In this round one Shute Shield results, Manly captain Ed Gower has led the Marlins to a 43-28 win over heavyweights Southern Districts.
By Ben Harrison
However it didn’t all go Gower’s way, with the giant lock’s second-half binning almost opening the door for a Rebels’ comeback. The men from Manly dominated the set piece and, conceded Souths’ captain Jed Holloway, that was where the game was lost.
“We were outmuscled, plain and simple. We didn’t make dominant tackles and force them off the ball. We know that’s what we need to work hard on at training now, setting up our structures around the ruck and really working teams over.”
Southern Districts opened the scoring through the boot of Rohan Saifoloi with a penalty goal in the third minute, until some brilliant lead up work from the Manly pack sent the powerful Greg Peterson crashing over from a pick and drive at close range. Tim Metcher’s sin binning in the 25th minute proved costly for Souths, as Manly laid on two tries to lead 19-9 at half time.
The second half proved a tug-of-war, with both the Marlins and the Rebels crossing for tries. Notable was Rebels’ scrumhalf Devet Roo’s 45th minute effort from a beautifully worked scrum move which saw the diminutive No. 9 cross in the corner. When referee Ed Martin sent Manly skipper Gower for a spell on the sidelines, Souths lifted and fought their way back. However it was to no avail as Manly crossed twice in the final 10 minutes to put the game beyond reach.
Said a disappointed Souths’ captain Holloway after the match, “We need to play more direct, trust in our systems and structures we have in place and not be so ill disciplined.
“It was the first game of the year so it was a good first hit out,” added Holloway ahead of next week’s big clash against Warringah at Forshaw Rugby Park. The Marlins will take on Parramatta next week at Merrylands and will look to build on their performance today.
Other matches
Randwick’s 33-10 defeat of Eastern Suburbs at Woollahra Oval sees the Wicks top the table on points difference, whilst last year’s finalist Eastwood outplayed Northern Suburbs 34-23 at T.G Milner.
Parramatta ran riot over Gordon winning big with a 31-16 victory at Merrylands, whilst Sydney Uni showed why they are one of the title favourites with a 46-26 win over Penrith at Nepean Park, that sees them sit third overall after round 1.
At Pittwater Oval, second-placed Warringah ran out 39-18 winners over West Harbour to complete the first round’s action.
Table
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