Bulldogs outclass fumbling Sea Eagles

The Bulldogs weren't anywhere near the best, but they did enough to outclass the Manly Sea-Eagles tonight 28-16. Manly will be rueing lost chances as they remain rooted to the bottom of the NRL ladder.

A last minute withdrawal of Kieran Foran saw David Williams play his first game in the top grade as last placed Manly faced a tough game against the Bulldogs at their home ground, ANZ Stadium.

Things started horrendously for the Sea-Eagles as Willie Mason dropped the ball on the very first run of the night and the Bulldogs, through Curtis Rona scored a simple try down the left hand edge with just 1 minute gone.

Not long after, Manly were penalised for holding down in the play of the ball on the fourth tackle and on the subsequent set, the Bulldogs scored, via Curtis Rona, this time down the right side. It was looking like a long night for the Sea-Eagles after just seven minutes.

The Bulldogs failed to put the Sea-Eagles to the sword however as the game bubbled along slowly for the remainder of the half. Manly even scored after 27 minutes with some Daly Cherry-Evans magic. He did it all himself, grubbering in goal, taking the deflection off Josh Reynolds and diving over beside the posts. Manly converted and then landed a penalty goal right on half-time to only be down by two points at the break.

Manly coach, Geoff Toovey, would have been relieved to only be down by two after a flat first half from both teams, but would not have been impressed with his teams' completion rate of 12 from 19 sets.

The second half started much like the first until the 48th minutes when Peta Hiku ran around Chase Stanley to score on the left edge and the Sea-Eagles hit the lead 12-10. This would turn out to be the turning point of the game. All of a sudden both teams woke up and we had a ball game on our hands!

Canterbury-Bankstown hit back almost straight away via an excellent break down the left hand by Moses Mbye who was having an excellent game from centre, filling in for the injured Josh Morris. Curtis Rona's second try just 5 minutes later put the Bulldogs ahead 20-12, but still it was anyone's game.

The refs were blowing a huge amount of ruck penalties as Toovey could be seen throwing his arms in the air. Ironically, when his team finally scored a ruck penalty, a poor knock-on down one end saw the Bulldogs run almost the length of the field to score through Moses Mbye, with Rona and Josh Jason involved.

It was not without a lot of luck that Manly gave themselves one final chance in the game. A towering, but over-powered kick from Jamie Lyon miraculously bounced off the crossbar back into his arms and Matai scored with 11 minutes remaining to make it 24-16. This could have sparked the Sea-Eagles in other seasons, but this year it seems that they just don't have the energy. An unforced error from Hiku on the first tackle saw the Bulldogs finish the game off with a try to Corey Thompson.

The Bulldogs were far from convincing after their blistering first 10 minutes. A number of handling errors at vital times hurt both teams, but it was Manly's errors that were most costly, leading to at least two tries as a direct result.

Moses Mbye was a standout for the Bulldogs giving them some great options out wide, whilst Greg Eastwood had a strong game up the middle and Josh Reynolds did enough to keep selectors looking at him for Origin.

The Sea-Eagles remain at the base of the ladder and face the Storm in Melbourne on ANZAC Day next week, whilst the Bulldogs will host the Tigers in Friday Night Football in Round 8.

LeagueUnlimited.com Players of the Match:
3 points - Moses Mbye
2 points - Greg Eastwood
1 point - Josh Reynolds

CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS (28)
Tries: Curtis Rona (2), Chase Stanley, Frank Pritchard, Moses Mbye, Corey Thompson
Conversions: Trent Hodkinson (2/6)

MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES (16)
Tries: Daly Cherry-Evans, Peta Hiku, Steve Matai
Conversions: Jamie Lyon (1/3)
Penalty Goals: Jamie Lyon (1/1)

Happy Friday and welcome to ANZ Stadium for the first game of Round 7 in the NRL between the Bulldogs and the Sea-Eagles.
On paper and form, you would expect the Bulldogs to win this one easily, but it's hard to write the Sea-Eagles off, even this season!
Kick-off is about 15 minutes away. Late mail updates coming soon..

For the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs,Josh Morris and Tim Browne are omitted whilst Moses Mbye will play centre, Antonio Kaufusi to prop and the new men on the bench are Herman Ese'ese and Danny Fualalo.

For Manly, Kieran Foran is out, with returning clubman David Williams named at 5/8. Jayden Hodges replaces James Hasson on the bench.

1: Kick-off! Willie Mason knocks-on from the kick-off! Bulldogs straight onto the attack!

1: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Curtis Rona. Kick to come.
WOW! From the scrum, the Bulldogs spread it left and Rona scores out wide in under a minute!
Could this be a long night for the Sea-Eagles?

2: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson unsuccessful.
Misses from the left touch line

5: PENALTY Bulldogs - Manly holding down in the play of the ball on the 4th tackle. Bulldogs right on the attack again.

6: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Chase Stanley. Kick to come.
So easy for the Bulldogs! Extremely soft try to Stanley after some basic passing the right. Matai and Blair had a gaping gap between them.

7: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson successful.
Nice kick from just inside touch on the right

9: Perrett takes a nice catch to defuse a Manly bomb on his own 10 metre. Best set from Manly so far.

11: Greg Eastwood with a huge run down field! Makes a clever 40 metres, gives it to Reynolds, but he's pulled down.
On the ensuing play, Mbye tried to reach out for a try, but lost the ball just short of the line!

12: DCE getting treatment from the trainer. Could things be about to get worse for Manly?

13: Nice play by Manly ends with a knock-on by Hiku on the Bulldogs 10 metre line. Turnover and the Dogs are already past halfway!

14: UNFORCED ERROR CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Tony Williams makes an unforced error.
T-Rex tries to off-load and loses the ball. Manly get a reprieve!

15: UNFORCED ERROR MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Brayden Wiliame makes an unforced error.
Manly looking off the pace. They move it well across the park but Wiliame drops the ball this time.

16: PENALTY Bulldogs - Manly holding down again.

17: Tolman over the line, but didn't get it down. We're going to the video ref, but the onfield ref signals NO TRY.

17: NO TRY - It was a close one. Tolman almost grounded it, but some desperate Manly defence JUST stopped him. Not enough proof to overturn onfield decision there.

18: PENALTY Sea-Eagles - Over exertion in the tackle from Rona. Manly get a piggyback down the field now.

20: Manly with some enterprising play, but they push it too far down the right edge and Wiliame gets pushed over the sideline.
Better stuff from the Sea-Eagles though.

20: David Williams looks to be playing on the wing, with Wiliame inside him and Lyon at five-eighth.

23: PENALTY Bulldogs - Back on the attack, 20 metres out from the Sea-Eagles line. Fait accompli?

24: Bulldogs grubbered into the in goal. It bounced off a few players and two players dive at it.
Going to the video ref, but it will be a NO TRY

25: NO TRY - Pritchard ruled to have knocked it on and Manly work it out of their half

25: PENALTY Sea-Eagles. Hodkinson holds down a little too long. Refs are being strict tonight.

27: TRY MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Scored by Daly Cherry-Evans. Kick to come.
It's all DCE! Manly finally get over with a clever little kick from Daly Cherry-Evans. A grubber kick bounces off Reynolds and he regathers to score beside the posts.
They're back in it here!

28: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Conversion attempt by Jamie Lyon successful.
Easy conversion for Lyon.

30: UNFORCED ERROR MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Luke Burgess makes an unforced error.
Loses it in the tackle as the Sea-Eagles looked to build more pressure. Bulldogs on Manly's 40 metre line.

32: Tony Williams tries to grubber in goal, but it is cleaned up easily and then David Williams knocks the ball on almost straight away!
Bulldogs gets the scrum feed 12 metres out.

33: Sloppy set from the Bulldogs on opposition line and DCE defuses the grubber. He's still limping though...

35: FORWARD PASS - The Bulldogs were on the attack after a good set, but a forward pass right on the line has been called. Bad luck there. It was a line ball.

37: Horo loses the ball after some attention in the tackle from Reynolds. The Bulldogs get another chance to score before half time.

38: Almost! Hodkinson chips to his winger, Rona, but it just goes a little long after an acrobatic leap.

40: PENALTY Sea-Eagles - Lyon performed a cute little grubber which DCE was running on to. The Bulldogs cleans it up, but T-Rex has been penalised for shouldering DCE on the way through.
Close thing there, but Williams possibly saved a try.
Manly to take the two.

40: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Penalty goal attempt by Jamie Lyon successful.
Manly take the two points from right in front.

40: The Bulldogs go to the half-time break leading by just two points after a great start. They were let down by some poor options for the rest of the half and let the Sea-Eagles back into it.
It's really anyones game here now and Toovey will be very happy to be only down by the two points

40: Completion Rates: Manly 12/19 - Bulldogs 17/20
Line Breaks: Bulldogs 3-0
Errors: Manly 7-3
Possession: Bulldogs 55% - 45%

40: Greg Eastwood leads in metres for the Bulldogs with 107 metres!
73 metres for Willie Mason.

