- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
St George Illawarra are emerging as one of the surprise packets for the NRL playoffs after upsetting Manly at Brookvale on Thursday night.
Young winger Tyrell Sloan starred for the Dragons in their 20-18 upset over an error-prone Sea Eagles side and despite being considered favourites for the wooden spoon in the pre-season, Shane Flanagan’s troops are punching well above their weight.
Whether it’s the speculation surrounding Daly Cherry-Evans’ future, the absence of Tom Trbojevic or simply a run-of-the-mill form slump, Manly have lost three in a row and are quickly fading from title contention after a hot start to the season.
They played most of the match without Jake Trbojevic due to a concussion and fellow forward Tof Sipley was unlucky to be sin-binned in the second half but they did not deserve to win and the Dragons showed a lot more commitment to bank the vital two competition points.
Shane Flanagan last year switched one of his backline stars to the wing despite their opposition to the move and Zac Lomax had the best season of his career, ending up with his first NSW and Australian jerseys.
Tyrell Sloan was shunted to the flank this season after the arrival of Clint Gutherson and the former fullback has made every post a winner on the right edge.
He finished off a backline sweep via a clever pass from none other than Gutherson in the first half and then ran 90-plus metres after scooping up a loose ball in the second half as the Dragons stretched out to a 14-0 lead.
Sloan effortlessly floats across the turf at top speed and although he will be eager to return to the No.1 jersey down the track, he is looking a million dollars on the wing right now.
St George Illawarra looked like they were going to cough up their lead with Lehi Hopoate set up Tolu Koula then after a rare penalty goal when eight down, Manly drew level when their young fullback put Ben Trbojevic over the stripe.
Kyle Flanagan created space for Jacob Liddle – having his best attacking season after being relegated to a bench player – and the hooker stepped through a couple of tacklers to make it 20-14 midway through the second half.
Daly Cherry-Evans lobbed a kick high enough for Jason Saab to cut the deficit to two with 11 minutes on the clock but Reuben Garrick’s sideline conversion just failed to level the scores.
Luke Brooks claimed what he thought was the match-winning try after a DCE bomb was allowed to bounce because fellow chaser Tof Sipley was offside.
With their upset win over Manly, the ragtag Dragons who were atop wooden spoon markets in the pre-season have won three from six.
And they could be 5-1 if not for blowing two 12-point leads in one-point losses to Souths and Parramatta. Their only other loss was an eight-point defeat to the unbeaten Bulldogs in Round 1.
They took their fans on a merry dance last year when they outperformed expectations before fading in the final rounds and just missing the finals.
This time around they look to be a more formidable line-up and although only the most one-eyed Dragons supporter would be putting any hard-earned on them to make the final eight, it’s a distinct possibility after the first seven rounds of 2025.
Kyle Flanagan is in career-best form. With Ben Hunt no longer calling the shots, he has stepped up to ease the burden on new halves partner Lachlan Ilias.
His old man has blooded a few young forwards who have no fear as they rip into more experienced opponents in attack and defence.
And although Parra thought he was washed up, Clint Gutherson has been dynamic in attack and solid in defence since assuming the fullback spot.
That’s three losses on the trot for Manly, coinciding with Tom Trbojevic’s latest injury.
He is not due back for another fortnight but it will take more than his brilliance to get the Sea Eagles flying high again.
They were outplayed for the entire 80 minutes on their home turf and were lucky to still be in the contest late in the piece given their lack of respect for completing sets.
Manly pushed passes left, right and centre against the Dragons that either ended up in opposition’s hands or were fumbled by unsuspecting teammates.
It was not flamboyant but reckless and they paid the price.
They have slumped to a 3-4 record after a strong start to the year and the impressive floggings of the Cowboys and the Raiders in the first few rounds now seem like an eternity ago.
Jaydn Su’A is tackled. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Moses Suli is perhaps the biggest centre in the NRL.
And when he’s on his game he’s one of the most damaging.
The former Sea Eagle reluctantly switched to St George Illawarra in 2022 after being told he was free to leave due to salary cap pressures and has subsequently re-signed long term after finding a home in Wollongong.
Suli burst onto the scene as a teenage winger with Wests Tigers eight years ago and after an extremely brief sojourn at the Bulldogs, he made 63 appearances for Manly.
Thursday night’s return to Brookvale was his 64th in red and white and he was more than a handful for his old comrades in maroon.
Suli amassed 188 running metres, 74 post contact, created a line break and busted five tackles while centre partner Valentine Holmes had his best game as a Dragon to solidify his chances of earning his 20th Maroons jersey next month when Origin kicks off.
Manly forward Tof Sipley was marched to the sin bin for a hip drop tackle on Mat Feagai with 27 minutes left.
“Loses your legs, grip and twist. It’s a moderate risk of injury,” referee Peter Gough explained as he sent Sipley on his way.
Sipley’s legs did leave the ground after he hit Feagai with a heavy front-on hit but it didn’t appear to be anything untoward in the incident, merely a case of his torso landing on the back of the winger’s legs.
Feagai was injured as he hobbled off but it seemed a case of bad luck rather than anything malicious in the tackle.
The interchange rule needs to change for concussions.
If someone suffers a category one knock and is ruled out for the game, the 18th player should be automatically activated.
And a sixth reserve should be added to the bench in case there is more than one.
A category one means a player gets stood down for the following round so it’s not like a team will fake a head knock to get a fresh player on the park.
Jake Trbojevic fell over as he tried to get back in defence after a tackle went wrong in the eighth minute – his absence wasn’t the reason why Manly lost the game but if the NRL wants to underline its commitment to concussion protocols, it would help if teams are not disadvantaged when a player suffers an obvious head knock.