Round 25 Eagles v Rooters

SEA EAGLES V ROOSTERS - FRI 28 AUGUST, 7.45PM, BROOKVALE OVAL | BUY TICKETS

Sea Eagles
1 Brett Stewart
2 Jorge Taufua
3 Jamie Lyon (c)
4 Steve Matai
5 Peta Hiku
6 Kieran Foran
7 Daly Cherry-Evans
8 Jake Trbojevic
9 Blake Leary
10 Willie Mason
11 Feleti Mateo
12 Justin Horo
13 Ligi Sao

Interchange
14 Jesse Sene-Lefao
15 Michael Chee Kam
16 James Hasson
17 Josh Starling

Coach: Geoff Toovey

Roosters
1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
2 Daniel Tupou
3 Mitchell Aubusson
4 Blake Ferguson
5 Brendan Elliot
6 James Maloney
7 Jackson Hastings
8 Sam Moa
9 Jake Friend (c)
10 Dylan Napa
11 Boyd Cordner
12 Aidan Guerra
13 Sio Siua Taukeiaho

Interchange
14 Matt McIlwrick
15 Isaac Liu
16 Kane Evans
17 Suaia Matagi
18 Willie Manu

Coach: Trent Robinson

Sea Eagles v Roosters preview

Chris Kennedy Wed 26 Aug, 2015, 11:00am
By Chris Kennedy*, National Correspondent, NRL.com

Sea Eagles v Roosters preview
Manly Sea Eagles v Sydney Roosters
Brookvale Oval
Friday 7.45pm

A real grudge match looms out at Brookvale Oval this Friday between two sides who suffered serious and unexpected setbacks last weekend. For the home side it was the likely ending of their season in a surprise upset in the wet against a spirited Eels side coupled with the loss of inspirational hooker Matt Ballin. They can still make the finals but need to win their last two straight and hope the Dragons fall over.

The Roosters, while surging to the top of the ladder with an incredibly gutsy win at home over Brisbane, lost in-form prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves for the season and gun half Mitch Pearce for at least a couple of weeks, if not the season. Strike centre Michael Jennings also picked up a one-week suspension.

It is arguably Manly who suffered the bigger blows; their 2015 campaign now hangs by a thread. If they cannot overcome a Roosters side they've shared some epic battles with in recent times then it will be formally finished. They'll need to do it without a recognised No.9, overlooking youngster Jayden Hodges in favour of back-rower Blake Leary to fill the rather large hole left by Ballin's ACL injury.

Willie Mason's return from suspension pushing Ligi Sao to lock in place of Leary.

The Roosters at least have impressive depth to cover for two significant outs. Kiwi prop Sam Moa returns from a dislocated wrist to replaced Waerea-Hargreaves, while up and coming star Jackson Hastings takes Pearce's No.7 jersey. The reshuffle sees hooker Matt McIlwrick recalled on the bench, utility Mitch Aubusson move from the pine to the centres for Jennings, and Suaia Matagi and Willie Manu added to an extended bench,


Watch out Sea Eagles: The fact the Roosters lost two of their best players in the opening quarter last week and still ground out a win against the then-competition leaders should tell you something, but if not we'll spell it out: they have incredible depth, a fantastic roster, they're well coached, have contingency plans for just about every scenario and just keep finding ways to win. The forward pack even without Waerea-Hargreaves is potent, as attested by their post-contact metres (i.e. how much ground their runners make after meeting the defence): 578.5 post-contact metres per game is the second-best in the NRL and plenty of those come from impact forwards like Sio Siua Taukeiaho, Kane Evans, Dylan Napa and Isaac Liu.

Watch out Roosters: Manly will be stinging to hit back and they've got the playmaking quality to do it. Halfback Daly Cherry-Evans is third in the league for try assists with 17 while captain Jamie Lyon has hit form of late; his eight try assists are among the best for centres this year and he set up four tries in a fortnight against Brisbane and Souths. His two-try 200-metre effort was the difference in a narrow and fortuitous win over Canberra and fullback Brett Stewart has quietly crept up to fourth on the season try-scoring list with 16 four-pointers in 20 games. Five-eighth Kieran Foran looked the most dangerous player from either side against Parramatta last week, highlighting the fact that any of their big names could win it for them on the day.

