Haumole Olakau’atu’s season could be over and so could Manly’s hopes of making a run at the title after a lacklustre 28-8 loss to the Titans on Friday night.
Olakau’atu dislocated his shoulder as he tried to score a try which was later denied for a fumble – a sequence of play which summed up the Sea Eagles’ night at Cbus Super Stadium.
Last-placed Gold Coast notched just their fourth win of the year while the Sea Eagles could finish as low as 12th after suffering their eighth loss from 14 starts.
Manly’s defence was well below par and their attack was not much better despite having Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic available after their Origin selection snubs.
1. Dumped duo fail to fire
If Cherry-Evans and Trbojevic had a point to prove to Origin selectors, they did nothing but show that the right call was made by their respective states.
Neither player was able to have much of an impact for Manly.
Cherry-Evans was controversially dumped by Queensland as captain at the start of the week and after overseeing a dramatic collapse the previous week in Newcastle, he was again unable to spark the Sea Eagles despite coming up with a couple of line break assists.
Trbojevic was busy without being a threat in attack in his first appearance for three weeks after copping a badly corked thigh.
He made just one tackle break despite racking up 195 running metres from 17 runs and is still a long way shy of his destructive best.
Reagan Campbell-Gillard. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
2. Extra spice for Des
They are not what you would call traditional combatants and there is no geographical rivalry to speak of between these clubs.
But there is a lingering tension brought about by the fact that Manly coach Anthony Seibold took the job from Des Hasler after the Sea Eagles skewered their club legend.
Hasler has struggled to get consistent output from the Titans since he took on the NRL’s biggest basket case at the start of last year but they put together a committed performance despite a few characteristic defensive slip-ups to thoroughly deserve the two precious competition points.
Although they still stay in last spot due to Parramatta getting two points of their own for the bye this round, they have moved a step closer toward avoiding the wooden spoon with their best win of an admittedly small bunch for 2025.
Veteran half Kieran Foran turned back the clock against his old club, AJ Brimson fired from his preferred position of fullback and Jayden Campbell completed their attacking triumvirate with a typically busy display.
3. Golden comeback after dreadful start
Reuben Garrick celebrated his 150th match by muscling his way over from dummy half through defence that had all the solidity of not just a standard marshmallow but one that had been made even more gooey by a winter campfire.
The Titans then produced the kind of 10-minute bursts which make them eternally frustrating because they are rarely able to do so on a regular basis.
Journeyman winger Allan Fitzgibbon showed his finishing prowess to touch down in the right corner before his counterpart on the left, Alofiana Khan-Pereira, scorched over twice for a 16-4 advantage.
Normal service then resumed with Garrick strolling through defence which this time had the ferocity of fairy floss.
Then it was Manly’s turn to dish up some embarrassingly bad defensive “prowess” with Luke Brooks and Ben Trbojevic back-pedalling for no reason to allow AJ Brimson to sprint into open space.
Jayden Campbell backed up the break to give the Titans a 22-8 half-time buffer.
Olakau’atu looked like he was going to kick-start a late Manly charge when he monstered Foran on the way to the try line but he not only lost control of the ball as he reached out but he popped his shoulder in the process.
If he cannot get back on the field this year, the Sea Eagles will be lucky to make the finals at their current rate let alone mount a charge for the top four or the distant dream of the premiership trophy.
Not that Manly looked like striking a blow after that but the Titans sealed the win when Chris Randall got on the scoresheet 10 minutes from full-time.
4. Spotlight on Seibold
Pressure is starting to build on Seibold with another season looking like it will amount to nothing.
After winning Dally M Coach of the Year honours in his one season at South Sydney, his turbulent time at Brisbane lasted little more than 18 months.
He is in his third year at Brookvale and after finishing 12th first up, they improved to the second round of the finals last season.
But this time around they are stuck on the treadmill of mediocrity.
They have had emphatic wins over the Cowboys, Raiders and Panthers when they have looked like title contenders but also slumped to defeats to the Dragons, Eels, Knights and now Titans.
That’s the kind of form which will get them nowhere fast and with Olakau’atu’s 2025 playing future now in doubt, Seibold’s prospects could also be clouded.
He is contracted for another two years but he had three-plus years on his deal when the Broncos showed him the door.
5. AKP more than a-OK
When Khan-Pereira touched down in the first half for the first of his two tries, he equalled former Eels speedster Semi Radradra’s record pace for reaching 50 tries in the NRL era.
AKP reached the milestone in just his 52nd appearance which is a fantastic strike rate for any player, let alone one who has been part of a struggling club throughout his three-year NRL career.
Imagine how many he would have scored by now if he had been playing for a strong club.
The Kick: Mid-season Origin malaise lingers
The annual gnashing of teeth is on again about the standard of club fare dished up during the Origin series.
While the standard of this match was not necessarily substandard and Origin only ended up removing two players in Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Moe Fotuaika, it just lacked the intensity and interest that is normally associated with the marquee Friday night fixture.
If not for the shortened round brought about the Origin schedule, there’s no way a match featuring the hot and cold Sea Eagles and stragglers Gold Coast would get the 8pm Friday timeslot.
The NRL pays lip service to the ongoing problem of the rep rounds detracting from the club competition but does nothing about it.
And that’s because it’s the most financially lucrative option to play all three Origins on a Wednesday night in the middle of the season with three-week gaps between matches.
It’s not just the Origin factor that is highlighted in mid-season meh matches like this one – the depth of the playing pool is already stretched and two more expansion teams on the horizon will only exacerbate that issue.
