Wrecking Ball: Kotoni Ale was a constant menace for Manly – Photo: Carl Peterson

by Paul Cook –

It’s only round one but Manly have served the rest of the Shute Shield notice of their intentions in 2014 with a fairly comprehensive 43-28 victory over Southern Districts at Forshaw Park this afternoon.

The Marlins outscored their hosts by seven tries to three with a combination of raw power and aggression in the forwards and pace, precision and execution in the backs. They outmuscled and out-enthused Souths at the breakdown and had the finishing power to profit from their ascendancy.

Coach Phil Blake was understandably pleased to get off the mark in such a manner.

“To score seven tries is obviously a big bonus,” he told Rugby News afterwards, “We’ve just got to work on a few little things but I thought in the end, the scoreline probably flattered them a little bit. I thought our forwards were pretty dominant when we got them into the game and got them over the advantage line and we were able to control a lot of ball. There were some very good signs.” he added.

While Souths can still take a few positives from the game – their incision with ball in hand through the likes of Ben Volavola, Denny Godinet and Ben Connolly reminding us of their potent counter attack – their defensive lapses offered new coach Matt Barr plenty to muse over before next week’s clash with Warringah.

“There were a few positives in that second half that we can take out of it but they simply won the collisions and out-enthused us,” he admitted. “Our defence, whilst it started well, we fell off tackles at the back end of the first half and midway through the second half so that’s something that we need to fix up. We’ve just got to learn from it and make sure that we’re continually improving.”

Promising Start: Former West Harbour utility back Shaun Treweek impressed on debut for the Marlins – Photo: Carl Peterson

Rohan Saifoloi had kicked the hosts into an early 3pt lead but it was Manly who made the first five point breakthrough, Greg Peterson driving over from a lineout with no little help from his fellow pack members.

Saifoloi narrowed the gap with a second penalty and then kicked a third before the half hour to give his side the lead, despite going down to fourteen men when prop Tim Metcher was sent to the bin for throwing a punch.

They could have been further ahead had a last ditch ankle tap not stopped speedy Souths’ flanker Luke Smart from scoring after an intercept on halfway. Had he succeeded, the game could have taken an interesting turn but just as the Rebels confidence began to rise, the Marlins stepped up the heat in the 10 minutes before the break and caught them with a one-two sucker punch.

After hammering Souths straight up the middle, the ball was shifted wide for new recruit Shaun Treweek to offer a glimpse of his huge potential with a jinking run and offload that fed winger Lui Siale away and around to the posts.

Only two minutes later, the same duo combined in almost identical fashion as Souths’ defence went missing. This time however, Siale was reeled in 10 metres from the line but when the forwards piled in to support, Harry Bergelin was on hand to peel off the ruck and find the corner. Treweek converted one from two and his new side went to the sheds with a 10pt lead at 19-9.

There was early drama in the 2nd half as Souths came out firing in an attempt to get an early score. The magic of Ben Volavola, scooping of the floor and flicking a one handed reverse pass in the same movement, instigated a sizzling counter attack and when Saifoloi kicked ahead, Dewet Roos got there first and looked certain to score before being taken out illegally by Manly captain Ed Gower.

There may have been a case for a penalty try but referee Ed Martin decided that a yellow card was sufficient punishment and the visiting skipper was clapped ironically to the sideline by the locals.

With Souths skipper Jed Holloway opting for a scrum, justice was served immediately when a powerful shove from the Rebels pack created the time and space for Roos to scoot down the blind side and dive over and make it 19-14.

Double Trouble: Manly skipper Ed Gower bagged two tries and a yellow card
in an eventful afternoon – Photo: Carl Peterson

When centre Denny Godinet then tore a hole through the Manly line to go under the posts a few minutes later, an enthusiastic home crowd thought their side had levelled proceedings but their celebrations were quickly muted by the correct ruling of accidental offside and the try was chalked off.

The visitor’s grip on the game appeared to be slipping with Souths clearly enjoying their best period of the match and when a third yellow of the increasingly niggly contest was shown to Marlins no.8 Vaka Manu for a lifting tackle, they could have been in serious trouble had Gower not returned in time to maintain their one man advantage.

Having failed to capitalise on Gower’s indiscretion, Souths’ soft underbelly on the day was exposed by Manly once more, the hardworking Kotoni Ale bursting from a ruck and feeding prop Tim Fairbrother to the chalk.

If that score had just about finished off the Rebels resistance, try no. 5 not long after the restart sounded the death knell. Showing the strengths in their all round game, the Marlins opted for a powerplay, mauling the Souths pack from a lineout all the way to the tryline from just inside the 22 for Gower to profit and help open up a 31-14 advantage.

Late Flurry: Souths captain Jed Holloway goes in for his side’s second try as they put up some late resistance
Photo: Carl Peterson

That quickly became 38-14 when a strong hit-up and neat offload from Mali Hingano created the space for Richard Hooper to go over but if Phil Blake could point the finger at his team for anything other than their ill discipline on the day, it was the fact that Hooper’s score led to them putting the cue very firmly back in the rack and opening the door for a Souths revival as a result.

With their first visit to Manly’s red zone in some time, Jed Holloway crashed through for what seemed like a mere consolation score but when Ben Volavola then jinked his way past some half-hearted defence and Saifoloi converted, it was back to 38-28 and the Rebels had one, if not two potential bonus points in sight at the very least.

However, like a champion horse who suddenly feels the hot breath of a challenger on its shoulder and kicks away down the home straight, the Marlins went up another gear when required to confirm the result. Their forwards simply too big and too strong once more as Gower bagged his second to seal an opening day bonus point win and a margin of victory that, in all honesty, could and perhaps should, have been greater.

Captain Gower, who finished an eventful afternoon with two tries and a yellow card, was as pleased as his coach with the bonus point win, particularly over a potential title rival.

“I think if you’d looked at it before the game you would have thought it was going to be a bit tough coming down here for an away match against a side that’s been top four in the last two years,” he said. “We’re pretty happy with a lot of things we did, it wasn’t ideal but we knew that if we got the win it would be a great way to start the season and we want to try and build off that now.”

Souths host Warringah next Saturday while Manly travel to Parramatta.

Manly 43 (Ed Gower 2, Greg Peterson, Lui Siale, Harry Bergelin, Tim Fairbrother, Richard Hooper tries; Shaun Treweek 4 cons) defeated Southern Districts 28 (Dewet Roos, Jed Holloway, Ben Volavola tries; Rohan Saifoloi 2 cons, 3 pens)