Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold has actually protected Manly’s ‘strange’ kicking strategy that caused a long-range Panthers attempt throughout his side’s 24-12 loss on Thursday night. The loss leaves the Sea Eagles finals opportunities hanging in the balance with 3 video games to play, while the Panthers continue to sit at the top of the NRL ladder as they close in on the small premiership. VIEW THE VIDEO ABOVE: Panthers rating after Manly method goes terribly incorrect. View the current sport on Channel 7 or stream totally free on 7plus >> The weird series of play started like any regular 5th take on alternative as Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary put in a kick which was captured by Sea Eagles fullback Reuben Garrick. As Garrick ran and approached the 20 metre line, he sent out an imposing sit back down-field in the hope that the Sea Eagles might shock the Panthers defence and winger Jason Saab might outsprint the Penrith gamers and score a Manly shot. The play backfired in a huge method as Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards recovered the ball on his own 20 metre line, ran up the field, then unloaded to Penrith centre Stephen Crichton. Reuben Garrick puts in a kick that ultimately caused a shot to Panthers winger Sunia Turuva. Credit: Fox SportsCrichton instantly passed to Panthers winger Sunia Turuva who cut through the Sea Eagles defence with ease and ran 60 metres to score under the posts. The shot came at an essential time for the Panthers as it provided an 18-12 lead simply after half-time as they held back Manly and declared another win throughout their dominant season. The odd play left the analysts surprised. “We’ve got a force em’ back kicking double. What about this,” Warren Smith stated in wonder on Fox League. “C’mon Dylan, pump one up the other end. “Manly go the kicking battle, Penrith bank the points.” Rugby league excellent Michael Ennis included: “That was intriguing, we’ve seen some crafty things tonight. It’s Reuben Garrick, well, he believes it’s the 80s.” “He’s kicked immediately– it’s a kicking battle. We’re back to 1989. This is the most unusual passage of play in 2023,” Mat Thompson stated on Channel 9. “What simply occurred?” Rugby league excellent Billy Slater responded. Speaking after the loss, Manly coach Anthony Seibold validated the play was an intentional technique. “It was a strategy, yeah it was a strategy,” Seibold stated. “We could not come here and simply attempt and arm-wrestle them. We discussed returning serve throughout the week and we practiced it at training. “One or 2 men missed their task defensively otherwise we are making the take on down there on Dylan Edwards and we are on top of them. “We needed to believe outside package since we were missing out on numerous soldiers and we lost a couple in the very first couple of minutes in the 2nd half.” Sea Eagles captain Daly Cherry-Evans confessed the group practiced the kicking strategy at training. “It didn’t come off however yes we did practice it,” Cherry-Evans stated throughout the post-match interview. “And as Seibs discussed in the past, there were possibly a number of individuals who missed their task defensively on the kick. It wasn’t out of the blue for us, we understood it was coming. “Defensively and with the ball there were specific minutes we simply didn’t perform tonight and a silver lining made us pay.” Panthers coach Ivan Cleary had plenty of appreciation for his star fullback and how his group managed the surprise kicking method. “It’s why Dyl’s (Dylan Edwards) an elite fullback. On the run, it’s not something we thought about actually or had actually discussed. And he had the ability to read it,” Cleary stated after the match. “And not simply that we had (Stephen Crichton) back there offered to take a pass and after that hand down to (Turuva). “So that’s a great deal of the effort that individuals do not see, simply having the ability to benefit from that scenario.” The Melbourne Storm withstood a challenging night versus the Penrith Panthers with their match summarized by a strange minute when their fitness instructor was dispatched by referee Adam Gee. The Melbourne Storm withstood a tough night versus the Penrith Panthers with their match summarized by an unusual minute when their fitness instructor was dispatched by referee Adam Gee.
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