Sea Eagles spoil Papalii party in big win over Raiders
Manly have spoiled the Raiders’ Josh Papalii party to secure a 46-24 win over Canberra and move one step closer to a finals berth.
The two teams were locked at 12-12 after 39 minutes before the Sea Eagles blew their opponents off the park with 34-straight points to claim a dominant victory.
The result solidifies Manly’s place in the top eight and sees them temporarily jump into fifth place on the ladder.
For the Raiders, they remain in 10th but need results to go their way to stay two points outside the eight with four rounds remaining.
Canberra were celebrating Papalii’s 300th game after he became the third Raider to achieve the milestone last weekend. GIO Stadium erupted when the prop charged over from short range to open the scoring in a rampaging opening stint.
Josh Papali’i Try
Papalii’s energy radiated throughout the rest of the team, with the Raiders producing a number of big hits and dangerous runs.
Canberra broke the line on multiple occasions, but they were only able to cross twice in the opening 40 min
Kaeo Weekes Try
Errors at inopportune times crippled their cause and the Sea Eagles capitalised on their opponents’ momentary lapses.
All three of Manly’s first-half tries came off the back of Canberra mistakes, with Ethan Bullemor crossing in the final play of the period to hand his team an 18-12 lead at the break.
Tom Trbojevic 1st Try
A sizeable contingent of Sea Eagles fans travelled to the nation’s capital, packing into the stadium’s south-east corner to support their team.
The players gave them plenty to celebrate, with Daly Cherry-Evans and Lehi Hopoate each scoring in that corner of the ground in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.
Daly Cherry-Evans Try
Trailing 28-12, the Raiders’ task was made even tougher when Joe Tapine was sent to the sin bin for dissent and the visitors made the most of it with three tries while playing with an extra man.
The period saw Tom Trbojevic cross for his second of the day, taking him to 100 tries in his NRL career as the scoreline blew out to 46-12.
The Raiders hit back through Sebastian Kris and Xavier Savage but it was too little too late as they slumped to a costly defeat.
