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Regional | Hākinakina

Sea Eagles soar, as Warriors comeback thwarted

The Warriors’ last encounter in round 5 had a one-point separation, finishing 13-12 with the Manly side stealing it.

In their second clash of the season, there was a lot more stellar footy from both sides, but the Manly Sea Eagles overcame a tough fight from the Warriors to win 38-32 yesterday in a match that came down to the last minute.

'Tommy Turbo' vs RTS 

It was a duel of the fullbacks as captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck tried his best to get his Warriors the win, finishing with 177 run metres, four tackle busts, a line break and line break assist for his team. However, his counterpart ‘Tommy Turbo’ Tom Trbojevic shone throughout his 100th NRL game, collecting some impressive stats of his own.

WHAT. A. PLAYER 🤩🤩 Story 👉 https://bit.ly/33skE31

Posted by Fox League on Saturday, May 8, 2021

Trbojevic finished the game with 191 run metres, 11 tackle busts, five line-breaks, three line-break assists, four try assists and two tries in one of the best performances by any player this season.

Jason Saab was also crucial in Manly’s win, producing a hat trick that helped break their streak of seven losses at home at Lottoland, as well as making the try-saving tackle on winger Ken Maumalo in the final minute of the game.

NRL Fantasy owners of halfback Kodi Nikorima, as well as Warriors fans in general, would have been happy with his performance for the Warriors, converting all of his five tries and a penalty on top of two try assists, one line-break and one tackle break.

Rookie switch backfires

We had a few highlights, Manly just had more. Watch: https://bit.ly/3xWEMbr Powered by TCL Electronics 📸 photosport.nz

Posted by Vodafone Warriors on Sunday, May 9, 2021

He had two star performances but rookie teen Reece Walsh was sitting out on the bench for 53 minutes in their Manly clash due to a returning Chanel Harris-Tevita.

The 18-year old prospect tried to inspire his team to keep going to the end as he scored a Harris-Tevita assisted try with just five minutes to go but it was the last four-pointer the team would get that night.

Even after Walsh’s impressive performances, however, Warriors coach Nathan Brown isn’t sure where he belongs.

"I don't know if I'm using Reece properly. He's only been with us for three weeks.

"Manly had a plan for when he was on the field and they're the things that will be great to learn for Reece. Obviously, they didn't go there by fluke.

"They'd obviously worked out, from when we played him at fullback to where we put him last week when the Cowboys didn't know where he was going to be.

"This week, Manly probably had a fair idea and that's a part of learning how to play first grade."

The Warriors will now look to their next game against the Parramatta Eels in the NRL’s Magic Round, where all games are to be played at Suncorp Stadium.