Round 4
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 13 d. New Zealand Warriors 10

2007 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Manly beat Warriors in bruising encounter
Sun April 8, 2007
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

Manly stopped the Vodafone Warriors' run of success at Brookvale Oval with a tense three-point win in a tough fourth-round NRL battle today (Sunday).

The Sea Eagles had beaten the visitors just once at the ground before today, that way back in 1996.

With a converted Tony Martin try, the Vodafone Warriors were in a postiion to continue the trend in what was always going to be a fierce and physically demanding contest.

And with heroic defence they protected that advantage into the second half.

But a 10-6 penalty advantage and the weight of defence told on the Vodafone Warriors as Manly struck twice within four minutes.

First winger Chris Hicks crossed wide on Manly's right in the 55th minute and then halfback Michael Monaghan's teasing run opened a trail for the speedy Brett Stewart to maintain his exceptional career strike rate - especially at Brookvale Oval - in the 59th minute.

In the context of this battle the four-point lead was invaluable. Manly later extended the margin to seven points with a Jamie Lyon penalty and a Monaghan field goal.

It might have increased but, as they did all day, the Vodafone Warriors defended exceptionally on their line to deny Manly several other would-be chances to score. The defensive workload was so heavy, Micheal Luck finished with match with 40 tackles, hooker Nathan Fien with 36 (no misses) and prop Ruben Wiki - who started the match from the bench - with 28 (no misses), according to provisional figures from NRL Stats.

Manly's defence was equally demanding and not until the 79th minute did the Vodafone Warriors find a way through, some hot potato football finally creating space for Simon Mannering to score on the left. Martin failed with the conversion.

Behind 10-13 with less than a minute to play, there was little chance for the Vodafone Warriors to orchestrate a match-winning opportunity, Manly hanging on for its first win against the Aucklanders at its home ground in 11 years.

It also maintained Manly's impressive start to the season, four wins on end protecting its lead in the competition.

For the Vodafone Warriors, it was a sad end to their programme of back-to-back away games although the performance was a marked improvement on last weekend's 12-30 loss to Melbourne. Apart from the big tackle tallies made by the likes of Luck, Fien and Wiki, fullback Wade McKinnon was impressive again, gaining 154 metres from 17 runs.

The trip seemed to come at a cost on the injury front as well with winger Michael Crockett forced off the field in the second half with an arm injury.

The Vodafone Warriors are back at home next Sunday (April 8), taking on yet another unbeaten side in North Queensland, which beat Wests Tigers 25-24 on Saturday night.

Match details:

At Brookvale Oval, Manly:
Manly Sea Eagles 13 (Chris Hicks, Brett Stewart tries; Jamie Lyon conversion, penalty; Michael Monaghan field goal).
Vodafone Warriors 10 (Tony Martin, Simon Mannering tries; Tony Martin conversion).
Halftime: 6-0 Vodafone Warriors.
Referee: Ben Cummins.

Report source: www.warriors.co.nz


Warriors Match Notes v Manly
Sat April 7, 2007
Source: www.warriors.co.nz

Head coach Ivan Cleary and standoff Michael Witt give the Vodafone Warriors a Manly connection for their trip to Brookvale Oval for tomorrow's fourth-round NRL clash against the Sea Eagles.

Cleary (36) began his first-grade career with Manly, playing 15 games for the club in 1992-93 before switching to neighbouring North Sydney.

This will be the first time he has taken the Vodafone Warriors to Brookvale Oval since becoming the club's head coach. The Vodafone Warriors didn't have an away match against Manly last year, the last time they played there being Stacey Jones' final NRL match in 2005 when he scored a late try to give the side a 22-20 win.

Toowoomba-born Witt (23), who played his 50th first-grade match last Sunday, began his NRL career with Parramatta but spent the 2005-06 seasons with Manly, making 19 NRL appearances in his first season but only one last year.

The Vodafone Warriors completed their preparations for tomorrow's match with a final training run at Mt Smart Stadium this morning. The players came through unscathed before flying to Sydney early this afternoon.

The match pits the Vodafone Warriors against a Sea Eagles side which leads the competition after successive wins against Canberra, Melbourne and the Sydney Roosters.

