KEY POINTS:
The Warriors turned on a mighty defensive effort against the Sea Eagles yesterday but the extra tackling cost them in the end as they let a 6-0 halftime lead slip to a 13-10 loss.
There was no disgrace, they were simply worn down by the weight of territory and possession plus the home crowd advantage of the Eagles.
The Warriors had the ball for most of the first quarter. The Eagles had it for most of the remainder of the game.
Tony Martin scored in the 15th minute off Michael Witt's kick. From then on, the Sea Eagles had four penalties and forced the Warriors to drop out from their own line three times before the break.
Warriors coach Ivan Cleary held Ruben Wiki back, injecting him mid-first half so there was no leadership loss when captain Steve Price had a breather. But the hot and humid conditions, and the defensive workload, told against the Warriors. They were slow in the second half.
Epalahame Lauaki produced a lazy play-the-ball that gave Manly possession and Manly wing Chris Hicks scored wide on the last tackle to secure their first points in the 55th minute.
Manly's try-scoring fullback Brett Stewart had been held out and held up three times in the first half but he nailed his fourth opportunity in the 59th minute when set up by Michael Monaghan and the Warriors went for the dummies and the dummy-runners.
Jamie Lyon missed the conversion but scored from a subsequent penalty, then Monaghan slotted the late field goal that gave them a 13-6 buffer. Dropped ball cost the Warriors their last chances until Simon Mannering benefited from some frenetic handling to score in the 78th minute.
Price and Evarn Tuimavave made big ground gains for the Warriors up front but by the end it was the gains made by Manly backrowers Anthony Watmough and Glenn Stewart that made the difference.
A similar performance by the Warriors will mean another loss next Sunday against North Queensland.
There was good news for the Kiwis, with Sonny Bill Williams making a solid return for the Bulldogs and Benji Marshall all but steering the Tigers to their first win of the season in Townsville. Paul Whatuira and Bronson Harrison played well in that game.
* Last night, the Gold Coast Titans beat Penrith 24-22.
