Despite only making one less error than the Panthers - 13 (14) and just completing two more sets than the Panthers - 27/38 (25/38) we still managed to enjoy 14% more time in possession - 57% (43%) which resulted in Manly having the ball for over 7 minutes more.
This resulted in Manly having 14 more runs than the panthers - 172 (158) and 105 extra running metres.
Manly made 26 more tackle breaks than the Panthers - 39 (13).
Manly created 4 more offloads - 11 (7)
Manly had a superior kicking game - 17 kicks/417 metres (14 kicks/304 metres) and a 77% kick defusal (33%)
Manly's defence was far superior with only 13 missed tackles (39 missed tackles Panthers). We had a 91% tackle effectiveness.
Only 4 missed tackles by our backs and great sliding defence on our tryline.
Almost half of our tackle breaks were made by three players - Thompson - 5, Taupau - 6, Walker - 7. Even more impressive Taupau only played 35 mins for his 148 metres/6 tackle breaks and Walker only played 48 mins.
Tom and Jake both provided a try assistand a line break assist, coming up with the perfect plays when it really counts.
Fainu comes up with the goods. High Energy - 64 mins - 31 tackles, 0 missed tackles, 100% tackle efficiency, 4 runs for 37m, 2 tackle breaks and a very speedy play-the-ball - 2.15 seconds!
Hodkinson back in form - Proved an invaluable replacement from the bench with a couple of great successful attacking kicks and great support play leading to a try.
Despite the high error count we still managed to control the game and implement a game plan that eventually wore the Panthers down.
7 of our players were error free - Tom & Jake, Fainu, Thompson, Winterstein, Hodkinson, Paseka. With Tom, Fainu and Thompson also perfect in defence with 0 missed tackles
Thompson Masterclass!
And the list goes on........ Lots of positives to take out of this game despite the errors.
