2024 NRL Round 10 Dolphins v Manly – DOLPHINS 30 MANLY 24. The one-minute match report – giving you the bare minimum NRL round up in the bare minimum of time.
The Dolphins consolidated their top four position with an outstanding win over Manly on a wet Thursday night at Suncorp Stadium.
The first half saw plenty of points with seven tries scored in all, and the second half saw plenty of talking points, and enough points for the Dolphins to get home.
Both teams traded a try each in the first 20 minutes, with Manly’s looking ominously soft, and the Dolphins Euan Aitken snavelling a fine intercept on the halfway line and ran away to score.
Manly skipped ahead with two tries in four minutes and with last season’s thrashing on the minds of Dolphins fans, they could be forgiven for worrying a touch. But they needn’t worry as it turned out.
As the Dolphins put on three tries in five minutes from the 33rd minute to take a 20-16 lead into half time. The middle try of that run was pure magic from Trai Fuller as he made a line break on half way then chipped over the head of Tom Trobojevic and was in the right place to grab the lucky bounce. Connelly Lemuelu scored the first of those tries running a good line off Kodi Nikorima and Mark Nicholls sealed the half time lead after supporting a Jake Averillo break.
The second half saw the lead change a few times as Manly scored first, followed by penalty goals to each side leaving Manly ahead 24-22. The penalty goal coming not long after Jesse Bromwich was penalised for a high shot that could only be described as light as a feather, and it was after Manly reviewed a knock on.
Not long after Max Plath came from the field after he was hit in the head with a high shot while now far off the ground.
With the game in the balance it was the home side who took the game by the scruff of the neck as Jack Bostock scored in the corner and Jamayne Isaako converted from the sideline. In the process Tom Trbojevic appeared to injure leg trying to tackle Jack Bostock as the Manly fullback wiped out a cameraman, he didn’t return to the field, and Manly was down another outside back after losing Jason Saab early.
Talking of scruff of the neck, the Dolphins received a penalty when Manly’s Ethan Bullemoor used Herbie Farnworth’s for fun with a few minutes to go. A penalty and two points followed and the Dolphins edged out to a 30-24 lead they weren’t to relinquish.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
After a slightly mixed game last weekend Trai Fuller was magic again for the Dolphins, with his solo try in the 35th minute a play that will be on his highlight reel forever. Not just that moment of brilliance, he made some key last man tackles again, and was very safe under the high ball again. That’s to go with all the runs he made, where every run saw maximum effort to break the line.
With the Hammer back next week, it will be a shame when he presumably is replaced at fullback, and although the temptation will be to keep him in the side, you also may not want to upset the current balance of the bench. A tough ones for Wayne Bennett. At a minimum we can be thankful there’s such a talent as backup in a key position, and State of Origin is just around, and Trai Fuller will be the first person the club should to fill in.
Herbie Farnworth’s return was very good, although there looked to be an injury scare for him in the first five minutes. Herbie topped the Post Contact metres and Tackle Breaks, was fifth for run metres with 143 in total. Throw in a line break assist and try assists too. soldi stats.
With more stars due back over the next month, one does have to admire the spirit in the team to keep winning. Same with dealing with the Wayne Bennett coaching media circus. It’s 2/2 since that speculation really heated up after Souths sacked Jason Demetriou.
A few unsung heroes for the Dolphins if we can, and from different parts of the field. Firstly Jack Bostock must be acknowledged for the way he has become such an NRL fixture. He is safe under the high ball and is always looking for work in attack. Mark Nicholls too gives everything and got a sweet reward with a try just before half time. He’s always up for a hit up and sniffs out a try better than a lot of big men in the middle.
One thing we’d like to see more is the offload. When the Dolphins are on song they come quite regularly, and again from Thursday’s game when the offload started to appear again it coincided with an uptick in form. Sometimes the Dolphins could be accused of being a bit one-dimensional in attack, so a little more flair might be needed as the big fixtures come along.
And Ray Stone is the greatest. Always.
Courtesy of nrl.com
BEST OF STATS
That’s now three wins from three v sides in the top eight (at the time of the match).
The win also sees the Dolphins remain one of only two teams that are unbeaten against Sydney sides this season. Melbourne are the other and playing Cronulla this weekend.
Dolphins are W2 L1 in their short history of games on a Thursday, and tonight’s win was the first at Suncorp Stadium on a Thursday (Overall Record W1 L1)
The game could be barely closer for possession and territory stats. Both were between 49% and 51% for the overall stats and the half results.
Going back to 2014, Manly have lost nine of their last 11 games at Suncorp Stadium.
Manly have won only one away game on a Thursday night from nine attempts.
