Whilst the Manly Sea Eagles might be on a high in recent weeks, the same cannot be said for their opponents the Canterbury Bulldogs who were comprehensively beaten 36-0 by the Manly side at Lottoland on Saturday afternoon.
Led by an array of tricks from halfback Daly Cherry-Evans, Manly were rampant against the Bulldogs who had no answer for his brilliance.
Their 26-nil first-half romp set up the victory before the club took their foot off the accelerator with the win sewn up.
With Manly firing, it was a stark contrast for the poor Bulldogs side who looked stilted in attack with the lack of a kicking game to apply pressure on the Manly defence.
Manly’s first points came after a deft grubber through the Bulldogs defensive line by Cherry-Evans, to which centre Dylan Walker reacted quickest to pounce and score.
It got worse just minutes later as an offside penalty led to a try to the hard-running Curtis Sironen to extend Manly’s lead.
Despite being denied a try through Jake Trbojevic, Manly scored again soon after through Brian Kelly before Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic combined with a well-crafted play to allow the fullback to score.
Two further tries to Apisai Koroisau and Akuila Uate – a try which came off a kick from Cherry-Evans uncanny left foot kick – giving Manly a resounding 36-0 win.
An uninspiring effort by his Bulldogs side, coach Des Hasler conceded that his side was flat and lacked enthusiasm.
“We really couldn’t get into it,” Hasler said post-game.
“We were flat, they out-enthused us and we were down in energy right across the park so that’s disappointing,” Hasler said after the game.
“We didn’t help ourselves at all and consequently they brought plenty of that… and I guess you could liken it to a bit of an old ambush, couldn’t you?”
With a short turnaround ahead of their next fixture, Bulldogs captain James Graham knows his side needs to get out there and make amends.
“Thursday can’t come around soon enough,” he said. “It’s a short turnaround but I actually think that’s a good thing considering the situation that we’re in tonight.”
“It’s a short turnaround but I actually think that’s a good thing considering the situation that we’re in tonight.”
Despite the comprehensive nature of their win, Manly coach Trent Barrett believes that they can still improve.
“We were pretty determined to back up last week’s win and it was an outstanding defensive effort again I thought,” Barrett said after the game.
“We can still improve; I thought we turned over a little bit too much ball, but there are some things that we can be really happy with. We’ve just got to keep going; we haven’t achieved anything but we’re on the right track. What they have been doing is paying off.
Player of the Game:
3. Daly Cherry-Evans
2. Tom Trbojevic
- Marty Taupau
Sea Eagles 36 (Brian Kelly 2, Dylan Walker, Curtis Sironen, Tom Trbojevic, Apisai Koroisau, Akuila Uate tries; Dylan Walker 4 goals) def. Bulldogs 0 at Lottoland. Half-time: 26-0. Crowd: 9,610