Garrick grabs 30 as Sea Eagles bag record win over Bulldogs
Manly have racked up the biggest win in their 74-year history as star Tom Trbojevic’s hot streak continued with a 66-0 flogging of Canterbury Bulldogs at Bankwest Stadium last night.
In an absolute cakewalk Trbojevic added another hat-trick to his long list of achievements for 2021, while Jason Saab claimed three late tries.
Reuben Garrick also equalled the Sea Eagles record for the most points in a match with 30 via two tries and 11 goals, reported.
The win was also the biggest in the NRL since Parramatta beat Cronulla 74-4 in 2003 and finished as the second biggest of the NRL era.
In doing so, Manly also became just the fourth side in history to post 50 points in three straight games, after also wiping out North Queensland and Gold Coast in their last starts.
But this was by far their most dominant day.
With no crowd and very little resistance in defence from Canterbury, this felt every bit like a training run for the Sea Eagles.
In many ways, the Bulldogs were their own worst enemies in what qualified as their worst performance in recent memory.
In Kyle Flanagan’s return to the halves Canterbury couldn’t force a missed tackle out of Manly for the first 37 minutes.
Their last tackle options were routinely poor with the ball twice finding front-rowers on the final play in two of their best attacking opportunities.
They were also regularly stripped for numbers on the edges, with Saab in particular busting downfield regularly.
All of Trbojevic’s tries came in that fashion in the space of 18 minutes, when both he and Daly Cherry-Evans put Saab free and the fullback loomed up in support.
About the only thing that didn’t go the fullback’s way was when he put his brother Ben over for what should have been his first NRL try with a pass over the line, only for it to be called back for an obstruction. By that point Manly were well on their way to toppling their previous biggest win of 70-7 over Penrith in 1973.
Trbojevic also put Garrick over for Manly’s first, while sending Saab over for one of his tries.
Prop Toafofoa Sipley also bagged a double as he made light work of Canterbury’s middle, while second-rower Karl Lawton got one.
The win moved Manly into the top five at the expense of the Sydney Roosters, becoming the first change to the top group of teams since round five.
NSW could have to find two new halves for State of Origin III with Jarome Luai unlikely to play, after scans showed the Penrith fiveeighth had injured the medial ligament in his knee.
Luai was hurt in Penrith’s 13-12 win over Parramatta on Friday night and while he required attention on the field he managed to play on.
However, the 24-year-old was taken for scans yesterday and they revealed minor damage.
The Blues five-eighth is now expected to be in a knee brace for at least the next week.
Luai’s halves partner Nathan Cleary is out with a shoulder injury. Mitch Moses is the favourite alongside Adam Reynolds to fill Cleary’s No 7 jersey, while Cody Walker and Jack Wighton are the options at No 6 for Luai.