Manly upset the form book with an 18-10 win over Penrith at Panthers Stadium, but they suffered a major blow when Dylan Walker was carried off with a knee injury, after he had returned from a broken jaw injury.
The Panthers had led 8-6 at half-time, but after the break the Sea Eagles gradually pulled ahead to assert their authority.
It was the Panthers’ first defeat at Panthers Stadium this season.
Panthers: 1 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 2 Christian Crichton, 3 Tyrone Peachey, 4 Dean Whare, 5 Tyrone Phillips, 6 James Maloney (c), 7 Nathan Cleary, 8 Trent Merrin, 9 Sione Katoa, 10 James Tamou, 11 Viliame Kikau, 12 Isaah Yeo, 13 James Fisher-Harris; Interchange: 14 Wayde Egan, 15 Kaide Ellis, 16 Jack Hetherington, 17 Moses Leota
Tries: Watene-Zelezniak; Goals: Maloney 3
Sea Eagles: 1 Tom Trbojevic, 15 Matt Wright, 3 Moses Suli, 4 Brian Kelly, 5 Bradley Parker, 6 Dylan Walker, 7 Daly Cherry-Evans (c), 8 Addin Fonua-Blake, 9 Manase Fainu, 10 Martin Taupau, 11 Joel Thompson, 16 Shaun Lane, 13 Jake Trbojevic; Interchange: 12 Frank Winterstein, 14 Trent Hodkinson, 17 Taniela Paseka, 21 Kelepi Tanginoa
Tries: Thompson, Wright, Hodkinson; Goals: Cherry-Evans, Hodkinson 2
For full coverage of the weekend’s NRL games see Monday’s edition of League Express, available in shops and online from Sunday night.
