Sea Eagles 26 Storm 6
Once the most famous runaway in rugby league, Manly captain Jamie Lyon was all purpose in inspiring his side to a comprehensive victory over an out-of-sorts Storm yesterday.
The classy centre scored two tries, set up another and was impeccable in his goalkicking as the Sea Eagles consolidated their place in the top eight and bounced back from their awful display against Newcastle on Monday.
It was an impressive effort from Manly, who lost injured prop Josh Perry in the second minute and hooker Matt Ballin in the second half.
The Storm have battled gamely to maintain their standards since the cap scandal, but what saw last night was the difference between a team with everything to lose and a side with nothing to play for. With the renowned intensity of the NRL, a slight slide in desire is all it takes.
The Melbourne franchise had the second best defensive record going into the match but were all at sea in the first half, missing 26 tackles.
Manly took full advantage, scoring three tries in a blistering 14 minute spell.
The Manly pack rediscovered their renowned physical edge to win the battle at the ruck and the young halfback pairing of Trent Hodkinson and Kieran Foran completely outpointed their highly rated opposites Cooper Cronk and Brett Finch.
Greg Inglis was almost anonymous in the first half, not touching the ball on attack until the 35th minute and seeing opposite Jamie Lyon elude him twice for Manly tries.
Trailing 18-6 at halftime, the once-were-Premiers came out with real intent in the second stanza, dominating the first 10 minutes with winger Willie Isa inches away from bringing them back into the contest. But that was as close as they came.
The 2008 premiers doused the Storm comeback with a lovely four-pointer in 51st minute, Lyon timing his leap perfectly to snare a clever Foran bomb and seal the result.
Manly suffered a horror start, losing Perry with a suspected broken leg after he fell awkwardly as the second man in a seemingly innocuous tackle.
There was a distinct lack of fireworks early on between these fierce rivals as defences held firm and mistakes were at a minimum. Against the run of play, Lyon opened the scoring for Manly in the 12th minute, after second-rower Shane Rodney split the Storm wide open with a long-range bust when Kiwi international Adam Blair rushed out of the line.
As is often the case, the home side took heart from this and four minutes later had their second try. Livewire Hodkinson put Lyon in a hole near halfway and the NSW centre flicked a lovely no-look pass to 125kg Tony Williams, who steamrolled a helpless Billy Slater.
The crowd on the hill at Brookvale, resplendent with 'Billy the cheat' signs, were roaring even louder in the 28th minute when Warriors target Steve Matai scored his 7th try in the last six matches, wrongfooting several Storm defenders at the end of a second man play after Manly bravely elected to take a quick tap from a penalty.
The visitors struck back eight minutes before the break, Ryan Hoffman cantering through some flimsy Manly defence.
Williams narrowly missed scoring a brace when he bounced the ball over the line in the 38th minute, after a storming run by Joe Galuvao that was reminiscent of his charges for Penrith back in 2003.
With this win Manly consolidated their place in the top eight but they have a tough run-in to the finals, with matches against the Dragons, Warriors, Roosters and Bulldogs to come.
Sea Eagles 26 (J. Lyon 2, T. Williams, S. Matai tries, Lyon 5 goals) Storm 6 (R. Hoffman try, C. Smith goal). Halftime: 18-6.