The Vodafone Warriors sit seventh on the points table after last night's opening two matches of the round. They're coming off a 12-30 loss to Melbourne after starting their season with back-to-back wins against Parramatta (34-18) and Brisbane (24-14).

Tomorrow's match will be second rower Logan Swann's 150th first-grade game for the club, a mark only Jones (238) and Awen Guttenbeil (170) have previously reached.

Manly's original line-up is unchanged although there has been some speculation that captain Matt Orford and back rower Steve Menzies could be brought in as late replacements after recovering from injuries.

Another feature of tomorrow's visit to Brookvale Oval will be the sight of two New Zealand teams playing at the same ground on an away trip for the first time this season.

The Graeme Norton-coached Vodafone Auckland Lions meet Manly in their New South Wales Premier League match at 11.45am, the Auckland side including Vodafone Warriors NRL squad players Todd Byrne, Patrick Ah Van, Cooper Vuna, Corey Lawrie and Sonny Fai. While the Vodafone Warriors were in Melbourne last Sunday, the Vodafone Auckland Lions were taking on the Bulldogs in Sydney, narrowly losing 28-32.

The Auckland side has a win and two losses so far while the Sea Eagles have a win and a loss plus two points they picked up after having a bye last weekend.

TEAMS
* There are no changes to either team at this stage.
* The Vodafone Warriors made just one positional switch when their side was named on Tuesday. Nathan Fien was listed to start at hooker with George Gatis, who wore No 9 in the first three matches of the season, moving to the bench.
* Coach Ivan Cleary said he wanted to look at a different combination after two slow starts against Brisbane and Melbourne.

CASUALTY WARD
* Wairangi Koopu (shoulder) indefinite
* Jerome Ropati (back) Round 5
* Aidan Kirk (knee) Round 6
* Louis Anderson (ankle) Round 5

STATISTICS
* Logan Swann will make his 150th first-grade appearance for the Vodafone Warriors tomorrow. He made his debut against Brisbane at ANZ Stadium on March 1, 1997 (after he had already played in three test matches for New Zealand against Great Britain in 1996). He went on to play 146 first-grade games for the club before leaving at the end of the 2003 season. He spent three seasons in the English Super League, one with Bradford and two with Warrington, before becoming the first long-serving Warrior to return to the club for this season.
* The Vodafone Warriors have won their last four matches against Manly at Brookvale Oval. Manly has beaten the Vodafone Warriors only once at its home ground (22-10 in 1996). From 2001-2002, Manly was involved in the Northern Eagles franchise.
* Standoff Michael Witt played his 50th first-grade match last Sunday.
* Winger Manu Vatuvei's try against Melbourne lifted his total to 20 in 38 first-grade matches.
* Fullback Wade McKinnon was the NRL's second best player in two important statistical categories after the first three rounds. He had made a total of 30 tackle breaks (only Matt Bowen had made more with 33) and he had gained more metres than anyone except Brisbane's Justin Hodges. Captain Steve Price features prominently in the categories of most hit-ups/runs (third) and most metres gained (sixth).
* Grant Rovelli and Micheal Luck will be making their 28th consecutive appearances for the Vodafone Warriors tomorrow. They haven't missed a match since joining the club last year.

PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS V MANLY SEA EAGLES
* Overall: Played 11, Won 5, Lost 6
* At Brookvale Oval: Played 5, Won 4, Lost 1
* Biggest win: 36-10 at Brookvale Oval, 1999
* Most recent win: 22-20, Brookvale Oval, 2005

WARRIORS v SEA EAGLES
Brookvale Oval, Sydney
2.00pm, Sunday, April 8, 2007
Referee: Ben Cummins

1 Wade McKinnon
2 Michael Crockett
3 Tony Martin
4 Lance Hohaia
5 Manu Vatuvei
6 Michael Witt
7 Grant Rovelli
8 Ruben Wiki (vc)
9 Nathan Fien
10 Steve Price (c)
11 Simon Mannering
12 Logan Swann
13 Micheal Luck

Subs:
14 George Gatis
15 Evarn Tuimavave
16 Epalahame Lauaki
17 Sam Rapira

News sent by: www.warriors.co.nz

Tue April 3, 2007
• Swann eyes 150th appearance for Warriors
  

Advanced Search