The Manly Sea Eagles have produced an onslaught led by star duo Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans to open up their 2025 campaign and cement themselves as a force to be reckoned with this season.
A magical first-half display of ball dominance laid the groundwork for the Sea Eagles' 42-12 win as they dominated possession and the game from start to finish against the North Queensland Cowboys.
A catch-and-pass in mid-air by Lehi Hopoate and multiple line-breaks by Tom Trbojevic were among the highlights as they scored three tries - Haumole Olaka'atu, Jason Saab and Ben Trbojevic - in the opening ten minutes of the match.
After being linked with a possible shift to the centres during the off-season to maximise his playing time on the field, Trbojevic showed he is still one of the competition's best fullbacks.
In a man-of-the-match performance, he finished the match with 165 running metres, seven tackle busts, one line-break and four line-break assists and two try assists.
Not to be outdone by his teammates, Daly Chery-Evans took an intercept and got them on the front foot in attack, proving that he still has plenty to give on the rugby league field.
Showing no signs of slowing down, the halfback ended the match with a try, two try assists and two line-break assists.
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Off-contract at the end of the season, if Cherry-Evans continues to play like he did on Saturday and guide Manly to victories, there is no telling how many more seasons he will play and he is likely to extend his career until at least the end of 2026.
As Manly celebrates the glory of claiming the two points, Saturday night's match put serious question marks over the Cowboys' season for having lost the experienced trio Chad Townsend, Kyle Feldt and Valentine Holmes over the off-season.
The Cowboys looked flustered for the majority of the match, and the score could have been even greater if it wasn't for their scrambled defence.
Rookie halfback Thomas Duffy failed to fire, made multiple errors in attack and kicked the ball out on the full.
However, he is likely to be granted another opportunity next week alongside Tom Dearden as the Cowboys look for a replacement for Townsend, despite Jake Clifford looking in from the outside and breathing down his neck.
