From left: Lui Siale, Scott Daruda and Kotoni Ale on the move for Manly. Photo: Carl Peterson.

by Brendan Bradford –

It won’t mean much to them, but Parramatta became the first side since Sydney University in Round 4 in April to keep Manly from scoring a four try bonus point.

In another fiery encounter that didn’t amount to much – sometimes you have to call a spade a spade – there were as many yellow cards as tries on Sunday afternoon as the Marlins came out 28-15 victors at Manly Oval.

With absolute dominance of the opening 40, Manly had a 14-3 halftime advantage courtesy of three penalties and an unconverted try, but could only add two more five-pointers in the second half in a match coach Phil Blake said was ruined by the visitors’ tactics.

“They came here with a clear objective to slow everything down, they got away with it, they were allowed to get away with it and it was just a poor spectacle on so many levels so I’m just glad for it to be over,” Blake fumed.

“They were clearly offending and the ref could’ve given four or five more yellow cards and it would’ve cleaned the game up.”

Manly fullback BJ Hartmann weighs up his options. Photo Pat Dunne.

Indeed, when asked what positives he could take out of the match, Blake said there were none.

“Nope, nothing. I’m just disappointed for all the people who came down here today to watch,” he said.

“I’m not worried about the bonus point, we don’t need it at this stage, so we’ll just try to move on to next week and watch some tape on Easts and keep going.”

For his part, Parramatta coach Gerrard Fasavalu said Shute Shield refereeing often left something to be desired and especially questioned the side’s first of three sin-binnings of the afternoon.

“With Evan (Olmstead), the ball was clearly out and there to be taken and I think there definitely needs to be much more clarity at the breakdown, and also at the scrum,” he told Rugby News.

“They know the basics of how a scrum operates, but not the biomechanics behind it. I wish I could change it, but that’s how it goes.”

Fasavalu was pleased with the side’s response after they struggled for a foothold early in the game, but pointed out that the loss leaves them precariously placed on the edge of finals contention.

“I think we only got into their 22 for about 30 second in the first half and we defended our line well which is a credit to our guys but also showed that Manly weren’t taking us lightly and trying to just put it wide as early as possible,” he said.

“In saying that, we can’t really afford to drop any more games for the rest of the season after two tough games against Uni and Manly. We still have things to work on and we’ll be ready for Souths next week and we’ll try and turn Death Valley into a graveyard.”

The Marlins dominated early proceedings and went ahead courtesy of a pair of Dane Chisholm penalties before the Two Blues had even made it out of their half.

It took a well-placed chip kick and a slip for Parra to get in scoring range and they took the opportunity to pot a penalty, but the home-side slotted their third just a minute later for a 9-3 score after 25-minutes.

Parramatta centre Taqele Naiyaravoro finishes off another try. Photo: Debbie O’Connor.

Sakaria Noa was the first player to sit in the bin after a ruck infringement and while he was off, Manly centre Malietoa Hingano lived up to his reputation as one of the hardest players in the competition to tackle as he made a barnstorming run to the line for the first try of the day and a 14-3 lead at halftime.

Parra’s discipline woes continued after the restart as Evan Olmstead had a spell in the bin with half an hour left on the clock.

Two minutes later, when Chisholm found himself upended in a maul, Taqele Naiyaravoro had a rest and the Two Blues were down to 13. Big T had barely sat down when a scuffle broke out and Marlins openside Kotoni Ale joined him for a spell, but Manly still had the penalty.

They kicked for touch and Greg Peterson dived over from the lineout for a 21-3 lead.

A fifth – yep, fifth – yellow card of the day was quickly flashed after Scott Daruda took out his opposite, Chris Nay, when the Two Blues flyhalf cleared from inside his own territory.

For all the ugliness and foul play, Manly’s third try was sublime. After a midfield break from Vaka Manu, Chisholm saw the Parra defence short on the right and launched a beautiful chip to winger Lui Siale to score for a 28-3 lead with a quarter to play.

Naiyaravoro was fired up on his return and scored one of his characteristic long range tries after a cool in-and-out, but with the gap at 20-points, the Two Blues were only playing for pride as the Marlins searched for a bonus point try.

Dylan Sigg went close to nabbing it but dropped the Mitre over the line and Parramatta turned out to be the last to score when winger Larry Hermens barrelled over in a similar try to Hingano’s earlier five-pointer.

Manly threw a few final desperate attacking raids but they couldn’t add to the 28-15 score as the fulltime whistle sounded and the Marlins put it into touch to end a frustrating game for all involved.

Manly 28 (Hingano, Peterson, Siale tries; Chisholm 3 pens, 2 con) bt Parramatta 15 (Naiyaravoro, Hermens tries; Nay pen, con)