NRL round 2 LIVE: Manly Sea Eagles v Sydney Roosters at 4 Pines Park

The Roosters aren’t helping themselves. Less than a minute left, some lackadaisical stuff and JWH drops the Steeden cold to give Manly one last crack at their line.

A Joey Manu leg pull as the halftime siren sounds gives Reuben Garrick a shot at goal, and he duly knocks it over for 12-10 at the break. Enthralling stuff, Manly should be 12 points ahead. Roosters scrambling very well to stay in this.

Sea Eagles 12 Roosters 10

Manly challenged the ruling on that Brooks dropped ball by the way. Looking for a penalty from Luke Keary for tackling him without the ball. Optimistic to say the least, and they lose their captain’s challenge.

They get another penalty though and have set up camp on the Roosters line. And Brooks can’t be denied this time. He’s a new man in maroon and white. Although, he can actually be denied. He’s put a foot into touch after sweeping around for a try from a Daniel Tupou fumble, tough take from a DCE grubber.

The knock-on keeps the ball with Manly though. And finally, the Roosters survive thanks to a forward pass for Haumole Olakau’atu. DCE is filthy on himself.

Sea Eagles 10 Roosters 10

You score, I score. The Roosters take their turn and it’s James Tedesco crashing over. Some fine lead-up play from Sitili Tupouniua and Luke Keary – fair response after his error a few minutes earlier.

Sam Walker nudges the conversion over off the post. We’re back to level pegging in an excellent contest so far. And Jared Waerea-Hargreaves has entered the chat. Walker gets himself caught awkwardly in a big tackle from Luke Brooks. The little No.7 is slowly to his feet and is on his haunches on the wing. He’s staying out there but he looks pretty green around the gills.

Brooks is in everything at the moment, putting Karl Lawton through a gap and then backing up in the ensuing play. If he held the pass from DCE he’s in. Alas, no.

Sea Eagles 10 Roosters 10

It’s a lovely tit-for-tat affair this one and when Manly come calling, Trbojevic gives Tommy Talau a fair crack at the corner. It takes an excellent try-saver from Dom Young and Tedesco to deny him. Talau cops a knee in the process and is off for a HIA.

That forces a reshuffle of Manly’s right edge, Corey Waddell into the fray with Ben Trbojevic to centre and Koula to the wing.

It matters little though after the Chooks tried a sharp short-side play coming out of trouble. Manly come up and are immediately on the attack. It looks very, very good – enterprising stuff. Jaxson Paulo comes up with it after the Roosters error, Luke Brooks shuffles it to space quickly and Koula is sneaking over soon enough.

Sea Eagles 10 Roosters 4

Doesn’t take long for the Chooks to get going though. Slick stuff from the Roosters, Terrell May muscling up through the middle, then they simply shift against a disjointed Manly defensive line – they got their spacing badly wrong there, the Sea Eagles had the numbers to snuff that out. Yet Daniel Tupou had a small acreage of space to work in from a Tedesco tap-on, and he duly strolled over.

Sam Walker can’t convert though, so it’s a two-point lead for the home side.

Sea Eagles 6 Roosters 4

The Roosters come calling after Brandon Smith whacks Luke Brooks and the Chooks get a penalty that marches them downfield. James Tedesco swings right late in the set and grubbers for recurit Dom Young.

It sits up well for him but he can’t handle it. The try goes begging and Manly dodge a bullet of their own. Fun stuff this.

Even more so when Manly go all the way to have Luke Brooks bombing from 20 metres out. Tedesco flies very high but can’t take it. He lands heavily after Tom Trbojevic clips the skipper’s legs. Lachlan Croker crumbs for the try and it’s awarded. Contentious one that but the try stands.

Greg Alexander in comms: “I am stunned that is not a penalty to the Roosters”.

Sea Eagles 6 Roosters 0

Righto, we are live on the Northern Beaches. Roosters are kicking us off and Manly are running out to something that sounds suspiciously like the riff to ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem. Personally, I’m here for it.

It’s a sell-out and it’s not raining. What more could you want? How about a break in the very first set. Tolu Koula into the backfield from a left-edge shift. Good gravy the kid can move.

James Tedesco with a fine tackle to stop him. A set re-start for Manly and they hammer the Chooks’ line.

Over on the right edge they go close through Reuben Garrick – he gets on the outside of Suaalii and the youngster does well to wrangle him into touch. Impressive start by the home side.

Sea Eagles 0 Roosters 0

Bradley Charles Stubbs claims he has taken Trent Robinson astral travelling – a state where the spirit leaves the body and goes into the future – during his association with the premiership-winning Roosters coach.

Stubbs, who is dubbed the “Coach Whisperer” after working with leading sporting mentors including Robinson, Michael Maguire, Eddie Jones, Graham Arnold and Michael Cheika, has provided an insight into his methods in his new self-published book, The Science of the Subconscious.

The book tells the story of a professional surfer whose career was ended prematurely due to a car accident, the subsequent nervous breakdown that resulted in him being locked in a psychiatric ward in a straightjacket and padded cell, and how the episode led him to turning his life around by studying the subconscious mind.

Stubbs, who wears three NRL premiership rings from stints with Robinson and Maguire, has passed on those teachings to some of sport’s most respected coaches. One of his key tenets is “believership”, which is a phrase he coined to describe an unshakeable belief in one’s purpose.

However, the most intriguing chapters of the book – an advanced copy of which was provided to this masthead – details his interactions with the nation’s top mentors.

“I took Trent Robinson, Sydney Roosters NRL head coach, astral travelling in the lead-up to the match between the Roosters and Broncos in 2020, where I told him, and he saw a win in excess of 50+ to nil,” Stubbs writes. “The Roosters went on to win 59 to nil. Done!”

Read the full story here.

Within days of the NRL banning Spencer Leniu for eight weeks after he called Brisbane’s Ezra Mam a “monkey” in Las Vegas, the NSWRL are investigating allegations of a racial slur in its junior representative competition.

It comes as the NRL hit Melbourne halfback Jahrome Hughes with a grade two contrary conduct charge (one to two weeks) for an incident involving a match official in Saturday night’s win over the Warriors.

Caught in the defensive line after a dropped kick, referee Chris Butler was pushed out of the way by Hughes, and fell to the ground as a Warriors runner charged to the line.

Earlier in the day a Dragons player accused an Illawarra player of calling him a “coconut” during Saturday’s Harold Matthews (under 17’s) game at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in Kogarah.

The NSWRL has been made aware of the matter but are unable to comment. The NSWRL will hand down its charges for the weekend on Monday and is expected to address the incident that occurred at Kogarah.

The match is filmed by the NSWRL for judicial reasons and there is a belief the incident may have been picked up on the microphones.

St George District Junior Rugby League has also been contacted, but they declined to comment on the matter. The Herald has not named the players because they are under the age of 18.

Read the full story here.