Sharks shine early and late to add to Manly's woes
Manly's NRL season is in a freefall, slumping to their fourth loss in five games after a lacklustre 30-14 defeat at the hands of Cronulla.
Second on the ladder after the opening two rounds, Manly threw away a chance to add to the list of NRL comebacks this weekend at Brookvale on Sunday.
The result kept Cronulla fifth, with Nicho Hynes and Briton Nikora impressing down the right edge, and Blayke Brailey having some nice moments.
But while Manly remain at the bottom of the top eight, the Sea Eagles look a long away from the team that set the competition alight over the opening month.
They have now lost three games in a row at home for the first time since 2022, and hold a 4-5 record despite playing six of their opening nine games at Brookvale.
The slump has largely coincided with Daly Cherry-Evans' announcement he would leave the club at year's end, after he revealed his plans at the end of round three.
Manly were well beaten on the scoreboard on Sunday, but had their chances to win the game.
After Cronulla burst out of the blocks to claim a 14-0 halftime lead, the hosts were back in the game when a Tolu Koula double made it 14-12 with 26 minutes left.
Luke Brooks then broke into open space from the kick-off and had a chance to send Koula over for his third, only for the centre to spill the pass back inside to him.
And while the Sea Eagles got the score back to 14-14 via a penalty goal, more errors proved costly.
Haumole Olakau'atu attempted to push an offload in their first set in tight space, prompting an error from Reuben Garrick.
Garrick then cleaned up a Sharks grubber-kick at the end of their next set, but spilled the ball at the last second and handed an easy try to Braydon Trindall.
From there, the floodgates opened.
Ronaldo Mulitalo and KL Iro both scored late, with Mulitalo's try coming from some nice lead-up play from a kicking Billy Burns.
Earlier, Manly had been well off in the first half, joining Brisbane with the most hot-and-cold attack in the competition.
While the Sea Eagles were clunky and Cherry-Evans threw two passes that led to errors, Cronulla seized their chances.
The Sharks' first try came when Brailey helped Nikora break through Manly's line with ease, getting Tom Trbojevic out of position for the next play.
From the play-the-ball, Hynes got the ball on the front foot and kicked for a chasing Mulitalo to dive over next to the posts.
Hynes was again involved in the Sharks' next, when Brailey skirted out of dummy-half and found the halfback, who put Addin Fonua-Blake over untouched.
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"Adam O'Brien after the game basically said the people who booed don't know rugby league," Johns said on his show on Sunday night. "To Adam's credit, the next morning he [came] out and apologised. "I think the fans there would understand and accept that apology. "There's one thing about it ... I think he should almost thank the fans. Because the fans were after a reaction [by booing] in that second half and they certainly got it. A win they really, really needed." JACKSON Hastings' wait is about to end. Hastings is expected to be named in the Knights No.7 jumper for the round-15 clash with the Roosters at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday. It has been 316 days since the much maligned playmaker last appeared in the NRL - a 30-14 defeat to the Broncos in round 20 last season. On a contract worth $700,000 a year, Hastings has been overlooked in favour of Fletcher Sharpe, Jack Cogger, Phoenix Crossland, Tyson Gamble and Will Pryce. "For what we're trying to achieve at the moment, I don't believe Jackson could solve our issues," Knights coach Adam O'Brien said about Hastings last month. Hastings has been linked to a mid-season move amid talk that he was on the outer at the Knights. However, with Kalyn Ponga's selection for the Maroons in Origin II and Tyson Gamble sidelined with a broken thumb, Hastings' number has dropped. He was 18th man for the come-from-behind 26-22 triumph over Manly and his form in NSW Cup has been strong. In a 28-24 loss to the Dragons a fortnight ago, Hastings set up a try, ran 78 metres, made 23 tackles at 100 per cent and kicked a total of 538 metres. Sharpe will move to fullback to cover for Ponga, with Cogger shifting to five-eighth. However, Sharpe is under a slight injury cloud with a calf issue he sustained late against Manly. Tyson Frizell is out with concusion, with Tyrone Thompson likely to come into the 17. 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But O'Brien made a swift apology to the supporters, calling a press conference on Friday morning to head off any fan revolt after realising he had erred in an emotional post-game response. And there is genuine hope the second-half turnaround in Manly is the trigger for an upward turn for the season. "Adam O'Brien after the game basically said the people who booed don't know rugby league," Johns said on his show on Sunday night. "To Adam's credit, the next morning he [came] out and apologised. "I think the fans there would understand and accept that apology. "There's one thing about it ... I think he should almost thank the fans. Because the fans were after a reaction [by booing] in that second half and they certainly got it. A win they really, really needed."
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