The Canberra Raiders have returned to the winners list with a strong showing at an empty 4 Pines Park, downing the Manly Sea Eagles 30-16.
With their season threatening to quickly slip away, Canberra saw a 20-point lead drop to eight before a late Emre Guler try sealed the win.
Without Jack Wighton and Josh Papalii, the halves pairing of Matt Frawley and Sam Williams controlled the game for Canberra.
Frawley’s kicking game was elite as he delivered a series of perfectly weighted grubbers and one towering bomb, while Williams made the most of a tiring Manly defence to score a double.
The win was a crucial one after a dismal loss to the Titans last week and it keeps the Raiders within a win of the top eight despite all of their horrors over the first half of the season.
Without their State of Origin players, both teams still carried two of the biggest stigmas of the season into an empty 4 Pines Park.
The Sea Eagles remain 39 points per game worse off without Trbojevic in 2021, while the Raiders have dropped five halftime leads this year.
But on Thursday night it was clear that the Trbojevic factor was a bigger one, with Manly also missing his brother Jake and halfback Daly Cherry-Evans.
After the Sea Eagles scored 114 points in their previous 120 minutes of football, they could cross the line just once in the opening 20 minutes with all the ball.
And when the possession swung sharply, they just couldn’t hold on.
Canberra forced seven line dropouts in the 30-minute period around halftime, as Manly had just six sets in that period and got to their kick only once.
Williams was brilliant, forcing three of the dropouts himself as he grubbered the Sea Eagles to death.
Both his tries came through the weight of possession he created, his first giving Canberra a 12-4 lead through the middle after Tom Starling opened their scoring with a 20-metre sprint out of dummy-half.
Williams also got the Raiders’ next after the break, forcing his way over under the posts through three defenders.
Canberra’ fourth came in comical circumstances when Moses Suli turned his back to a kick and the ball rebounded off his head into the in-goal for Sebastian Kris to dot down.
There would have been some scares sent through the camp when Haumole Olakau’atu and Suli both crossed to make it 24-16 with eight minutes to play, before Guler got the late sealer.
The loss could be costly for Manly’s top-four pursuit.
They will finish the round six points behind fourth-placed Parramatta on the ladder, while the Sydney Roosters can also leapfrog them with a win over Canterbury on Saturday.
AAP
