Cronulla slipped out of the NRL top four as an opening quarter blitz from Manly helped earn the Sea Eagles a 35-18 win on Sunday.
Almost 15,000 fans packed into Southern Cross Group Stadium to see if the Sharks could narrow the gap at the top of the table to Melbourne after the Storm slipped to a golden-point extra-time defeat to the Sydney Roosters on Saturday night.
Cronulla had five stars backing up from State of Origin II on Wednesday night – Andrew Fifita, James Maloney, Wade Graham, Jack Bird and Valentine Holmes – and looked sluggish from the opening whistle.
The Sea Eagles flew out of the blocks and led 18-0 midway through the first half. Cronulla had not had possession of the ball before Curtis Sironen strolled over from a short Daly Cherry-Evans pass after two minutes to open the scoring.
Matthew Wright produced a sublime finish to score in the corner from a Tom Trbojevic cutout pass after 20 minutes. Manly scored again from the next set off the back of a cheeky offload from their own NSW representative Jake Trbojevic, with Sironen crossing for his second.
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan produced a tactical switch shortly after, with Jack Bird moving to fullback and Valentine Holmes heading out to the wing.
Cronulla were back in the game after half an hour when they scored completely against the run of play. With Manly inside Cronulla’s 20 metres, Cherry-Evans attempted to switch the point of attack back to the left with a long cutout pass to Blake Green. But Luke Lewis read the situation and swooped, charging out of the line to intercept the pass and race 80 metres to score next to the posts.
Five minutes later and the comeback looked on. The Sharks were gifted a penalty 10 metres out from Manly’s goalline in the middle of the field and James Maloney confused many when he strangely decided to kick for touch. But Cronulla caught Manly out with a brilliant set play, with Sosaia Feki scoring down the short side.
Cherry-Evans kicked a field goal on the stroke of half-time to give Manly a 19-12 lead at the break. Ten minutes into the second half Cronulla lost young hooker Jayden Brailey to a jaw injury.
But the comeback Cronulla threatened never eventuated, with Manly extending their lead when Wright scored his second try. A Sharks error coming out of their own end gifted Manly possession and from the next set Manly looked to shift left, with Cherry-Evans producing a long cutout pass for Wright to stroll over.
Manly all-but sealed victory through a Green solo effort 16 minutes from full-time as he beat three defenders to score next to the posts.
Graham celebrated his 150th NRL game with a consolation try with seven minutes remaining but Dylan Walker’s late four-pointer ensured Manly had done enough to run out deserved winners and take the Steve Rogers Cup back to the northern beaches.
The win also saw Manly climb above the Sharks into fourth place on for and against. Cronulla will look to regroup ahead of their clash with the high-flying Roosters on the Central Coast on Saturday.
Leader Scoreboard
Manly Sea Eagles 35 (Curtis Sironen two, Matthew Wright two, Blake Green, Dylan Walker tries. Matthew Wright five goals. Daly Cherry-Evans field goal)
defeated
Cronulla Sharks 18 (Luke Lewis, Sosaia Feki, Wade Graham tries. James Maloney three goals)
at Southern Cross Group Stadium
Crowd: 14,766
Leader man of the match: Daly Cherry-Evans (Sea Eagles)
Sharks’ next three: Roosters (away), BYE, Titans (away)