Catch Me If You Can: Alex Northam leaves a trail of Wicks players in his wake as he
streaks away for the third of his four tries – Photo: Carl Peterson

by Paul Cook –

Any concerns that last week’s loss to Eastern Suburbs was the start of a downturn in Manly’s fortunes have quickly been put to bed, the Marlins bouncing back in style to rack up eight tries in a ruthless 48-0 defeat of Randwick at Manly Oval yesterday.

Reeling from that shock reversal at Woollahra last Saturday, the table-toppers returned to their physically imposing best as they blasted away Randwick’s resistance in a clinical performance that is also the first time since 1958 that they have held the Galloping Greens to nil.

Four tries from Alex Northam helped them on their way, the pacy winger getting his side off to an early lead with his first before he went on to plunder three more in the closing quarter as a bruised and under strength Wicks side faded like the winter sun, not helped by losing both centres to injury in the opening 10 minutes and playing a portion of the second half with two men in the bin.

In fact, while the final scoreline indicates a one-sided whitewash, the visitors mustered some fairly stout defence between Northam’s first and second tries, and they certainly didn’t make life easy for their lofty opponents for large periods of the game. In the end, it was two passages of Manly dominance – the first in the final 10 minutes before the break, the second at the start of the final quarter – that blew the game apart, putting the Marlins firmly back in the groove ahead of next week’s peninsular derby with Warringah.

Back In the Groove: Shaun Treweek brought his range of skills back to 1st Grade this week – Photo: Ric McLallen

The last time the two sides met four weeks ago, the Marlins produced arguably their finest performance of the season to run out 60-14 winners at Coogee Oval. Embarassed by the nature of that loss, Randwick came into this game with a point to prove but their hopes of upsetting the Manly apple cart for a second week in a row took a battering in the opening 10 minutes, centres Kuki Ma’afu and Bogan Roods forced from the field while Alex Northam went over for Manly’s opener.

With their challenge now even more daunting, you feared for this young Wicks outfit as they faced another 70 minutes against a Manly side with their tails already up. But to their credit, they didn’t crumble and should have got on the scoreboard in the 12th minute with a penalty pushed just wide of the uprights.

The Galloping Greens’ line speed and tenacity in defence was markedly improved from their last encounter and while the Marlins had plenty of possession – scrumhalf Mark Swanepoel and fullback Shaun Treweek calling a lot of the early shots, they were struggling to make much headway beyond the gain line.

By contrast, the visitors looked to counter from deep while also employing a more tactical kicking game, measured punts in behind the Marlins defence turning them around but the kick chase often failing to apply enough pressure with which to capitalise on the chosen option.

After plenty of endeavour with very little reward, the hosts finally found another breakthrough when no.8 Daniel Alley profited from a quick tap to power his way over, and it proved to be the start of a scoring spree for the Marlins.

Alley himself went over again for the third, this time off a rolling maul as Manly went back to brute strength to put the hammer down on their opponents. But not long after, they showed their attacking attributes out wide to grab the bonus point score, Swanepoel and Treweek combining with aplomb to release Dane Chisholm to the line.

Double Trouble: No.8 Daniel Alley plundered two tries in the shadows of the 1st half
to break Randwick’s resistance – Photo: Carl Peterson

All of a sudden, the Wicks found themselves 22-0 down, Chisholm’s wayward radar sparing them a greater disparity on the scoreboard with just the one conversion from the four tries. They needed something before the break and when they forced a 5 metre lineout, you thought this was their chance to strike.

However, the throw was lost to a Manly hand and when play was cleared upfield, Wicks’ wing Ethan Ford dropped the ball cold as he prepared to run it back into the red zone. It’s those little one percenters that combine to prove so costly.

22-0 at half-time and while Manly’s Dave Porecki went to the bin for collapsing a driving maul a minute before oranges, you doubted whether it would have any significant impact on the final result. Manly had their bit between the teeth, it appeared to be very much a case of not if, but by how many.

Captain’s Knock: Randwick skipper, Toa Asa, put in another tireless effort in defeat for the Galloping Greens
Photo: Ric McLallen

Again, despite being unable to make any inroads with the man advantage after the restart, the visitors can take plenty of credit for their efforts in the third quarter. It may have been little more than damage limitation by that point but those in myrtle green weren’t about to die wondering and they still posed a genuine threat off turnover ball, forcing Manly to adopt a stout rearguard as they sought to keep their opponents off the scoreboard.

The breaking point came in the five minutes either side of the hour mark. Wicks’ flanker Mark Baldwin sent to the bin in the 54th minute for not rolling away and Manly profited with immediate effect, using their impressive maul to force another collapse and a penalty try.

The fact that Jesse Harris also went to the bin as a result of the penalty try was effectively the game up for Randwick, their chances of holding out the most lethal points scoring team in the competition with only 13 men on the field were fanciful at best.

And so it proved as Northam drove in another nail, swerving his way through from halfway to grab his second and Manly’s sixth after the restart, before completing his hat-trick a couple of minutes later. The 22-year-old once clocked 10.6 seconds for the 100 metres and with the extra space now afforded to him, he simply had too much gas as he stepped his way through a tiring Wicks line and raced under the posts.

When he went in again for his fourth, the final whistle couldn’t come quickly enough for Randwick. That’s now 108pts they have conceded to Manly in two games this season and while they must now somehow regroup and get themselves up for a crucial final three matches, I think it is safe to say that the Marlins are back on track after last week’s hiccough.

Manly 48 (Alex Northam 4, Daniel Alley 2, Penalty Try, Dane Chisholm tries; Dane Chisholm 4 cons) defeated Randwick 0