Warriors chip in for rival’s celebration

Tommy Turbo unstoppable in 100th game

Tom Trbojevic, in his 100th NRL outing, produced a stunning six try involvements and a stats line that read like a winning Lotto ticket in Manly’s madcap 38-32 comeback win over the Warriors.

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Just as he did in his maiden and 50th NRL games, Trbojevic bagged a brace of tries.

Just for fun, he added four try assists, five line breaks, three line break assists, eight tackle busts and 197 running metres as Jason Saab helped himself to a hat-trick in 11 minutes as well.

In the old Rugby League Week player ratings where 10/10s were as rare as hen’s teeth, this was an 11 from Trbojevic, while the all-out attack from both sides wasn’t bad on the eyes either.

The No 1’s outstanding numbers and second-half ball-playing played a telling role in an end-to-end, at times error-strewn contest in which the Warriors blew a 20-12 halftime lead.

“He was good in patches,” coach Des Hasler started out, before eventually acknowledging not even he could slide Trbojevic’s influence under the radar.

“The scary part is he’s still building into the season. He’s managing it really well.

“He’s just such a damaging player. He makes defences think twice, you give him a bit of space and away he goes.”

Five second-half tries from the Sea Eagles snapped a six-game losing streak at Lottoland as Manly’s 2011 premiership-winners celebrated their 10-year anniversary.

The Warriors went missing for much of the second half until late tries to Chanel Harris-tavita — back for his first NRL action since playing with a broken foot against the Knights in round two — and whiz-kid Reece Walsh had them storming home late.

But for two brilliant defensive plays by Saab — a high-octane take of a towering bomb, followed by a clutch try-saving tackle on Ed Kosi over the sideline — Kodi Nikorima would have been kicking for a 38-all deadlock on full-time.

A badly butchered effort by the Warriors No 7 proved telling, with Nikorima piloting the pill into touch instead of finding either of two unmarked team-mates. Manly’s Morgan Harper doubled down on the error in the very next set with a bullocking four-pointer of his own.

“At 20-12 we should’ve walked over the line,” Warriors coach Nathan Brown said.

“The [Nikorima] error didn’t cost us the game, it’s how we struggle with momentum, when things don’t go our way and momentum is against us, to become a good side you’re going to have opportunities . . . if you don’t

At 20-12 we should’ve walked over the line. We invited Daly [Cherry-evans] and Tommy Turbo into the contest. Nathan Brown, Warriors coach

take them, it’s how you respond that makes you a good team.

“Our response to that wasn’t great and we invited Daly [Cherry-evans] and Tommy Turbo into the contest.”

From there it was all maroon and white, with Saab unleashed down that same right-edge for the Sea Eagles to take the lead.

When Reuben Garrick crossed six minutes later on the opposite edge, Trbojevic had thrown the last pass for both and Manly looked home and hosed.

Saab had himself two more tries in two minutes as the Warriors wilted badly.

Compounding yet another yo-yo defeat for the Warriors — they have gone win-loss each week for more than a month now — Tohu Harris (crusher tackle) and Josh Curran (raising the knees) were placed on report.