Manly have risen from the dead to eliminate the Bulldogs 24-22 with Tom Trbojevic bouncing back from a poor game by his gold-class standards to set up the winning try.
Trbojevic had been largely ineffective throughout the Elimination Final as he carried his shoulder injury into the contest but he conjured up a superb offload with seven minutes remaining for Koula to put the Sea Eagles in front for the first time in the match.
After Reuben Garrick nailed the conversion from out wide, they hung on in a frenetic finish to advance to the second round of the playoffs for a semi-final showdown with the Roosters at Allianz Stadium next Saturday night.
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1. Seibold’s bold gamble eventually pays off
Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold claimed they could have played Tom Trbojevic last week and that the shoulder injury he suffered in the previous round was not that bad.
Either he was telling porkies or the doctor was looking at the wrong scans because Trbojevic was all over the joint for most of the Elimination Final against Canterbury while trying to soldier on with a dodgy AC joint.
The normally dynamic 27-year-old looked reluctant to go into contact and apart from a few silky touches here and there, he was largely a non-factor.
He was clearly a wounded Sea Eagle, clutching at his wing/injured shoulder on several occasions.
Pain-killing injections can get players on the park but if they are going to be restricted by injury, they can do more harm than good. He had a second one at half-time to get him through the contest after copping a knock in the opening exchanges.
Trbojevic at reduced effectiveness can be a better option than alternatives for the Sea Eagles and he still managed 177 running metres, including 56 post contact, but only broke two tackles and made three.
But when his team needed it the most, he produced a brilliant pass in traffic as he was brought to ground near halfway. The speculator found its way to Garrick and was spun out wide for Koula to sprint past Toby Sexton, step past Jeral Skelton and Connor Tracey to silence the huge crowd.
It was the master setting up the try with the apprentice finishing it off – Koula’s footwork at top speed was too much for the defenders and the outnumbered Sea Eagles fans finally drowned out the pro-Bulldogs crowd of 50,714.
“I was pretty happy. A pretty fair try,” a smiling Seibold said. “We see it from Tolu at training. He’s a very, very gifted athlete, a very quick young guy. To do it on this stage in front of 50,000, that’s a real special finals try. The guys ran it on the last, which we identified that they were dropping back a little bit early. The guys executed it. It was a pretty special play.”
If Manly’s marquee man is anywhere near 100% for their clash with the Roosters, then the Turbo-charged Sea Eagles have more than a puncher’s chance of getting through to the prelim finals.
“There was big moments from our key players,” Seibold said. “I think we were really positive at half-time. We had not much possession whatsoever in the first half but the scoreboard was maybe four in front to them.
“Maintain the effort and we’ll give ourselves a chance at the back end of the game. The guys stayed at it. They were all in with that. Then there was some real class from some of our guys to get the result.”
2. Dogs lose bite after dominating
Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton and former Panthers teammate Viliame Kikau had put the home side ahead 22-12 with more than half an hour to go but the Sea Eagles produced two moments of magic to snatch victory.
Daly Cherry-Evans scored after a perfectly crafted scrum play before Trbojevic’s offload scattered the Bulldogs’ defensive line and Koula unfurled his lightning pace for a scorching match-winner.
Kikau first made his presence felt in the sixth minute when the Dogs swung the ball left and he produced a blink and you miss it catch-and-pass for Jacob Kiraz to plant the ball down in the corner.
Tommy Talau responded at the opposite end after Koula exploited a poor read in defence from Skelton but Kikau caused more havoc down the left edge, again sweeping out the back like a centre as Bronson Xerri ran the decoy like a back-rower.
It suitably confused the Manly defence with Garrick and Lehi Hopoate literally falling over each other as they tried to bring down the Fijian behemoth.
Crichton touched down from a Matt Burton kick for a 10-point buffer but Hopoate showed great athleticism to wrench the ball from Tracey and fling the ball to Ethan Bullemor on the boil to make it a four-point deficit at the break.
Getting a start on the right wing due to Josh Addo-Carr being stood down due to his roadside cocaine test, Skelton celebrated his first finals appearance with a try after Crichton palmed a Sexton high kick over to his unmarked teammate.
Tom Trbojevic charges forward. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Canterbury had thrown everything into the contest in attack and particularly defence and they seemed to tire down the stretch.
Manly had pulled off the old Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope from the famous Rumble in the Jungle win over George Foreman.
They absorbed the Bulldogs’ heavy blows and when the time was right, they struck.
