Manly came into this match expecting to repeat their 66-0 hiding of the Bulldogs earlier in the season, but the Bulldogs defence had other plans, holding Manly to a 36-18 result that could've gone either way for much of the afternoon.
The Sea Eagles were steady in the first half, as their attack struggled to find their groove, due largely to the stingy defence by the Bulldogs.
Manly scored in the 8th minute when Jason Saab strolled in to score in the left corner after Manly created an overlap with some good passing at the line. Reuben Garrick failed to convert from the sideline.
In the 14th minute Haumole Olakau'atu went close to extending Manly's lead, but he dropped the ball at the line.
Ten minutes later and it looked like Saab had crossed for his second but the Bunker found that he dropped the ball just as he was about to ground it for a try.
In the 27th minute the Bulldogs produced a brilliant scrum play where Sione Katoa ran left with the ball off the back of the scrum before passing back into Matt Doorey, who ran through the dispersing crowd breaking away from the scrum, to score a runaway try. Kyle Flanagan converted.
From the restart the Bulldogs got a set restart and then Ofahiki Ogden got a great offload away to Brandon Wakeham, who made a break. From the next play, the Bulldogs shifted the ball fast to the right onto Jayden Okunbor, who stepped inside the cover defender and crashed over to score in the right corner. Flanagan converted to give the Bulldogs an 8 point lead.
With 5 minutes to go before the break, Daly Cherry-Evans straightened his run, headed back infield and then linked with Haumole Olakau'atu who strolled over to score under the posts. Garrick converted from in front.
Right on halftime, Dylan Walker sent an awkward ball over the top to Saab, with an open tryline just 7 metres in front of him, but the pass was ruled forward. At halftime, the Bulldogs held a 12-10 lead.
Manly scored a contentious try just 3 minutes after halftime. Keiran Foran on the left side drifted left and then dumped the ball inside to a hard running Tom Trbojevic, who ran back in towards the posts where Hetherington collared him then rolled him over and very nearly denied him a try. It looked for all money like Tom dropped the ball, however the Bunker awarded the try. Garrick converted.
Manly's run of disallowed tries continued in the 52nd minute when Saab was taken into touch 10 metres short of the line.
Five minutes later and Tom Trbojevic tried to barge over for a try, but grounded it short and then knocked it on.
In the 62nd minute Reuben Garrick kicked a penalty goal after Joe Stimson was penalised for accidentally grabbing the hair of Martin Taupau.
Manly extended their lead just 5 minutes later when Josh Schuster received the ball on the left side with nothing on. He ran back infield towards the posts, bumped out of a tackle and then hit a straight running Tom Trbojevic with a nice pass and he scored under the posts. Garrick converted.
Dylan Walker was denied a try in the 70th minute when he was held up over the line by Josh Jackson.
In the 73rd minute Keiran Foran on the left, turned the ball inside to Tom Trbojevic who ran a strong hard line towards the posts and he scored a solid try. Garrick added the extras to give Manly a 30-12 lead.
From the kick-off, Manly let the ball bounce and Jackson Topine who was flying downfield got a lovely bounce and without breaking his stride, took it cleanly and ran in for a spectacular try. Flanagan converted.
The Bulldogs had the ball inside Manly's 10 metres area as fulltime was about to sound, when Cherry-Evans made an intercept and promptly passed to speedster Saab who raced 85 metres to score. Garrick converted and Manly won 36-18.