Dolphins star back rower Connelly Lemuelu had a tough evening on the Northern Beaches as his side hammered the nail in the coffin for Kieran Foran's first year as head coach of the Manly Sea Eagles.
In a sloppy affair, the Dolphins did enough to come away with a some-what impressive 22-0 win, ending the Sea Eagles' season which looked to have plenty of promise at one stage.
The Dolphins had a massive cross-town derby against the Brisbane Broncos last week, which looked to have sucked the juice out of them for their trip to Brookvale, nevertheless, they came away with an important two points and a shut-out performance.
Lemuelu was sent to the sin bin at the end of the first half for a professional foul, before being forced from the field with a hamstring injury halfway through the second stanza.
of the Dolphins looks to pass the ball during the round four NRL match between the Dolphins and Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on March 24, 2023 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
The damaging second rower has had an outstanding 2026 campaign, with coach Kristian Woolf giving Lemuelu his well-deserved flowers.
“He's been one of our best players,” the Dolphins coach said in his post-match press conference.
“I've been really happy with him and really proud of him. I'm just a bit disappointed that he gets that disruption to his year because he's been going so well, but he'll be back. He'll finish the year for us.”
On the other side of the park, Manly was playing to save its season, while also having plenty of personal reasons to get up with star centre Tolutau Koula notching up his 100th NRL game.
Throw in the fact the club has been sitting on 999 first-grade wins for the last six weeks, there was reason to put in a stellar performance.
Instead, they were creating a different kind of history, and became the first Manly outfit in 33 years to be kept scoreless at Brookvale Oval.
With their season over, Foran can start planning for 2027 when he has a chance to bring in his own staff and start creating his dream roster.
“We will grow from this,” Foran said.
“There are reasons for why it's been tough, and I don't want to use any of those as an excuse, but we'll grow out of this period.
“There'll be a lot of good experience and growth that's been put into a lot of guys, and that'll hold us in good stead. I'm a firm believer in that.”
In a positive light for Manly, Clayton Faulalo looked sharp on return from a hamstring injury and provided plenty of energy to a side that's lacked punch in the past two months.
Tom Trbojevic is set to return to the fullback jersey next week against the Newcastle Knights, which gives Foran an interesting selection headache as to whether he keeps freshly extended Faulalo in the starting lineup.
The Dolphins slide into the top four and set their attention towards returning to Queensland and hosting the Parramatta Eels on Friday.
Manly will make the trip up the motorway to face the old rivals Newcastle on Saturday next week.
