Tom Trbojevic, DCE star as Manly outclass Warriors
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Led by the brilliance of returning fullback Tom Trbojevic alongside captain Daly Cherry-Evans, the Sea Eagles picked up their first win of the year with a 46-12 drubbing of the New Zealand Warriors in Christchurch.
In his first game back from a hamstring injury picked up in the trials, Trbojevic transformed the Manly attack by contributing two tries, two assists and three line breaks for the 'home' team.
The perfect supporting act was Cherry-Evans, who pulled the strings superbly and scored 22 of his side's points via two tries and seven goals.
Looking down the barrel of starting the season 0-3 for the first time since 2009, Manly went down 6-0 early off the back of an Isaiah Papali'i try. But then they didn't look back, improving their already impressive 70 per cent winning record in games played in New Zealand.
There was little sign of the team which went through the first game a half of their season against the Tigers managing only six points, as the Sea Eagles ran in four-first half tries in a free-flowing half. Both sides scored six tries in total during the opening 40.
Match: Sea Eagles v Warriors
Round 3 -
home Team
Sea Eagles
8th Position
away Team
Warriors
12th Position
Venue: Christchurch Stadium, Christchurch
After the Warriors scored early, Manly's response was swift and emphatic.
First Tom Trbojevic got over with a burrowing effort, after Manly had gone 80 metres in one set, before he turned provider to give the Sea Eagles the lead, latching onto an Addin Fonua-Blake offload before drawing the fullback and passing for Cherry Evans to score untouched.
Two minutes later they had their third, with Joel Thompson winning a race against the covering Warriors defence, and the looming dead ball line, to dot down, with Cherry-Evans adding his third conversion of the day.
The Warriors hit back via Issac Luke on 23 minutes – and later in the half were given a get out of jail free card when Reuben Garrick's try was called back for a forward pass.
But they wasted that reprieve by leaking further points a short time later, after Toafofoa Sipley squeezed an offload to fellow interchange player Manase Fainu, to send Manly into the sheds with a 24-12 lead.
Admittedly Luke didn't return for the second half with a tight hamstring.
After soaking up sustained waves of attack from the Warriors early in the second period, Manly struck again with 20 minutes to go, as another Trbojevic line break led to another Cherry-Evans try, before the Queenslander kicked a penalty to stretch the gap to 32-12.
Tom Trbojevic sizzles on return
Further tries to Trbojevic, Jorge Taufua and Garrick inside the final 15 minutes took Manly out to 46 points, putting an exclamation mark on a stunning return to form for Des Hasler's side.
The Warriors now head back to Auckland to face the Titans, while the Sea Eagles are back at Lottoland for the Rabbitohs.
Manly are now back in the top-eight from 14th on the Telstra Premiership ladder - well at least until round three's matches are completed.