Key Match-Up: Brett Stewart v Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. These two enigmatic and dangerous fullbacks may be at opposite ends of the experience scale and play in contrasting styles but each poses a major threat for their team. For 'RTS' it is the fast feet, crazy sidestep and ridiculous running metres (5,270 at 240 per game this year, if you can believe that). And he takes the tough runs too – you're just as likely to see him smashing into the defence as his team works it off their line as stepping through space and streaking downfield. For Stewart it's the unparalleled match awareness and support play with polished ball-playing skills. He may be miles behind the Roosters custodian when it comes to metres (just 71 per week) but that's not what his team needs him for. Mind you his nine try assists only beats Tuivasa-Sheck's 2015 tally by one, though he does have a 16-11 advantage in actually scoring the tries.

The History: Played 126; Sea Eagles 81, Roosters 43, Drawn 2.

Manly have enjoyed a remarkable dominance over the Bondi boys right from the time they entered the competition, winning two thirds of all games. There was a breakout year in 2013, when eventual premiers the Roosters downed the Sea Eagles no fewer than four times in one season. Outside of that they've beaten Manly just twice in 16 games from 2005 onwards. Brookie has also been something of a graveyard for the Tricolours, who've won just 12 of 54 matches there. Their 2013 win was their only successful trip to the venue in their past eight.

What Are The Odds: The money has been virtualy split between these two teams and both have been backed strongly to win 1-12. Sportsbet punters believe it will be a tight affair, with the majority of the money on there being less than 38.5 points in the match. Latest odds at Sportsbet.com.au

Match Officials: Jared Maxwell & Gavin Morris; touch judges: Russell Turner & Chris Sutton; Video Referees: Bernard Sutton & Luke Patten.

Televised: Channel Nine, Live, 7.30pm.

The Way We See It: It's easy to get distracted by the losses of Pearce, Waerea-Hargreaves and Jennings and say the Roosters look vulnerable, but the Sea Eagles' loss of Ballin – one of the hardest working and most underrated players in the competition – cannot be overstated. Will Manly be deflated after their loss last week or will they hit back? Will the Roosters be drained from the massive effort last week or rejuvenated by a bit of new blood in the form of Moa and Matagi? Can they keep the run going after 10 straight wins? There's barely a struck match in this one and it could come down to a single play or defensive set. Roosters by 2.

Manly are goooooooooone.

Brilliant Roosters end Manly's season

Chris Kennedy Fri 28 Aug, 2015, 9:40pm
By Chris Kennedy*, National Correspondent, NRL.com

Brilliant Roosters end Manly's season
The Roosters have shaken off the losses of three key stars to completely outplay Manly 46-10 at Brookvale Oval on Friday night, formally ending the Sea Eagles' faint finals hopes and putting themselves within reach of an amazing third straight minor premiership.


The win moves the Roosters back to first on differential with one round to play, needing a win over the Rabbitohs and/or a Brisbane loss to the Storm next week to seal top spot.

The result is a great one for the Dragons, who now cannot miss a finals finish, and a poor one for Brisbane – whose odds of a minor premiership lengthened – and the Cowboys, whose own hopes of a top-two finish and home final slipped.

The absence of halfback Mitch Pearce (hamstring) was well covered by a fine all-round game from young halfback Jackson Hastings, who kicked beautifully in a strong performance, and James Maloney's impressive leadership.

Likewise form prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves' absence was well-covered by the Roosters' mobile young forward pack aiming up. Meanwhile Manly seemed to keenly feel the absence of hooker Matt Ballin, with youngster Jayden Hodges mistiming plenty of passes from dummy-half.

The Roosters wasted little time in asserting their dominance at the beginning of the game, shrugging off the losses of their injured stars by controlling proceedings well as Hastings put in an exhibition of controlled kicking far behind his years.

Manly prop Willie Mason on his return from a two-game shoulder charge ban was penalised from the very first play of the game for a shoulder charge, but not placed on report.

