Round 21, 2011
Bluetongue Stadium
Manly surrendered a 12-nil halftime lead to fall 14-12 in a dour confrontation at Bluetongue Stadium in Round 21 last year.
The Sea Eagles looked a well-oiled machine with tries to Brett Stewart and Matt Ballin before the wheels fell off in the second half. And boy did the game change complexion quickly: tries to Robert Lui, Blake Ayshford and Chris Lawrence in the space of seven minutes rocketed the gold-and-blacks to the fulltime score with still 17 minutes on the clock. Possession told the story – both sides made 156 tackles in the first 40 minutes but the Wests Tigers forced their opponents into making a hefty 68 more tackles in the second stanza.
The pressure certainly told, with the Sea Eagles missing a whopping 40 tackles after the break (compared to just 12 in the first half). The Sea Eagles were unlucky though, with Ayshford’s try coming from what looked like a forward pass from Benji Marshall.
