NRL 2024, Las Vegas, Manly Sea Eagles, South Sydney Rabbitohs, match report, match highlights, injuries, key plays

Author: Martin Lenehan NRL Senior Journalist
Timestamp: Sun 3 Mar 2024, 03:30 PM

The Sea Eagles have produced a powerhouse second half to grab their slice of rugby league history with a 36-24 win over the Rabbitohs at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

After a tense and tight first half it was Daly Cherry-Evans and Lule Brooks who took charge in the second 40 to guide Manly to victory in the first ever premiership match played outside Australia or New Zealand.

Both sides traded sets early before Rabbitohs centre Richie Kennar savoured a special moment with the game's first try in the seventh minute.

It was Cody Walker who put Souths on the attack with a chip and regather before Damien Cook jumped out of dummy half and put Kennar over on the left edge. Latrell Mitchell's conversion made it 6-0 to the Rabbitohs.

A dropped ball coming out of his own end by Manly centre Reuben Garrick in the 12th minute gave the Rabbitohs a shot at more points but Lachlan Ilias split the ball cold and the pressure was released.

Richard Kennar Try

The Sea Eagles looked set to hit back in the 18th minute when speedster Jason Saab found himself in open space but a superb chase and ankle tap by Ilias cut him down. Cherry-Evans tried to thread a grubber through on the next play but came up with a knock on when the ball rebounded back to him off a defender.

A clever grubber by Brooks forced a knock on from Mitchell and the Sea Eagles capitalised straight from the centre field scrum when Haumole Olakau'atu powered over from close range to lock the game up at 6-6.

Haumole Olakau'atu Try

Come the 29th minute and Brooks' sharp footwork got him through the line but the ball came loose as he reached out to try and get it down.

A magic moment two minutes later for Jacob Gagai on NRL debut when a bullet pass from Mitchell gave him a shot in the right corner and he left Jaxson Paulo in his wake to touch down out wide. Mitchell missed the conversion but Souths led 10-6.

Superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic looked to have grabbed Manly's second in the 35th minute but a desperation tackle by Cook forced the ball to come loose just short of the line.

Three minutes later there was no denying Saab after he intercepted a Mitchell pass on his own side of halfway and sprinted 60 metres to dot down under the posts and Garrick's conversion put Manly ahead 12-10 at the break.

A mistake by Saab in the 43rd minute invited Souths into field position and Mitchell made Manly pay with a trademark try from close range to give his team a 14-12 lead.

Four minutes later it was Mitchell again with brilliant hands to put prolific tryscorer Alex Johnston over for his first try of the season and 188th of his career. The Bunnies' No.1 gun piloted the conversion from touch for a 20-12 lead.

Latrell Mitchell Try

South Sydney then returned the favour with a Davvy Moale mistake and the Sea Eagles hit back through Lachlan Croker with a slick try out of dummy half. Garrick added the extras to close the gap to two points.

Four minutes later the Sea Eagles were in again when Tom Trbojevic put brother Ben over for his fifth career try and Anthony Seibold's men led by four.

The Sea Eagles went further ahead in the 61st minute when a pinpoint Cherry-Evans grubber out of dummy half set Garrick up for Manly's fifth try of the night. A superb sideline conversion by Garrick made it 30-20.

Try as they might the Rabbitohs were unable to close the gap as a poor offload by Tevita Tatola and a knock on by Mitchell cruelled any chance they had of a comeback before Brooks iced the win for Manly with a late try.

Round 1 - Round 1 - Sunday 3 Mar

Full Time

Sea Eagles

Rabbitohs

Venue: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas

Highlights Latest

Match Snapshot

Sea Eagles winger Jason Saab has scored eight tries in his past three NRL games.
The Sea Eagles unsuccessfully challenged a Jason Saab knock on in the 43rd minute and their Captain's Challenge was lost.
Nathan Brown made a statement in his first game as a Sea Eagle with 109 metres from 12 runs.
Latrell Mitchell was at his explosive best for the Rabbitohs with 117 run metres, eight tackle breaks, two try assists and a line break.
Manly winger Jason Saab ran for 248 metres on the night while Reuben Garrick racked up 214 metres.

Keppie rocks his old teammate

This was the 150th time the Rabbitohs and Sea Eagles have met at premiership level. The ledger favours Manly 78 to 72.
Former Sea Eagle Sean Keppie had an immediate impact for the Bunnies with nine runs for 73 metres in the first half.
Tom Trbojevic had 28 runs for 221 metres and came up with four tackle breaks and a try assist.
Rabbitohs winger Alex Johnston has scored 15 tries in 16 games against the Sea Eagles.
The Rabbitohs did not receive a penalty until the 72nd minute of the match.

Lachlan Croker Try

Plays of the Game

Daly Cherry-Evans stamped his class on the game in the 61st minute with a delicate grubber down a narrow blind side for Reuben Garrick to touch down. DCE had no room to work with but was good enough to thread the ball between three defenders to set his centre up for a pivotal try.

Reuben Garrick Try - with a Gronk spike

When Jason Saab gets into the clear it is usually a case of 'put down the glasses' but Rabbitohs No.7 Lachlan Ilias wasn't about to concede a four-pointer when the Manly flyer got clear midway through the first half. Setting off from the opposite side of the field, Ilias tracked Saab down and brought him down with an ankle tap to defuse the situation.

Saab v Ilias in a Vegas foot race

What They Said

"It was a big occasion and a great opportunity for us to get across here and connect as a group but we wanted the best 80 minutes of the week-and-a-half we've been out here to be tonight and I feel like we played some really good footy. We're proud to get over here and represent the NRL and proud to get a win. One of the things I was most proud of our group was when we were down 20-12, we kept fighting and that's ask we wanted from our group, keep fighting and play our style of footy." - Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold

Sea Eagles: Round 1

"The whole couple of weeks here has been first class, the players have embraced it and the supporters here got a good show, unfortunately we were just on the wrong end of the scoreboard. I thought in the first half we had control of the game but came up with a couple of poor things in terms of our process that let them back in. I can't fault the players' effort, just Round 1, we came up with some key errors at crucial errors and we let Manly back in who played some really good footy to capitalise on that." - Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou