NRL, Match Report, Manly Sea Eagles, Melbourne Storm

Author: Alicia Newton NRL Reporter
Timestamp: Fri 14 Apr 2023, 10:02 PM

The Sea Eagles have bounced back from their defeat to Penrith in a big way to power over the Storm 18-8 in a chaotic clash at 4 Pines Park on Friday night.

In a drama-filled contest that was reminiscent of the infamous Battle of Brookvale in 2011, three players were sin-binned and only one try was scored each for 74 minutes before Taniela Paseka and Lachlan Croker linked late to seal the win.

A huge hit from Haumole Olakau'atu and Josh Aloiai on Justin Olam set the tone for the evening in a response that coach Anthony Seibold would've been pleased with the immediate intensity turnaround after last week's lacklustre effort.

The Sea Eagles, unbeaten at home, came out firing with an up-tempo style of play to set up an 8-0 lead before the Storm hit back through Will Warbrick on the right edge.

Olam has been flattened

Tom Trbojevic brushed aside questions surrounding his fitness in recent days to stretch out and outsprint Cameron Munster, who was caught out of position at fullback, to finish off a Daly Cherry-Evans kick in the 12th minute.

Turbo looked threatening throughout the first half before he was sent for a head injury assessment following heavy contact just before the break.

The Sea Eagles' woes continued shortly after when Ray Vaega was placed in the sin-bin for a shoulder charge on Munster as he ran close to the line.

Turbo boosts through

A tense opening 20 minutes after the break saw Tui Kamikamica sin-binned for a late tackle on Cherry-Evans with Manly denied two tries by the NRL Bunker with the Storm pulling off two big defensive plays.

Another lazy late shot from Justin Olam on Cherry-Evans saw the PNG international next to be binned as the match became so stop-start the scoreboard felt irrelevant as the drama played out in front of us.

With finally some set-for-set play in the final quarter of the game, the Sea Eagles held onto a four-point lead before extending through Croker late.

Round 7 - Round 7 - Friday 14 Apr

Full Time

Sea Eagles

Storm

Venue: 4 Pines Park, Sydney

Highlights Latest

Match snapshot

The Sea Eagles had 55 per cent of the ball and completed at 81 per cent but their attack struggled to connect despite the field position.
Melbourne conceded nine penalties in the loss with Justin Olam and Tui Kamikamica spending time in the sin-bin for late tackles on Daly Cherry-Evans.
The Storm were also guilty of 12 errors in the loss, compounding their ability to gain field position to attempt to steal victory in the second half.
Tom Trbojevic and Cameron Munster were both taken from the field for head injury assessments before half-time but passed during the break.
Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega, in his return to first grade, was sin-binned for his late tackle on Munster.
Only one Storm forward ran for over 100 metres in the match - Christian Welch - with Haumole Olakau'atu (119m), Taniela Paseka (115m) and Tof Sipley (163m) enormous through the middle.
The Sea Eagles' win was only their second in the past eight games against the Storm with the side remaining unbeaten at home in 2023.
Aaron Woods had a try denied in the second half in his first match for the Sea Eagles - the former Test prop getting 29 minutes off the bench.
The Sea Eagles lost Kelma Tuilagi to a failed head injury assessment while Melbourne forward Tom Eisenhuth didn't finish the match due to a groin/hip issue.

Croker dives over

Play of the game

They say a prop forward shouldn't have a kicking licence but the effort from Jake Trbojevic to earn a repeat set for his side late was crucial to the Sea Eagles scoring the match-winner in the following set through Lachlan Croker.

Jake rolls it in

What they said

"I'm not sure how to quite describe it. If you have a look at the stats you'd have thought we'd got beat by 30. We played dumb at times and got what we deserved tonight. Our second half was really poor, especially the start, we didn't play smart at all. I don't know what planet they (Justin Olam and Tui Kamikamica) were on [with the late shots]. You can't do that these days - hit ballplayers or halves late. We played half of the second half with 12 men, that's hard work. " - Storm coach Craig Bellamy.

NRL Press Conference: Sea Eagles v Storm - Round 7, 2023

"We just had better intent with what we did with both sides of the footy... all the plays that take effort and not skill. That's attitude and we've been good at all three games at Brookie this year. The boys were really determined to put in a good performance at home. It was a good contest, two teams going at each other and a few slip ups at times." - Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold.

What's next

The Sea Eagles will hit the road to Campbelltown for a clash against Wests Tigers on Sunday. Josh Schuster is expected to be available after requiring another week to get a quadriceps injury right. Melbourne will have a handy 11-day turnaround before hosting the Warriors at AAMI Park. Nick Meaney is a chance of making a return from concussion while Nelson Asofa-Solomona is also nearing a comeback.