A double to flyhalf Dan Rawaqa and a hat-trick to fullback Tom Woods helped Parramatta defeat Manly at Merrylands – Photo: seiserphotography.com

by Brendan Bradford –

That’s what happens when Parramatta puts it all together.

After looking promising but inconsistent in losses to Sydney University and Randwick in the opening two rounds of the Shute Shield, the Two Blues turned in a controlled performance at a rain soaked Merrylands RSL Rugby Park to run away with a bonus point 41-17 win over the Manly Marlins on Saturday afternoon.

Parramatta had a strong wind at their backs in the first half and although they racked up 15-points before Manly had any decent attack, a 15-7 advantage at the break looked tenuous at best against an undefeated Manly side that had amassed a whopping 82-points in their opening two matches. They didn’t make it easy for themselves with an 11-3 penalty count against them in second 40, but a determined defensive effort and a couple of opportunistic tries while playing smart rugby into the wind, allowed the home-side to put another 26-points on the scoreboard and record their first win of the season.

Disappointed after last weekend’s frustrating loss to Randwick, Parramatta coach Glen Christini had nothing but praise for his side’s efforts against the Marlins.

“It’s a massive result and the boys executed the game-plan to perfection,” he said.

Regular inside-centre Damien Fakafanua enjoyed the extra space playing at 13
Photo: seiserphotography.com

“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves before the comp started and we’ve almost been trying too hard, so today it was time to get rid of those 50-50 plays and just do the basics and to their credit the boys listened and played it to perfection. That’s what happens when we execute our plays and have our attitudes right and Manly’s as good as it gets and we did them comfortably, so it’s all in front of us now really.”

Manly coach Tim Lane made no excuses for the loss, saying the Two Blues were simply better on the day.

“It was well deserved. They out-enthused us, put us under pressure and we lost our composure,” he said.

“A couple of injuries hurt us a little bit but they deserved it so it was fair to them.”

The waterlogged pitch made it tough underfoot and contributed to plenty of handling errors as Parramatta seized an early lead when openside flanker Rodney Ma’a barged over from close range. Tom Woods – wearing the number 10 but playing fullback – missed the conversion, before Manly’s slow start was compounded on the ten minute mark when five-eighth Sam Lane limped off injured. Jacob Woodhouse came on at fullback while starting 15 BJ Hartmann switched to flyhalf in the former Reds playmaker’s absence.

Seemingly oblivious to the wet conditions, Parramatta spread it wide and incorporated a couple of off-loads in the lead-up to their second try which was finished off by Woods in the right corner. The conversion and an earlier penalty to Dan Rawaqa gave the home-side a surprise 15-0 advantage before ill-discipline let the Marlins back into the contest.

Parramatta applied constant pressure to the Marlins lineout – Photo: seiserphotography.com

Manly dominated the rest of the first half largely thanks to a series of Parramatta penalties but handling errors arrested their momentum and points were hard to come by. Parramatta went down to 14 men when inside centre Tukia Muli was yellow carded but with a strong wind at their backs, they deterred the Manly attack by waiting for turnovers and kicking for the corners. The Marlins’ clearance kicks rarely made it back to halfway in the gale and when they finally decided to run it out, the visitors reaped instant reward. Fielding a long kick near his 22, Woodhouse streaked up-field, beating several lazy defenders on a mazy 50-metre run before halfback Adam Crerar was on hand to gather an offload and dot down under the posts just before halftime.

Parramatta wasted no time in adding to their lead after the break as Woods scored his second in the corner to take a 20-7 lead after a rampaging linebreak and audacious offload by outside centre Damien Fakafanua.

Not about to roll over, the dominant Manly scrum forced a pushover and allowed No.8 Andrew Davis to dot down. Hartmann added the extras for a 20-12 scoreline and it seemed just a matter of time before the Marlins would start turning the screws.

Parramatta had other ideas though and when Manly inside-centre Brian Sefanaia got isolated on halfway after a breakaway, the Two Blues turned it over and fleet footed Fijian flyhalf Rawaqa stepped through the line and strolled under the posts for a bonus point and a 27-12 advantage.

With a quarter to play, Rawaqa’s second try – a 50-metre run after an intercept when Manly were hot on attack – put the result beyond doubt at 34-12. A try in the corner to front rower Pat Leofa gave the Marlins a slight sniff of a comeback but as the light faded, so did their hopes as handling errors and Parramatta’s stout defence held them at bay.

Jacob Woodhouse sets off on another dangerous run – Photo: seiserphotography.com

Woods’ third try on the stroke of fulltime capped off a convincing 41-17 win over a Manly side that was unable to get out of second gear all afternoon.

“We were in the game at halftime, but three soft tries probably killed it for us,” said Lane.

“Defensively we weren’t good, but they put us under pressure when we had the ball with a rush defence and we didn’t react well to it.”

We all know Parramatta can score points, but it was their defensive effort on the wrong side of a lopsided penalty count that really stood out.

 “We’ve been working really hard on D and we were just gutted after the first two games, but today it was just massive,” said Christini.

“The penalty count was frustrating, but you can either let it bother you or you can knuckle down and execute what you have to do and let everything else take care of itself, and that’s what the boys did.”

Parramatta play neighbours West Harbour at Concord Oval next week while Manly host Eastwood at the Village Green in front of the ABC Cameras.

Parramatta 41 – (Dan Rawaqa 3, Tom Woods 2, Rodney Ma’a tries; Rawaqa 3 cons, pen; Woods con) def Manly 17 – (Adam Crerar, Andrew Davis, Pat Leofa tries; BJ Hartmann con)