Meanwhile, both Toafofoa Sipley (knee) and Corey Waddell (ankle) were also forced to sit on the pine, but could have returned to the field if needed with the Sea Eagles down to 13 men.However, Seibold’s side put those issues behind them and scored the first try in the fourth minute, with Lehi Hopoate crosses for his first NRL four-pointer.
The next came from Jacob Liddle, with the Dragons hooker capitalising on a Garrick blunder, batting the ball back into the path of his opponent after a short drop out.Things were looking up for the Dragons, with Kyle Flanagan also scoring only three minutes later, but the Sea Eagles quickly stemmed the flow of points.Haumole Olakau’atu crashed over for Manly, displaying how dominant he can be with the ball in hand ahead of Origin selections.
Then it was Luke Brooks who got over the white line, coming through in support after a Karl Lawton break.Zac Lomax was the next to score in the 47th minute, with his four-pointer being the last points the Dragons would score at Brookvale Oval.After another Hopoate break, Ben Trbojevic capitalised to get his name on the scoresheet before his brother and NSW captain Jake followed.
He grounded a Daly Cherry-Evans grubber to add to the points tally before Jason Saab closed out the game with an impressive win and a fitting try.The victory was labelled a “huge performance” by Warren Smith, while Steve Roach said it was one of the club’s “best wins”.
Doubts emerged regarding Jake Trbojevic’s NSW captaincy after he played only 29 minutes in the series opener.However, he delivered a mammoth 80-minute performance to display those doubts, showing he’s the perfect man to lead the Blues.
The 30-year-old regularly plays a full game, however it was made even more tough after losing Taniela Paseka and Corey Wadell and Toafofoa Sipley both having their minutes limited.
Linking up with Daly Cherry-Evans, the Queensland captain, Trbojevic scored a try, made 28 tackles and ran for 60 metres.When asked what he thought of the performance, the usually humble middle forward praised his teammates.
