Manly was being tipped as one of the NRL’s top premiership contenders this year, but a demoralising loss to Penrith in Round 1 will have many punters rethinking their bet.
The Sea Eagles were demolished 28-6 by the reigning premiers, and that scoreline was flattering to Des Hasler’s men.
Manly’s only try came on the stroke of half time courtesy of a Kieran Foran break, while Penrith had two early tries overturned early in the game by controversial Bunker interferences.
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“I thought we did pretty well to be in the game at 12-6,” Hasler said post-game.
“Then in the second half we had to compete better. We had to compete better.
“That’s what we will take away from tonight.”
Perhaps most concerning for Manly was the way Penrith completely nullified the reigning Dally M Medallist, Tom Trbojevic.
Trbojevic is widely considered the best player in the NRL currently, and he had a monster 2021 season which ended with the coveted medal.
But on Thursday night he ran for only 127 metres and had two tackle busts. His opposing fullback, Dylan Edwards, ran for 317 metres and busted seven tackles.
The bar for Trbojevic is set high, given the dominance he has shown regularly over the last two years.
But by any fullback’s standards, the season opener was a pedestrian performance from the man who’s supposedly the best in the business.
Nine’s experts pointed out the Penrith kicking game largely nullified Trbojevic. Panthers halves Jarome Luai and Sean O’Sullivan kept the Manly No.1 pinned in his own half.
“He’s a marked man now,” legendary fullback Billy Slater said of Trbojevic.
“From what he did last year, Dally M Medallist, he is the go-to man for Manly, he changed their season last year. He is a marked man.
“They gave him no space. Every time he got the ball he had three or four (Penrith) jerseys around him.
“He’s a great player, he is always going to have an impact on the game.”
While the Trbojevic performance was worrying, it was not the biggest concern Slater saw in the Sea Eagles.
“They just lost the middle of the field tonight. My big concern for Manly, they didn’t beat a top-three side last year,” he said.
“Then they come here in Round 1 and get beaten, and absolutely get flogged in the middle of the field. They lost the field position battle tonight, and that’s a real concern going forward for Manly.”
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