Sea Eagles 40 Sharks 12
Panthers 28 Roosters 6
SYDNEY - Manly claimed their third victory of the NRL season in emphatic style, smashing Cronulla at Brookvale Oval yesterday.
Sea Eagles five-eighth Kieran Foran put his hand up for selection in the halves for the New Zealand test side with a masterful display, and centre Jamie Lyon further enhanced his NSW State of Origin prospects with two tries amid a personal 20-point haul.
Winger Michael Robertson also nabbed a double for Manly, who have stabilised their season nicely after losing their opening two matches.
Foran set up two tries in the first half, and looked to have laid on another in the 61st minute, only for it to be disallowed after a dubious "no try" video referee ruling for obstruction.
Rookie Shark Albert Kelly had another forgettable match at fullback, again struggling under the high ball and making several other mistakes.
Despite a sluggish start by the Sea Eagles, it didn't take long for the home side to hit top gear and open up a 30-6 halftime lead.
Manly looked flat early on in the match but some poor Cronulla goal-line defence quickly played them into form and they cut loose on their hapless opponents.
The Sharks came out full of confidence after their drought-breaking win over Parramatta last week, and Tim Smith scored after only four minutes, the conversion giving his team a 6-0 lead.
Cronulla's preference to slide in defence on their own line instead of coming forward gave Manly simple tries to Jamie Lyon in the 16th minute and Michael Robertson in the 20th.
Sharks coach Ricky Stuart would have been able to live with the 12-6 deficit, but it quickly got ugly when the Sea Eagles rushed in three tries in the final seven minutes to stretch their advantage to 24 points.
Foran continued his rise as a star for Manly when he kicked neatly behind the line, with Smith and Kelly making a meal of covering the ball up before Glenn Stewart touched down.
Halfback Trent Hodkinson ghosted through lazy defence to run 30 metres untouched in the 36th minute, then more Foran magic put Matt Cross over as the halftime hooter sounded.
The second half started with Manly forward Brent Kite put on report for a high tackle on Blake Ferguson.
Lyon and Robertson completed their doubles in the second half, and Grant Millington crossed for a consolation four-pointer for Cronulla with 13 minutes left.
* All eyes may have been on the other No 1, but Penrith fullback Lachlan Coote stole the show as Penrith beat the Sydney Roosters at CUA Stadium.
Coote scored one try and set up another in spectacular fashion just before halftime when he reeled in a Luke Walsh bomb and flicked out a miraculous pass in one movement for Adrian Purtell to make it 16-0 at the break.
Walsh's boot contributed to three of the five tries the Panthers scored, and Roosters fullback Todd Carney and his wing partners were given a thorough test under the high ball.
It was Carney's least influential performance since his off-season move to the club, but he wasn't on his own as the Roosters slumped to their second loss of the season.
Just as they did in their round three encounter against the Canterbury, the Roosters looked off the pace.
They scored their only try an hour into the game when Mitchell Aubusson found a way through the defence, but then returned to their error-riddled ways as Luke Lewis put the result beyond doubt when he popped a ball for Michael Gordon to score seven minutes from fulltime.
- AAP
