for nearly getting away with it.

The Canterbury forward was penalised while his team was in possession at CommBank Stadium when he impersonated referee Wyatt Raymond to tell Eels defenders they were offside.

When the Parra patsies had been duped and pulled out of a tackle, Raymond awarded the Eels a penalty, telling confused Bulldogs hooker Reed Mahoney that Curran’s actions were “against the true spirit of the game, calling a bloke offside”.

Just like in cricket where the spirit of the game can be used in a malleable fashion depending on whether Jonny Bairstow has been stumped or Ben Stokes should appeal for a clearly dropped catch, it is difficult to say what rugby league’s unwritten code should be.

Gamesmanship, underhanded tactics and skullduggery have been a part of the sport’s fabric ever since South Sydney claimed the 1909 premiership when Balmain didn’t turn up to the grand final because they thought they had a deal about not being a curtain-raiser to a rugby union game.

with AAP

Paul Suttorhttps://https://ift.tt/mYEAJI2 and a Kick: Eagles roll Raiders but rocked by Achilles tear, Dogs offside with ref over dodgy ploy to bamboozle Eels

Five and a Kick: Eagles roll Raiders but rocked by Achilles tear, Dogs offside with ref over dodgy ploy to bamboozle Eels