NRL 2022: Manly Sea Eagles win 25-6 over Canberra Raiders, as Tom Trbojevic, Daly Cherry-Evans star
Tom Trbojevic has had a quiet start to the season but he’s officially back, as Daly Cherry-Evans produced some magic with the boot to trounce Canberra.
Martin Gabor and
Michael Carayannis
4 min read
April 2, 2022 - 8:23PM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...795ad296cd7ad6704172b08aa0ecf?amp#share-tools
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NRL: Manly Sea Eagles star Daly Cherry-Evans delighted with the boot against the Canberra Raiders, with Braith Anasta labeling the performance a 'kicking masterclass'.
A veteran’s right boot and a young gun’s blazing speed provided the fizz to Manly’s attack as the ‘Cherry-Koula’ combination helped the Sea Eagles beat Canberra 25-6 in Mudgee and earned unprecedented praise from Ricky Stuart.
Footy in the small NSW town has been a rare thing, but not as rare as the 20/40. But thanks to Daly Cherry-Evans, the tally has doubled after he nailed one early in the second half when the Raiders never saw it coming.
It’s just the second 20/40 ever kicked in the NRL after Melbourne’s Brandon Smith nailed one in the preliminary final loss to Penrith last year.
It was just one of a number of crafty kicks by the Sea Eagles skipper who backed up last week’s match-winning field goal with another heroic display as he kicked Canberra into submission.
Whoever the new CEO is may as well sign Cherry-Evans for another 10 years after Saturday’s showreel earned incredible praise from the opposition coach.
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The Sea Eagles started slow in 2022 but have finally shaken off the rust with back-to-back wins. Picture: Getty Images.
“If I’m the Manly boss then I’d be going down there and putting a fresh bunch of flowers on Bob Fulton’s grave every day,” Ricky Stuart said.
“The smartest play that club ever made is pinching him back off the Titans for $1 million for 10 years. Everybody bagged ‘Bozo’ for it but it’s a masterstroke.”
Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler agreed.
This is remarkable from DCE. Absolute control.
#NRLManlyRaiders
— Dan Talintyre (@dantalintyre)
April 2, 2022
Feel like Manly and Canberra have put in the same effort but Manly have been much smarter. You can’t buy what DCE has between the ears, it can only be earned.
— Nick Campton (@campo37)
April 2, 2022
“He’s probably just referencing what a great competitor he is and a leader as well. It’s those clutch moments, and that’s what he does so well,” he said.
“It’s great that you finally get to write about a 20/40. I thought his kicking game today was exceptional.”
He forced an error with a towering bomb, earned a couple of repeat sets, grubbered to set up a crucial try for Haumole Olakau’atu, landed a 40-20 and then put the cherry on top with a field goal to complete kicking’s version of bingo.
In all he kicked for a whopping 632 metres, with his umpteenth 40/20 leading to Tom Trbojevic’s match-sealing try from the very next set.
“A lot of it’s just off momentum and ruck speed from our forwards. It’s very instinctive stuff so I just got lucky with a few bounces,” Cherry-Evans humbly said.
Tom Trbojevic has also struggled so far this season but produced his best performance of the year. Picture: Getty Images.
CENTRE OF ATTENTION
Sea Eagles fans and Supercoach fanatics have been crying out for Des Hasler to pick Tolu Koula. Now he’s in, he may never leave their backline.
The 19-year-old has Olympic pedigree and his searing speed earned plenty of column inches in the pre-season.
It’s clear he’s still raw, but the potential is there after a really impressive showing on Saturday.
Koula was heavily involved and it took just 12 minutes for the left centre to justify his selection after he beat a defender and popped a pass for Reuben Garrick to open the scoring.
He finished the evening with 141 metres and a stack of tackles, but most importantly he held his own in defence which is exactly what Hasler wanted to see.
HISTORY REPEATS
It took an ugly 13-12 win to get them going last year, and history may be repeating for Manly.
In 2021 they started with four losses but turned it around thanks to a DCE field goal to win 13-12. They went to Mudgee the following week, recorded a big win with Trbojevic back in the side and went on to finish in the top four.
Last week they won 13-12 thanks to a Cherry-Evans field goal and backed it up in Mudgee with Trbojevic racking up 252 running metres in the win while playing with a cork.
“It’s bizarre,” Cherry-Evans said.
The Raiders were their own worst enemy as Manly’s kicking game forced them to be too adventurous with the ball, coming up with too many errors. Picture: Getty Images.
HOLD IT
Sometimes quality trumps quantity.
The Raiders won the offload count 21-10 but their desperation to promote the football proved their undoing as their completion rate fell apart in the second half.
The Green Machine looked flat in the first 40 but were rescued by some strong touches by Jack Wighton, but there was nothing positive about their play after the break.
They turned the ball over at a worrying rate and never challenged Manly’s line because they were too keen to move the ball. Offloads look great when they come off, but sometimes a safety-first approach is what it takes to win.
“It’s (about picking the moments). A couple of them weren’t in the moment, and it hurt us,” Stuart said.
“We know what’s hurting us.”
RAIDER’S WOES
Canberra hooker Tom Starling says it is the same errors each week. Coach Ricky Stuart agrees but said the problems can be fixed as the Raiders begin their first month of the season with two wins and two losses.
Starling said the side were “killing ourselves with yardage errors”.
“We’re giving easy leg ups with penalties,” Starling said. “We keep talking about it but we keep doing it. We’re not going to win games giving the ball away so early. It is a bit frustrating. It’s an easy fix. Sometimes we have to sit there and know we have to get down their end with a kick. We try and chase points.”
The Raiders trailed just 10-6 at half-time but conceded 15 unanswered second half points. They were unable to repeat their heroics of last week where they overcame a 22 point deficit against the Titans.
The Raiders made 13 errors.
Their second-phase play troubled the Sea Eagles but 24 off-loads resulted in poor handling.
Stuart said his team needed to pick their moments better.
im not concerned about that loss
@RaidersCanberra just frustrated the ball handling is not improving we be right
#WeAreRaiders
— Marco (@marcoraiders1)
April 2, 2022
“A couple of them weren’t in their moment,” Stuart said. “(It is) execution of the correct play. We know what’s hurting us. We spoke about it very briefly (After the game). At 10-6 we were in it. I thought we finished that half off very well.
“We were the stronger team at the break. We spoke about that. Wanted to bounce off it in the second half.”
Canberra skipper Elliott Whitehead added: “We are giving too much ball away and (putting) a little bit too much pressure on.”
Back-rowers Hudson Young and Corey Harawira-Naera were placed on report on either side of half-time.
The Raiders will welcome back Seb Kris from Covid-19 protocols to play the Storm on Saturday.
