Round 24 Sea Eagles v Eels

SEA EAGLES V EELS - SUN 23 AUGUST, 4.00PM, 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 Matt Ballin
10 Josh Starling
11 Feleti Mateo
12 Justin Horo
13 Blake Leary

Interchange
14 Jesse Sene-Lefao
15 Michael Chee Kam
16 James Hasson
17 Ligi Sao
18 Brenton Lawrence

Coach: Geoff Toovey

Eels
1 Reece Robinson
2 Semi Radradra
3 Will Hopoate
4 Ryan Morgan
5 Bureta Faraimo
6 Corey Norman
7 Luke Kelly
8 Junior Paulo
9 Isaac De Gois
10 Tim Mannah (c)
11 Manu Ma'u
12 Tepai Moeroa
13 David Gower

Interchange
14 Pauli Pauli
15 Darcy Lussick
16 Peni Terepo
17 Daniel Alvaro

Coach: Brad Arthur

Mateo eyes win in 200th game

Sun 23 Aug, 2015, 7:30am
By Chris Kennedy, National Correspondent, NRL.com

Manly forward Feleti Mateo in action against Gold Coast in Round 18 of the NRL Telstra Premiership. Credit: Charles Knight. Copyright: NRL Photos.
There were times when Manly back-rower Feleti Mateo thought he'd never play 200 games but as he reaches the milestone this weekend he's looking to achieve the sort of consistency that has eluded him throughout his career.

Mateo is also relieved to know he's wanted at Manly next year after reportedly being one of 14 players the club was looking to move on next year despite having another year to run on his two-year contract.

"The latest is I'm staying – I was always going to," Mateo said in response to questions over his playing future.

"I've always said I've got one more year and I'm going to honour that. I've had word they want me to stay so that's a positive thing. To know that I'm wanted is really nice and I'm looking forward to my future."

Mateo has mostly been happy with his form at the Sea Eagles after starting the year strongly, despite the disappointment of an injury setback.

"I thought I started the year well, I got put into five-eighth when Kieran [Foran] got injured then I got injured which set my year back, but I knew if I got healthy I could put in some good footy together and I think that's what I've done," he said.

"It's a positive [feeling at the club], we're winning games which is good. We know we've got a lot to work on if we're going to make the eight so that's our focus."

Mateo racked up almost 100 games at each of his former clubs, Parramatta and the Warriors, before relocating to the northern beaches, and is looking forward to crossing the 200 barrier against the club he debuted for back in 2004.

"200 games is a really big achievement and I'm really excited to do it at Brookvale on a Sunday," he said.

"If there's any place for us to get up for a game that's the place. Hopefully we get a big crowd and get up for the win."


Asked if he was surprised to make it to 200 he laughed: "I was surprised I got there when I got shipped off to England when I was 21! It's a credit to a lot of coaches that believed in me, trainers and medical staff, a lot of people you could thank but for me it was my family who always believed in me, I owe a lot to them and hopefully I get a win for them."

Of his reputation as someone that didn't always reach his unarguably enormous potential, he said there were probably games where he played to his potential but hadn't necessarily maintained it for long stretches.

"I probably haven't been as consistent as I'd like to be with playing to my potential, but that's what I hope I can put forward for the rest of my career and not being known as a guy who didn't fulfil his potential consistently and that's what I really want to do," he said.

"I've done all right – I always looked up to guys that made the 100 mark, 150, I probably didn't think I'd get this far. It's massive to me and I probably haven't thought about it too much.

"For me, all I'll be thinking about this week is getting the win and getting in the eight. It's probably something I'll look back at when the season's done."

The quest to force their way into the top eight continues for Manly in Sunday's grudge match against the Eels – a win of greater than 24 points [check after Bulldogs game this number may change] will see them finish the round inside the top eight for the first time this season.

"Yeah it's going to be huge for us, those guys [Parramatta] have been competing every week, probably not getting the results they want but very competitive and we know what we're up against this week," Mateo said.

Both Mateo and Manly centre Steve Matai feel like the ball is starting to bounce Manly's way after a horror start to the season, as evidenced by a fortuitous leg up against Canberra in Round 23 where the officials missed Brett Stewart scoring the match-winning try from an offside position.

"Over the last month I think there's been certain plays in games and I think it comes down to which team's competing more," Mateo said.

"We were probably lucky last week [with Stewart's try] but over the last month or six weeks we've been the better team competing. When you're playing harder you got those bounces of the ball."

