Manly’s just wild about Harry

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Melbourne Storm v Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

A 78th minute penalty against Harry Grant when he was trying to put pressure on Luke Brooks' field goal attempt and ran into his legs after he kicked, has resulted in Manly kicking a match winning penalty goal.

It was déjà vu for Harry Grant who was sin binned and penalized for a similar incident last year against Cronulla, who ultimately went on to beat the Storm that day. On both occasions, the contact was innocuous but still deserving of being penalised.

It capped what was a frustratingly clumsy performance by the Storm who never once looked to have any control or authority on the match.

Reuben Garrick kicked a penalty goal in just the third minute of the game. 

Almost ten minutes later Tolutau Koula almost scored for Manly but was penalized for a double movement. The Storm hit back a few minutes later when Cameron Munster fired a lovely long ball to the unmarked Xavier Coates who scored an easy try in the corner. Nick Meaney converted from the sideline.

Play was sloppy but the defence for both sides was heavy, leading to a few coming-together moments. 

In the 23rd minute Manly levelled the scores when Tom Trbojevic received a ball in the line, however he still managed to quickly pass it along to the unmarked Jason Saab, who fell over the line untouched for a try. Garrick failed to convert from the sideline.

Manly crossed again four minutes later when Daly Cherry-Evans and Brooks linked up before the latter shaped to pass long to his winger before dropping a lovely short ball to Koula, who sliced through the line to score a good try. Garrick converted.

Manly extended their lead further just 4 minutes later when Brooks fired a brilliant cut-out pass to Garrick and despite having little room to work with, Garrick managed to dive over to score in the corner. He failed to convert his try.

The final 5 minutes of the half got a bit heated. Jake Simpkin braced himself to make a tackle and his shoulder struck Grant Anderson right in the face, breaking his nose. 2 minutes later everyone had to be separated for excessive collar grabbing. Then just before halftime it looked the Storm had scored under the posts.

As Nelson Asofa-Solomona was about to get to his feet to play the ball, he swung his elbow and hit Simpkin in the head. He played the ball to Grant, who drifted right and then eventually slipped through a gap to score, however the bunker ruled no try and awarded a penalty to Manly for the strike by Asofa-Solomona. At half time Manly lead 16-6.

As the game approached the hour mark Xavier Coates made a break and raced 50 metres downfield before he was ushered into touch by Lehi Hopoate.

Melbourne finally reduced the deficit in the 67th minute thanks to a brilliant piece of work against the run of play. Jahrome Hughes intercepted a Manly pass, 7 metres from his own line, promptly linking with Anderson who was met by Garrick and a host of other Manly defenders, so he passed a long, long ball out to Coates, who received it after it bounced and he dived over to score in the corner, evading the valiant effort of Garrick who had run from one corner of the field to the other. Meaney failed to convert.

Melbourne scored almost immediately after when Hughes put up a bomb which Coates snatched superbly out of the heavens and strolled in to score his third try. Meaney converted from the sideline to level the scores with less than 10 minutes remaining.

In the 76th minute Luke Brooks had a shot at field goal, but his kick was just wide. Manly called for a challenge and the Bunker found that Harry Grant had made illegal contact with the legs of Luke Brooks after he had kicked. Grant was basically just ambling by and his shins bumped the outstretched leg of Brooks, constituting in a penalty for Manly.

Garrick landed the penalty goal and Manly scored a hard-earnt 18-16 victory.