Manly machine has made fools of us all

The Sea Eagles were not the same team that was flogged by Melbourne last week and a 42-6 mauling of the Roosters will make it hard for Rabbitohs players to sleep tonight.

The biggest transformation in the Manly side was freak fullback Tom Trbojevic who exploded out of the blocks and was the second best player on the field, behind only captain Daly Cherry-Evans.

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Trbojevic was running a clinic up until he was taken out of the game with 20mins left to play after he was spotted wincing in the seconds following some contact to his hip.

Even playing in pain, Trbojevic was in a class of his own.

The star fullback was shut down by the Storm during Manly’s loss last week and reports suggested Melbourne had given the rest of the NRL a blueprint on how to stop the best player on the planet.

Anyone who thought that was dead wrong.

Trbojevic made a mockery of that conversation with a try in the fifth minute and he only got better from there. He scored try at the start of the second half and had earned his early rest when Des Hasler took him from the field late.

The 24-year-old said after the game he wasn’t happy with his previous week.

“It was a disappointing one. Wasn’t good enough,” he said of the Storm loss.

“They turned up and were better than us in all areas. After reviewing it, we were confident in ourselves that we can put a performance on and glad we can do it tonight.”

The signs were ominous for the Roosters early with Manly running in three tries inside the first 18 minutes before they took a 24-6 lead heading into the second half.

It turned into a bloodbath in the second half with the Sea Eagles keeping the Roosters scoreless.

It was a sad end to the career of Roosters star Josh Morris, who left the field through a guard of honour by players from both teams.

It was not a fitting end for such a champion of the game, but there was simply no stopping the Sea Eagles.

Manly’s comeback from a 40-12 thumping against the Storm to win by 36 points against the Chooks is the biggest points turn around in finals history.

Fox Sports Stats guru Aaron Wallace posted on Twitter the 64-point turn around is the biggest positive backflip in an NRL finals series.

Second half: Trbojevic cutting Roosters up

Tom Trbojevic scored his second try in thundering fashion in the 45th minute to put the first nail in the Roosters’ coffin.

The superstar simply barged his way through two defenders with a darting hit-up straight at the line as the Roosters defence was still trying to take shape.

He split through the cracks in a run that broke the Roosters’ back.

The floodgates had opened four minutes later when Dylan Walker also run 50m to score next to the posts after a dummy that left Roosters fullback James Tedesco clutching at shadows.

In the blink of an eye it was 36-6.

The best highlight of the half came in the 68th minute when Jason Saab found himself on the wing unmarked before he ran 70m untouched.

Bunker controversy gives Manly perfect start in first half

The Bunker took just five minutes to make its first controversial call of the night when the Sea Eagles were given a penalty for Tom Trbojevic getting bumped off the ball.

The Sea Eagles had just coughed up the ball just metres away from the try line, but they were awarded a penalty in the seconds that followed for a hit on Trbojevic that had occurred in a previous play.

Replays showed Matthew Ikuvalu had put his shoulder into Trbojevic after the star fullback had passed the ball, but many commentators on social media were upset at the ruling as a result of the contact appearing to be minimal.

Ikuvalu was placed on report for the late contact.

One minute later, Manly had points on the board when Trbojevic attacked down the other side of the field and cut through the defence on Manly’s right edge.

The Sea Eagles made it 12-0 after 12 minutes when Kieran Foran also finished off a nice linebreak orchestrated by Daly Cherry-Evans.

The Manly captain scored himself a few minutes later when a simple show-and-go allowed him to poke through the Roosters’ try-line defence.

Ikuvalu showed there was still hope for the Roosters when he finished off an easy try on the Chooks’ right edge where the Manly defence fell apart, despite having equal numbers on the edge.

However, that was snuffed out when Morgan Harper finished off a long-range try — again orchestrated by Cherry-Evans.

Des Hasler’s ice cold pre-match interview

The game hadn’t even started before the drama began with Manly coach Des Hasler giving a colder pre-match interview than his regularly icy interviews in the lead up to kick-off.

Hasler is right up there with Wayne Bennett in treating sideline reporters with contempt and he went to another level in his pre-match talk with Channel 9’s Emma Lawrence, where he gave absolutely nothing.

He spoke just 29 words in response to five questions from the highly-regarded TV presenter.

When asked where else his team needs to improve after poor discipline in their loss last week against the Storm, Hasler said: I think that pretty well covers it”.

When asked if his players had any time away from their mentor this week, he said: “Possibly”.

The awkward response that followed was cringey to watch.

He did save his most endearing response to speak about his opposition.

“They’ve been very brave. They will be tough again tonight. You can guarantee that,” he said before walking off.

Hasler also made a surprise last-minute selection change with star forward Martin Taupau dropped to the bench.

When Manly’s team was confirmed one hour before kick-off, Sean Keppie was moved to start in the front row and Lachlan Croker confirmed to start at hooker.

Taupau is still chasing his first finals win when he plays in his 200th NRL game in Friday’s semi-final against the Sydney Roosters.

The closest the former New Zealand Test representative has come to winning a finals game was back in 2012 under his current coach Des Hasler at Canterbury.

The Sea Eagles were no match for the methodical Storm in the first week of the finals, and they must improve to defeat the Roosters.