SPORT llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ntnews.com.au Parramatta hopes rise with key duo to return

PARRAMATTA are hoping The sight of Hayne, in part- all signs are pretty good at the star player, an Origin player, which their 65 tries tied ence in our defence, there’s the return of star duo Jarryd icular, running strongly on moment, so hopefully they’ll a Test player. You want those wooden-spooners Gold Coast some things that we need to Hayne and Willie will his injured right knee war- be right for Monday,’’ Eels type of players on the field, for fewest in the NRL. gel with in attack and we arrest a worrying continu- med the hearts of not only lock said. not sitting on the sideline.’’ While some of their strug- know that,’’ he said. ation of scoring struggles. Eels fans but also his team- ‘‘Both are strike players in The Eels need all the help gle could be attributed to new ‘‘Especially with Ben and Hayne and Tonga trained mates, with the dynamic full- our team, so the sooner we can they can get after managing halves Chris Sandow and Ben Chris being two new recruits strongly yesterday and are set back a key cog in the side’s get them back on the paddock just one try in their season- Roberts, Maitua conceded into the team, we’re building to take the field for Monday attacking unit. the better we’re going to be. opening loss to Brisbane. they all had some work to do towards a bit of harmony night’s clash with the War- ‘‘It’s a day to day thing for ‘‘Everyone knows what It’s a concerning statistic with the ball in hand. with our attack and hopefully riors at Parramatta Stadium. (Hayne) and — (Hayne’s) capable of, he’s a coming off a 2011 campaign in ‘‘We’ve got plenty of confid- it gels soon.’’ Cowboys get win Manly push through in final Tired Eagles manage minute

NORTH full- win after big week back produced some special magic to pull

PUB: SCORES off an amazing 28-26 win over Brisbane at Suncorp DES Hasler may have moved MANLY 22 (D Cherry-Evans J King T Stadium last night. Williams tries; J Lyon 5 goals) d WESTS on, but the resolve and re- TIGERS 18 The diminutive Bowen

TNEWS NT (A Blair J Reddy B Ryan fusal to buckle in the face of tries; B Marshall 3 goals) at Bluetongue celebrated his 30th birthday adversity still remains at Stadium. Referee: Gerard Sutton, Ben by stunning the massive Manly as the defending NRL Cummins. Crowd: 17,532. crowd of 43,171 with the premiers came from behind NORTH QUEENSLAND 28 (M Bowen match-winning play in the to edge out 22-18 2 D Johnson J Segeyaro B Tate tries; J 79th minute, racing from the at Gosford last night. Thurston 4 goals) d BRISBANE 26 (G base of a scrum 20m out to Beale J McGuire B Te’o J Yow Yeh tries; The Sea Eagles only re- C Parker 5 goals) at Suncorp Stadium. score under the posts. DATE: turned home from a bruising Referee: Jason Robinson, Gavin Ten minutes earlier, Bris- encounter against the War- Reynolds. Crowd: 43,171. bane had reclaimed the lead riors in Auckland late on through a try to utility Ben Sunday night — and they lost Te’o, who finished off a slick 10-MAR-2012 Steve Matai and Glenn St- ible way with key backrower movement involving hooker ewart for this game due Gareth Ellis limping off after Andrew McCullough, Corey to injury. sustaining a badly corked Norman and . It was not the ideal way to thigh when tackling Anthony Bowen had a ‘‘Jekyll and prepare for a clash with the Watmough in the first play. Hyde’’ night, spilling the premiership favourites, and Tom Humble then ball a number of times. after going in at half-time 8-2 spilt a regulation high ball But he redeemed himself down and very much on the right in front of his own posts with a piece of special play back foot, it looked as if the and Manly skipper Jason that was almost impossible PAGE: Sea Eagles arduous trip acro- King rumbled his way to the to defend, throwing a huge ss the Tasman would come line for a try. dummy before blowing back to hurt them. Lyon then converted a through a hole to break The Tigers also had a short close-range penalty before Brisbane’s heart. 46 turnaround following their Cherry-Evans capped off a The Cowboys led 16-8 at golden-point win over brilliant 10-minute spell as he half-time. It would have

COLOR: Cronulla last Sunday, and af- demonstrated his class with a been a greater margin had ter a slow start to the game, magnificent long-range try. winger Ashley Graham not opened the scoring when an The young halfback threw spilled a perfect pass from ecstatic Adam Blair raced two dummies to wrong-foot teammate Ray Thompson over in the 28th minute after the Tigers defence and race with the line wide open. taking advantage of a superb 60m to the line. Brisbane came out in the

C decoy run from Chris Law- Geoff Toovey’s side were second half to post two con- rence. Blair was at the centre then very much on top as verted tries in eight min- M of the ‘‘Battle of Brookvale’’ the Tigers looked a pale utes. Bench forward Josh last season as a Melbourne shadow of their first-half McGuire couldn’t believe Y player against Manly when selves. his luck, swooping on one of

K he and Stewart traded blows Manly sealed the points Bowen’s spilled balls. on the sideline. with a third try from Tony The Broncos were in A Benji Marshall penalty Williams when the giant again when centre Jack from close range stretched backrower steamrollered his Reed delivered a one- the Tigers’ lead just before way past to handed looping pass to half-time, but Manly closed score. Lyon added the extras winger Gerard Beale for the gap with two points of to make the score 22-8. Brisbane to lead 20-16 before their own from The Tigers rallied well late the enigmatic Bowen scored with the last play of the half. with Beau Ryan and Joel the first in his double off a It followed a dubious pen- Reddy scoring tries to set up a pass. alty call against Chris Heigh- nail-biting finish, but the Sea The result ended Bris- ington for tackling Daly Eagles held on to make it two bane’s nine-game winning Cherry-Evans without the victories from their opening streak at Suncorp Stadium ball, which infuriated Tim two games. and reassured Cowboys’ Sheens’ side. Lyon kicked five goals for fans that the 18-0 loss to the The Tigers started the the hosts with Marshall con- Gold Coast the previous second half in the worst poss- verting three for the Tigers. Manly’s Darcy Lussick tries to hustle past his Wests Tigers opponent Picture: MARK EVANS weekend was an aberration.

FOOTROT FLATS 1080127v4 NTRL season nears start

BROTHERS and South Motlop has replaced Darwin will open the Merg Mikaelian at the 2012 NTRL A-grade helm of the Raiders. premiership season at The late game at Harvey Norman 7.30pm pits Litchfield Stadium on March 24. against Nightcliff, with The 4pm clash is the both clubs boasting first of a blockbuster new men at the top — Round 1 triple-header Greg Fenwick and Mi- which sees Palmerston, chael Rawiri. under new coach Eddie The 2012 season has Motlop, open their been extended from the premiership defence traditional 15 rounds to against his former club 20, with the top four University. qualifying for the finals.

46 NT NEWS. Saturday, March 10, 2012. www.ntnews.com.au