Sea Eagles soar in second half massacre

NRL
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Gold Coast Titans v Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

A second half comeback has seen the Manly Sea Eagles embarrass the Gold Coast Titans 56-24 in Daly Cherry-Evans' 250th NRL game.

In a match where defence was rarely sighted, the Sea Eagles fought back from an 8-24 deficit to post 48 unanswered points after halftime in front of 14,408 supporters at CBUS Super Stadium

Winger Reuben Garrick had an afternoon to remember with a personal haul of 28 points (4 tries, 6 goals), while Tom Trbojevic continued to enhance his reputation as the game's most influential player with a hat-trick of tries and assists.

In a first half where the Titans dominated with close to 70 per cent of the ball and a perfect completion rate, Jayden Campbell (7th minute) posted first points after running onto a well-weighted grubber from Tyrone Peachey.

In a rare period of joy for the visitors, Trbojevic touched down for two tries in consecutive sets (12th and 14th minutes) to give the Sea Eagles a fleeting 8-6 lead.

Regaining the advantage after a cross field kick from Ashley Taylor allowed Greg Marzhew (20th minute) to score his first try on home soil, the mature-aged debutant posted his second (27th minute) after Campbell confidently toed the ball in-goal.

Heaping further misery upon the Sea Eagles as Patrick Herbert (31st minute) added his name to the scoresheet, the Titans headed to the sheds up 24-8 through David Fifita (37th minute) who pounced on a grubber from Peachey.

Coming out of the sheds with a rejuvenated sense of identity, Jason Saab (43rd minute) raced 50 metres before Kieran Foran and Trbojevic combined to send Garrick (46th minute) over out wide. 

Introducing Dylan Walker - playing his 150th NRL game - midway through the second half, the injection of the interchange utility coincided with Saab (52nd minute) crossing for his second.

Hitting the front with Garrick (55th minute) collecting his second, a Taniela Paseka break off the kick-off appeared to gift Tom Trbojevic his hat-trick only for the bunker to rule the fullback had lost the ball.

Continuing the flow of points with Garrick (58th minute) and Trbojevic (60th minute) collecting their hat-tricks, Brad Parker selflessly gave Garrick (64th minute) his fourth to put the Sea Eagles up 44-24.

Taking the score past 50 with Haumole Olakau'atu (71st minute) touching down millimetres before the dead ball line, Cherry-Evans (75th minute) capped his milestone match with the final try of the afternoon.

Following next week's representative bye, the Titans will travel to Canberra to take on the Raiders, while the Sea Eagles will face the Bulldogs at Bankwest Stadium.

Gold Coast Titans 24 - Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 56

Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Robina / Yugambeh
Crowd: 14408
Halftime Score: Gold Coast Titans 24 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 8

LeagueUnlimited.com Players of the Match:
3 points - Tom Trbojevic
2 points - Taniela Paseka
1 points - Reuben Garrick

GOLD COAST TITANS (24)
Tries: Jayden Campbell, Greg Marzhew (2), Patrick Herbert, David Fifita
Conversions: Jamal Fogarty (2/5)

MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES (56)
Tries: Tom Trbojevic (3), Reuben Garrick (4), Jason Saab (2), Haumole Olakau'atu, Daly Cherry-Evans
Conversions: Reuben Garrick (6/11)


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