40: Top tacklers:
Jamie Buhrer has made 30 tackles in that first half.
Lichaa has made 20 tackle for the Bulldogs

40: The teams are on their way out for the second half. Can the Sea-Eagles nab an upset here? Their season has been in freefall, but the Bulldogs haven't looked that slick apart from that first 10 minutes!
Stay tuned for the second half!

42: PENALTY Bulldogs - Jayden Hodges holds down a little too long in tackle and Bulldogs get the first chance of the half.

43: Another grubber from Tony Williams after a dubious set of six and the Sea-Eagles are let off the hook.

45: This game is in danger of becoming a yawn-fest. Neither team really seems to want to grab this game by the scruff.

47: Tony Williams with a slightly high tackle, but not much in it. It will be a PENALTY to the Sea-Eagles though.

48: TRY MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Scored by Peta Hiku. Kick to come.
Hiku runs around Chase Stanley after some good lead-up work and Manly hit the lead!

49: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Conversion attempt by Jamie Lyon unsuccessful.
The kick from the left hand touch line hooks around to the left.

50: Midfield bomb from DCE and the Sea-Eagles take it, almost get a chance down the left but it goes over the sideline.

50: This game starting to spark up a bit now. Maybe someone does want to win!

51: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Frank Pritchard. Kick to come.
Moses Mbye breaks the line down the left and gives it inside to Pritchard! Nice try!
Dunamis Lui lets the player go around him and the Bulldogs are back in the lead!

52: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson successful.
No problems from just to the left of the posts.

54: PENALTY Bulldogs - Lyon with a high shot on Pritchard, but not much in it again.

55: Bulldogs with a chance down the right, but Blair just gets a hand to the last pass and it goes over the sideline. Bulldogs with a full set 10 metres out though.

56: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Curtis Rona. Kick to come.
The Dogs are finally hitting their stride! A sweet little set piece down the left hand side sees Rona step inside, break a tackle from Lyon and score his second of the night.

58: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson unsuccessful.
Close to the upright, but just misses from out wide on the left.

58: PENALTY Bulldogs - Poor discipline in this game, but also the refs are a little whistle happy.

59: Penalties: Bulldogs 7-5

59: UNFORCED ERROR CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Tony Williams makes an unforced error.
Loses the ball in the tackle, maybe a little hand from Buhrer.

63: A few sets back and forth here with each team looking a little sharper. Lots of substitutions.

64: PENALTY Sea-Eagles. Toovey throwing his arms in the air in the coaches box as finally Manly get a ruck penalty.

66: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Moses Mbye. Kick to come.
WOW. From one end to the other. A poor drop from the Sea-Eagles up one end and then the Bulldogs, through Rona, Jackson and then Mbye finishes it off after DCE falls off the tackle late.

67: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson unsuccessful.
Hodkinson pushes it wide to the right this time from the 5 metres in from touch on the left.

69: All of a sudden the Bulldogs are out by two converted tries. Manly may struggle to pull this back now.

69: TRY MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Scored by Steve Matai. Kick to come.
Hold the phone! This is Rugby League! A kick from Lyon HITS the crossbar, bounces back to him, his passes it out to Matai and he's in! The game's not over yet!

69: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Conversion attempt by Jamie Lyon unsuccessful.
Bad miss from Lyon.

73: Jamie Lyon has come off with an ankle complaint. That could be him done for the game.

75: UNFORCED ERROR MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Peta Hiku makes an unforced error.
Loses the ball on the first tackle running it out of his area and the Bulldogs grabbed the ball, but then performed a forward pass.
That could have been the last throw of the dice for the Sea-Eagles

77: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Corey Thompson. Kick to come.
Easy stuff for the Bulldogs down the right and they finish the game like they started, scoring pretty easily.

78: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson unsuccessful.
Another tough position to kick from, this time from the right touch line and he hits the post and misses!

79: Manly had a dig in this half, but mistakes and penalties have cost them. The Bulldogs deserve the win!

79: The Bulldogs knock it over the in goal line for a drop-out and that will almost wrap up this game.

80: The siren sounds, Manly knock the ball on again and that's Full-time! Bulldogs with a 28-16 win here at ANZ Stadium.

80: Thanks for joining us for the Bulldogs v Sea-Eagles game. Manly remain rooted to the bottom of the ladder, whilst the Bulldogs sneak into the top eight. Goodnight from ANZ Stadium!