Rejuvenated Sea Eagles brush Rabbits
Manly's 2009 resuscitation is in full swing after its 24-8 defeat of South Sydney on Saturday evening made it back-to-back wins for the revived premier.
Off-field controversy and a month-long suspension to Brett Stewart plagued a Sea Eagles losing streak that lasted the opening four rounds of the season.
But Stewart's return to the side last week brought with it good fortune as Manly rolled the Tigers, and carried that momentum to Sydney's Olympic stadium for round six.
The flying full-back scored two of the Sea Eagles' four tries - and his presence clearly returned confidence to the side as the Rabbitohs slumped to a third loss.
Jamie Lyon was bombarded with questions about his representative estrangement during the week, and answered with a resounding performance that underlined his allegiance to club football.
Lyon scored and converted both of Manly's opening tries, with Stewart adding another to establish an insurmountable 18-0 lead at the half-time break.
Stewart crossed for his second in the 53rd minute - his four-pointer bookended by tries to the Rabbitohs that provided the hosts with little more than consolation.
Craig Wing and Nathan Merritt were the players to cross for South Sydney, which looks shaky at 3-3 after such a promising start to the 2009 season.
Wing was bereft of explanation for a poor South Sydney performance dogged by 17 handling errors, 30 missed tackles and only 23 of 36 sets completed.
"It was just a hard slog for us, any time we looked like getting some decent ball we just dropped it," he told ABC Grandstand.
"You can't win games like that, especially against the defending premier.
"They've got a lot of classy players but any team is going to look great with that much ball and field position."
Opposing rake Matt Ballin told ABC Grandstand that the wounded Silvertails must continue to regain their strength.
"We have to keep going now, we've won two games and we're looking to get on a roll," he said of their campaign, which now stands at 2-4.
"We were concentrating on doing the basics right - trying to get a bit of structure and a bit of shape for our ball players."
Ballin paid credit to Stewart, who will re-appear in court at the end of May on a sexual assault charge.
"He's fought back really well and it's courageous the way he's come back," Ballin told Grandstand.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/18/2546565.htm
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Sorry Dan, but when I went to submit the article the way that you want them submitted, the option wasn't there in the "Articles" drop down menu.
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Manly's 2009 resuscitation is in full swing after its 24-8 defeat of South Sydney on Saturday evening made it back-to-back wins for the revived premier.
Off-field controversy and a month-long suspension to Brett Stewart plagued a Sea Eagles losing streak that lasted the opening four rounds of the season.
But Stewart's return to the side last week brought with it good fortune as Manly rolled the Tigers, and carried that momentum to Sydney's Olympic stadium for round six.
The flying full-back scored two of the Sea Eagles' four tries - and his presence clearly returned confidence to the side as the Rabbitohs slumped to a third loss.
Jamie Lyon was bombarded with questions about his representative estrangement during the week, and answered with a resounding performance that underlined his allegiance to club football.
Lyon scored and converted both of Manly's opening tries, with Stewart adding another to establish an insurmountable 18-0 lead at the half-time break.
Stewart crossed for his second in the 53rd minute - his four-pointer bookended by tries to the Rabbitohs that provided the hosts with little more than consolation.
Craig Wing and Nathan Merritt were the players to cross for South Sydney, which looks shaky at 3-3 after such a promising start to the 2009 season.
Wing was bereft of explanation for a poor South Sydney performance dogged by 17 handling errors, 30 missed tackles and only 23 of 36 sets completed.
"It was just a hard slog for us, any time we looked like getting some decent ball we just dropped it," he told ABC Grandstand.
"You can't win games like that, especially against the defending premier.
"They've got a lot of classy players but any team is going to look great with that much ball and field position."
Opposing rake Matt Ballin told ABC Grandstand that the wounded Silvertails must continue to regain their strength.
"We have to keep going now, we've won two games and we're looking to get on a roll," he said of their campaign, which now stands at 2-4.
"We were concentrating on doing the basics right - trying to get a bit of structure and a bit of shape for our ball players."
Ballin paid credit to Stewart, who will re-appear in court at the end of May on a sexual assault charge.
"He's fought back really well and it's courageous the way he's come back," Ballin told Grandstand.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/18/2546565.htm
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Sorry Dan, but when I went to submit the article the way that you want them submitted, the option wasn't there in the "Articles" drop down menu.
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