Fast-starting Cowboys fall apart against Turbo-less Sea Eagles

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Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles v North Queensland Cowboys

The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles have come back from a 12 point deficit after eight minutes, to blow the Cowboys away by a score of 50 points to 18 at Brookvale tonight.

After news broke that Tom Trbojevic would be rested for this match, many altered their tips to give the Cowboys a chance.

It appeared that the Manly side from Rounds 1-5 was back, with the Cowboys scoring in the third minute after Murray Taulagi pounced on a Scott Drinkwater short kick. 

This was compounded by another try to the Cowboys 5 minutes later, with Drinkwater assisting again by throwing a cutout pass to a wide open Javid Bowen, who strolled over untouched. 

The Sea Eagles responded 4 minutes later by exploiting the Cowboys right edge defence for the first of many times. They had O'Neill and Dearden retreating and Foran hit a hard running Brad Parker, who crashed over to get Manly on the board. 

In the 19th minute, Haumole Olakau'atu rose above all the Cowboys to score, and Garrick's conversion made it 12-10 twenty minutes into what looked like a close contest. 

In the last 6 minutes of the half, Manly blew the game wide open by scoring 3 tries. They had all the momentum in the 34th and once again the Cowboys right edge couldn't retreat, with Karl Lawton crashing over for one of the easier dummy-half tries you'll see. 

Two minutes later, another break was made down that infamous right edge and Lachlan Croker was there in support. 

The Cowboys desperately needed half time to come, and it was made even more evident by front rower Taniela Paseka making a clean break up the middle of the field. Olakau'atu scored a try in what was a carbon copy of his earlier four-pointer, and all of a sudden the score was 28-12 at half time. 

Manly started the second half as they finished the first. Daly Cherry-Evans put in a grubber close to the line and it was the perfect bounce for Kieran Foran, who scored the try. 

The Cowboys had some rare attacking field position, but their last tackle kick went straight into the arms of Reuben Garrick, who channeled his inner Tom Trbojevic to run the length of the field and kill any hope the Cowboys had of getting themselves back into it. 

Converted tries to Dylan Walker and Brad Parker got Manly to 50 points, while Tabuai-Fidow got one back for the Cowboys late in the piece. 

Next week, they will head up to the Gold Coast to take on the Titans, while the Cowboys will look to get back on track at home against the Sharks.