- Dragons 18 Sea Eagles 24
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Dragons make Manly sweat as DCE celebrates milestone moment
WIN Stadium: Manly survived a few anxious moments before delivering Daly Cherry-Evans a victory in his 300th game.
The Sea Eagles remain just outside the top eight after triumphing 24-18 against St George Illawarra in Wollongong on Saturday night.
The Dragons set up a thrilling finish when Tyrell Sloan scored with 10 minutes remaining.
They kept pressing for one last try in the final seconds until Tolu Koula belted Mikaele Ravalawa into touch.
On the balance of play, the Dragons should have won this one easily given the amount of possession and field position they enjoyed. They were tackled inside Manly’s red zone nearly 50 times.
The fact they could not score was more a case of their poor attack rather than a solid Manly defence.
Tolutau Koula crosses the line.Credit: Getty
Caretaker coach Ryan Carr frequently banged the wall that neighbours the press box at WIN Stadium.
He would have been seething when Jack de Belin was sin-binned for a hip-drop tackle on Christian Tuipulotu midway through the second half. Tuipulotu was forced from the field a few minutes later, but de Belin’s effort did not look like a classic hip drop.
Carr was unimpressed play was stopped in the first play, so Tuipulotu’s knee could be strapped.
He also could not understand how the bunker could deny Dan Russell a try, despite admitting vision showed he was over the try line.
Daly Cherry-Evans during the presentation for his 300-game milestone at WIN Stadium.Credit: Getty
But back to Cherry-Evans, who has achieved everything in the game, and now becomes just the second Sea Eagle to post 300 games. Coach Anthony Seibold rated him among the “top three or four players” to ever play for Manly.
It is a superb achievement for a 34-year-old who continues to move like he is 24.
His cutout pass for Jason Saab to score a 50-metre try in the second half was a beauty.
A few deep kicks helped the Sea Eagles get out of trouble on a night they felt like they were forever parked deep in their own end.
Cherry-Evans will need to keep lifting over the next three weeks when Manly take on the Roosters, Penrith and the Warriors in their Auckland backyard. Notch up three more wins and they will more than deserve to feature in September.
Wayne Pearce made the trek to Wollongong to honour Cherry-Evans after the game.
So, too, did the Penn family who flew in from New York for the special occasion, with Scott Penn telling this masthead after full-time: “We couldn’t be prouder of him. I remember him coming down as a kid from Queensland, he showed a lot of promise. Des [Hasler] didn’t play him that first year, he told him he wouldn’t play him, so he toughed it out and decided he’d make something of this.
“He won a comp in his first year, and look at him now, 300 games, a one-club player, and look what he’s done for Queensland and Australia.
“He’s been phenomenal. And he’s got a lot more left in him.”
Matt Lodge was good in the early exchanges, Saab has speed to burn, while Reuben Garrick bombed one of the greatest tries that never was in the second half. Rather than dive over the line with nobody in front of him, he passed to Lachie Croker, who was tackled from behind and lost the ball.
Haumole Olakau’atu also had a nice two-minute passage when he whacked Jacob Liddle to force an error, then scored a try himself.
The Dragons kept aiming up but lacked the polish at the end of their sets.
Zac Lomax continued his late-season form surge. He was busy in attack, and at one stage ripped into skipper Ben Hunt for a pass that sailed into touch.
Ponga powers Knights’ charge
Meanwhile, Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien says his in-form Knights have found their rhythm on a charge to the finals after Kalyn Ponga turned in a scintillating performance to shred Canberra in a vital 28-6 win.
In their fourth straight win, the Knights led 26-0 after 50 minutes having capitalised on a deplorable first half from the Raiders to move within a point of the NRL’s top eight.
Star No.1 Ponga looked his unstoppable best from the outset at GIO Stadium, busting through the Canberra line in the first set of the game to establish the tempo for a majestic display that included a try, eight tackle busts, 165m and three line-break assists.
He sent a scare through Newcastle fans when sent for a head injury assessment on 60 minutes following a stray knee from Canberra winger Jordan Rapana, but the fullback passed his test and returned to the field.
O’Brien, who admitted he flirted with leaving his prized weapon on the bench with the game locked away, said the entire rugby league world would have breathed a sigh of relief when Ponga passed his HIA.
“Me, the whole town, KP, everyone who loves footy,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll admit that I did [consider resting Ponga] ... but there’s just a flow to them at the moment, and they love playing footy, he deserved to be part of what he set up in the first half.”
with AAP
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