Not all football games can be won in a pretty or convincing fashion, as the Manly Sea Eagles won their game in a rather ugly fashion at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford, defeating the Wests Tigers 26-0.
It was the first time the Tigers have been held scoreless since the 2009 NRL season, and after all the early dominance in keeping Manly inside their own half for around 30 minutes, they could not capitalise, as Manly went into the break with a 4-0 lead.
The Tigers had the chance to take the lead at one stage, but five-eighth Benji Marshall missed a conversion from almost right in front, with nothing going their way.
Perhaps a move that surprised many, however, was when Tigers captain Robbie Farah was benched in the second half, a move that left the recently re-signed Tigers stalwart rather displeased.
The obstruction rule, which has changed since the recent tenure of current NRL Referees boss Daniel Anderson once again reared its ugly head, with both sides having potential try-scoring opportunities called back for obstruction.
Not one to shy away from honesty in football games or how he feels, Manly coach Geoff Toovey admits that the game was very ugly.
“It was one of the ugliest games I’ve seen in a long time,” Manly coach Geoff Toovey said.
“Our defence was good … but if we played some other teams, they would have made us pay very badly for that.
“We don’t want to be doing that (defending so much) … it’s going to catch up with you eventually.”
For Tigers captain Farah, whilst he was disappointed in being benched, his major gripe came with the obstruction rule and he did not hold back.
“Players are using it as a cop-out,” Farah said.
“You’ve got players in the defensive line just getting hit and then straight away putting their hands up, using it as a cop-out.”
The only downside for Manly, was Justin Horo and Brenton Lawrence placed on report for a dangerous throw.
3. Brenton Lawrence
2. David Williams
1. Kieran Foran