Manly fans had their hearts in their mouths when halfback Daly Cherry-Evans stayed down with a left shoulder injury shortly after but stayed on the field to play through the pain.

When Peta Hiku spilled a spiralling James Maloney bomb it gave the Roosters a full set at the line and Sam Moa's offload followed by quick hands from Hastings and Aidan Guerra allowed winger Brendan Elliot to open the scoring in the ninth minute.

Controversy erupted shortly after when a Foran clean break, supported by Cherry-Evans, came unstuck when Maloney knocked down the pass as Foran looked to draw fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to send his halves partner away.

Maloney's first touch went backwards but the crowd erupted in a chorus of boos when they felt the Roosters pivot knocked on in his subsequent attempt to clean up.

Horo was warned for abusing the officials in the wake of the incident, then found himself on report for high contact, with the referees warning Jamie Lyon for the way his side was speaking to the officials.

Compounding an awful few minutes for the home side, Elliot earned his double in the ensuing set from a well-worked right side move.

A monster hit from Boyd Cordner on Horo, followed the next play by a dropped ball from Josh Starling, handed the Roosters yet another chance to attack in the 26th minute and this time it was Guerra who scored, pouncing on a Hastings grubber that Kieran Foran failed to clean up to stretch the lead to 16-0.

With the match threatening to slip away the home side found another gear but a couple of attacking raids down the left side – including some quality ball-playing from Feleti Mateo – came unstuck.

They finally scored down the right when a miracle pass from Brett Stewart – fresh off inking a one-year contract extension through 2017 – allowed Lyon to ground the ball just inside the corner post.

With the crowd reinvigorated they launched one final assault in the shadows of half time but the Roosters were able to preserve their 10-point advantage to the break.

Manly needed to be first to score after the break but got off to the worst possible start when Elliot earned his hat-trick through another well-worked right side shift created by Tuivasa-Sheck in just the 43rd minute at the end of a quality set of hit-ups in which Cordner ran over the top of a clearly struggling Cherry-Evans.


The Tricolours absorbed a couple of sets at their own line from Manly around the 50-minute mark then blew the game wide open with a three-minute double to winger Daniel Tupou, both created by Maloney.

For the umpteenth time in the game Maloney bombed left but this time Tupou not only made a clean mark but burst through the defence and, off-balance, stumbled the last few metres to score.

The very next set Maloney fired a cut-out to the same man who galloped away down the left touch line to score. A pair of laser-like conversions from Maloney stretched the lead out to 34-6.

A Cherry-Evans pass sent back-rower Tom Symonds – returning from injury then shifting out to the centres (as he has so many times this year) when Jamie Lyon went off injured midway through the second half – over for his side's second try 10 out from time.

Things got uglier for the home side after that, despite Roosters coach Trent Robinson rewarding hooker Jake Friend and Hastings each with an early shower.

Tuivasa-Sheck though exploded late in the game, throwing a pinpoint no-look cut-out for Tupou's hat-trick then producing a sensational run to split Manly up the middle and evade a few more tacklers before popping a miracle offload to Isaac Liu, who fought through several more defenders to plant the ball over the line.

The result is the Roosters' biggest ever win at Brookvale and ends Manly's 2015 finals hopes – and the final Brookvale home games of club legend and coach Geoff Toovey and five-eighth Kieran Foran – in disappointing fashion.

Sydney Roosters 46 (Elliot, Tupou 3, Guerra, Liu tries; Maloney 7 goals) defeated Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 10 (Lyon, Symonds tries; Lyon goal) at Brookvale Oval. Half-time: Roosters 16-6. Crowd: 12,911.

Sea Eagles v Roosters: Man in a morphsuit gets away with crossing Brookvale Oval during game
FOX SPORTS August 28, 2015 10:18PM SHARE


ON a terrible night for Manly even the Brookvale Oval security guards were half asleep with a fully-suited streaker getting away with his run.

As the clock wound down on the Sea Eagles’ season, a man in a maroon morphsuit took it upon himself to lift the spirits of the crowd with the sneakiest run across the field ever seen.

After making his way well onto the field, going within metres of a play the ball, the man scurried off again, climbing the fence and making his way towards the back of the famous Brookvale hill.