And when they got their beaks in front late, the Sea Eagles held their nerve while the Dogs were chasing their tails, making basic handling errors as panic set in.
Matt Burton had a last-ditch chance to send the match into extra time with less than two minutes on the clock but his two-point field goal attempt fell just short as he tried to guide it over the posts with a huge wind at his back.
He had one more crack with the last play of the game but again sprayed the kick as Canterbury’s promising season ended abruptly on the back of three straight defeats.
Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo said he was “absolutely devastated” for his team and struggled to find the right words in the dressing rooms after the defeat.
But he said the team could be proud of the way they had awoken their huge fan base and made great strides in 2024 but would know how to use the lessons learned the hard way to go further next year.
“Honestly, it’s hard to know what to say because they’ve just put so much into this year and this week,” he said. “Selfishly, I feel like they deserve better, but it’s part of the process.
“This year, we’ve been on a really cool journey and done some really good things. I feel like we’ve awoken a really strong fan base and gave them a team they can be proud of. There’s a lot of good things there, but there’s some great lessons there tonight in terms of hopefully we get back here next year and what it needs to look like.”
3. Crichton relentless in brutal captain’s knock
Just like Kalyn Ponga’s effort for Newcastle on Saturday night, Stephen Crichton did not deserve to lose on Sunday after leading from the front.
When Trbojevic made an uncharacteristic error early in possession after he was hit hard, Crichton roughed up his old NSW teammate afterwards.
It was clearly a tactic. Crichton also made sure he gave Trbojevic a bump after he scored in the first half just to let him know that these mongrel Dogs were a ferocious breed.
The former Panthers centre was a menace for anyone in maroon who came within arm’s length.
Crichton collared rookie winger Lehi Hopoate and dragged him back more than five metres into the in-goal area early in the second half to earn a repeat set and the extended time in Manly territory led to a Jeral Skelton try.
It was the kind of uncompromising centre performance that would have elicited a knowing nod from Canterbury’s intimidating feared defenders of yesteryear like Chris Mortimer, Andrew Farrar and Tony Currie.
He also showed his attacking class when he won the sprint to a Matt Burton kick over the top on play three, reaching out to plant the bouncing ball at top speed.
4. Scrums worth keeping purely for tries like this one
Daly Cherry-Evans used his captain’s challenge at the perfect time with his team down by 10 in the 55th minute.
Manly were ruled to have knocked on in an aerial contest for a bomb but DCE called for a review and the footage showed Jacob Kiraz was first to fumble.
The Sea Eagles parlayed that win into six points from the ensuing scrum when DCE packed in at lock as Garrick fed it to him, then whipped the ball to Luke Brooks with Koula running a decoy off his shoulder.
Cherry-Evans curled around the back of his two teammates as the defence converged on them and Brooks popped the pass out the back to his unmarked skipper who scooted through for a mesmerising play which turned the momentum of the match and probably saved his team’s season.
“Well they fooled me and they fooled the Dogs defence,” said Cooper Cronk in Fox League commentary.
“That is a beautiful set play off the scrum.”
5. Foxx likely to be set free
Josh Addo-Carr’s absence from this match is likely to be the last time he misses a match for Canterbury.
It would be a surprise if the Dogs don’t tear up his contract in the coming weeks.
Not many NRL players make Phil Gould look foolish and stay on the books.
The Canterbury GM stuck his neck out by defending Addo-Carr on social media by saying there was nothing to see here, move along after being told he had returned an inconclusive result for a roadside cocaine test.
Addo-Carr is maintaining his innocence and that he does not know how the drug got into his system but that’s unlikely to wash with the Dogs.
They were close to punting him just under 12 months ago after his involvement in a brawl in the Koori Knockout and then revealing that he had played on at the tournament even after being knocked out.
He only has one more year to run on his lucrative deal but it’s a fair bet that he will be plying his trade elsewhere in 2025.
The Kick: Rough call over tough tackle
Referee Grant Atkins was a tad too whistle happy midway through the first half when he pinged Talau for a hit on Tracey.
The 23rd-minute shot smashed the Canterbury fullback but although it was a big hit, it was simply a good old-fashioned tackle that rattled his opponent’s ribs and Immortal halfback Andrew Johns was fuming on Nine commentary.
“It’s not late, it’s not high – that’s a ridiculous call. No way that was a penalty,” he said.
And when Crichton scored a few plays later, Johns continued his tirade.
“Penalties are a huge momentum turner. You just can’t give them out.”