Matai said it seemed like things had started to turn with the big win over the Broncos at Gosford in Round 21.

"I think we started to get a few calls go our way and the bounce of the ball going our way and sometimes you need that to get a bit of confidence and win a few games and I think from that we took it on to the following week and we sort of haven't stopped from there," Matai said.

Eels dent Manly's finals hopes

Sun 23 Aug, 2015, 5:58pm
By Joe Riordan, NRL.com

The soar of the Sea Eagle has finally been halted and it came at the hands of what should have been another win in front of the Brookvale Oval faithful, losing 20-16 at the hands of the Parramatta Eels.

In eerie, wet conditions on Sunday afternoon, Manly showed nothing of the class that has seen them win their previous four matches straight.

The slippery ball foiled their attacking brilliance, Cherry-Evans and Foran having a far more diminished involvement.

In the final 20 minutes of the match both teams were guilty of playing the conditions poorly, as the game descended into an error-ridden struggle with few glimpses of brilliance.

But the Eels were just good enough to hold on for a gutsy victory at the back end of a tumultuous season, a result that gives them some breathing room at the bottom of the ladder.

Parramatta were the first on the scoreboard, Semi Radradra striking down the left wing to finish off a 30-metre movement.

But the Sea Eagles would hit back thanks to an amazing solo effort from Kieran Foran who sent Steve Matai up with his 50th try at Brookvale Oval, a feat only accomplished by four other players in Manly history.

The 20th minute four-pointer was handed to the hard-hitting Matai on a plate though, Foran's run was brilliant, his step on Reece Robinson leaving the Eels fullback slipping over and clutching at thin air in the dewy conditions.

A perfect pass from Corey Norman gave the Eels the advantage back moments later though, as big Radradra went in again.

Meanwhile as Luke Kelly lined up the subsequent kick for goal Matt Ballin limped off with a leg injury leaving Manly without any obvious replacement at hooker.

Peta Hiku made something out of nothing to hit back for the Sea Eagles, it was a tough run to score in the corner but the winger's try was equally down to some poor defensive work for the Eels.

Radradra and Norman knocked each other over in an attempt to get to Hiku, allowing a try that drew parallels to the famous Steven Bradbury Olympic skating victory.


Manu Ma'u crashed over just before half-time to continue the try-for-try pattern in the first half, the big Kiwi benefiting from a big gap in the Manly defence and was too big and strong to be stopped by the cover defence.

Luke Kelly's conversion miss left the game at 14-10 to the Eels at half-time.

A barge over try immediately after resumption had the Manly faithful very nervous, the normally sturdy Sea Eagles defence was too easily breached as Bureta Faraimo powered over.

And the bad news would continue for the 11,000 hardy fans at Brookie, Ballin's unfortunate night getting worse in the 45th minute as he was forced off with a left knee injury for the second time in the match.

But the bad luck would soon turn around as future Eel James Hasson capitalised on a Parramatta mistake near their own line to toe the ball through and snare a four-pointer out of nowhere.

But that would be as good as the Manly attack would get in the second half, as they failed to catch their opponents with some poor attacking tactics.

Parramatta Eels 20 (Semi Radradra 2, Manu Ma'u, Bureta Faraimo tries; Luke Kelly 2 goals) defeated Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 16 (Steve Matai, Peta Hiku, James Hasson 3 tries; Jamie Lyon 2 goals) at Brookvale Oval. Crowd: 11,018.

Looks like I ain't packin' my Eagles jersey for this years trip to the GF..

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Originally Posted by shamus

Looks like I ain't packin' my Eagles jersey for this years trip to the GF..

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Me either. I was living in false hope but next year will be good as we get Myles to produce rep form at club level.

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Originally Posted by shamus

Looks like I ain't packin' my Eagles jersey for this years trip to the GF..

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Me either may just go wearing a New 49ers no38 jersey :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by TITAN PETE

Me either may just go wearing a New 49ers no38 jersey :thumbsup:

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Rinse ya mouth. He is doing some wonderful stuff but he is still a Parra player!

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Originally Posted by Mexican titan

Rinse ya mouth. He is doing some wonderful stuff but he is still a Parra player!

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:laugh: , I Have always been a 49ers fan & own a Kapa jersey so an update is required , at the end of the day he will always be a Blue so I'll wear the Hayne name proudly :thumbsup: