- MANLY 30 SOUTH SYDNEY 20
TOUGH Manly backrower Glenn Stewart on Friday night declared he held no fear that his high shot on Sam Burgess will rub him out of the Grand Final.
Stewart produced one of the bravest individual fightbacks in recent finals history to inspire the Sea Eagles’ incredible come-from-behind victory.
After making three crucial blunders in the opening minutes that all led directly to points as the Rabbitohs charged to a 14-0 lead, Stewart was instrumental in the fightback.
The star backrower brushed the disappointment aside and combined brilliantly with his brother Brett for Manly’s first try in the 20th minute.
Glenn Stewart (L) placed on report.
In the end Manly ran out comprehensive 30-20 winners to book a place in next Sunday night’s grand final - but on Friday night their memorable victory had a dark cloud hanging over it as Manly waits to see if Stewart gets charged.
The match review committee’s meeting will be brought forward to Sunday instead of Monday to give Stewart every chance to put the incident behind him and prepare for the grand final.
Asked if he feared the tackle would end up costing him his place in the match, Stewart said: “I don’t think so. It was probably a little bit lazy but I don’t think I have any carryovers and that is not normally in my game so I don’t think so.”
The good news for Stewart is that he has not been charged this year and has no carry over points or loading.
That means if he is hit with a grade one charge he will escape suspension but a grade two charge could possibly rule him out.
Geoff Toovey was adamant Stewart shouldn’t have a case to answer.
“I don’t think there is anything in it to tell you the truth,” Toovey said.
“It’s not up to me but from what I saw there has been hundreds of them during the year and no one seemed to have copped anything so I’d be surprised.”
What was worthy of Toovey’s praise was the guts Stewart showed to put the early disappointment behind him.
“I think players of the quality of Glenn Stewart can do that,” Toovey said.
“There is no use putting your head in the sand and turning it up.
“He bounced back there and was an integral part in the final result.”
The high shot on Burgess gifted Adam Reynolds the opening points courtesy of a penalty goal and that followed with a missed tackle on John Sutton who barged over from dummy half.
Stewart then dropped an easy pass that led to Nathan Merritt’s try and at 14-0 Manly looked gone.
But instead of surrendering, he then came up with a deft grubber for brother Brett as they combined brilliantly for Manly’s first try in the 20th minute.
From there Manly just had too much experience and resilience for their opponents.
“I was pretty down and I felt a lot of pressure but you need to get over these things pretty quick otherwise the game will just pass you by and luckily the kick came off up the other end so I felt a little bit better,” Glenn said.
“If it had of went the other way I don’t know what I would have done.
“I was certainly disappointed with my start and didn’t make it easy for the side but all the boys showed up for me and helped me out and that is what we have been doing for a while.
“Everyone shows up for each other.
MANLY 30 (M Ballin J Lyon B Stewart T Symonds D Williams tries J Lyon 5 goals) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 20(N Merritt J Sutton D Walker tries A Reynolds 3 I Luke goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: Gerard Sutton, Ben Cummins. Crowd: 44,546.
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NRL finals live coverage. Source: News Limited
80th minute - Walker crosses for consolation try
DYLAN Walker crossed out wide to notch a consolation try for the Rabbitohs and bring the final score to 30-20 in favour of Manly.
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73rd minute - Symonds seals victory for Manly
THE Sea Eagles are heading to the grand final.
Tom Symonds sealed the victory by surging over late and handing Manly an unassailable 30-14 lead.
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61st minute - Freakish Wolfman extends Manly lead
DAVID 'Wolfman' Williams produced a freakish put-down to give Manly a commanding 10-point lead.
Williams crossed following some brilliant lead-up work by Daly Cherry-Evans, somehow keeping his body inside the sideline despite a last-ditch shoulder charge by Greg Inglis.
Manly lead 24-14.
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Sea Eagles captain Jamie Lyon. Source: Getty Images
58th minute - Manly take lead, set for thriller
THE Sea Eagles have taken the lead for the first time in the match courtesy of a Jamie Lyon try.
Lyon crossed from a Daly Cherry-Evans short ball, before converting his own try from the sideline to give Manly a 18-14 lead.
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52nd minute - Burgess try disallowed
SAM Burgess barged over for the Rabbitohs, but couldn't ground the ball. The score remains 14-12 to the Bunnies.
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44th minute - Manly claw back to 14-12
MATT Ballin crossed for a rare try as the Sea Eagles made it a two-point ball game at ANZ Stadium.
Brett Stewart held up his pass from dummy half to send Ballin over for one of the softest finals tries you'll see.
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40th minute - Bunnies pull off five try-savers, lead 14-6 at break
THE Rabbitohs muscled up in defence to repel Manly five times in two sets late in the half.
George Rose, Steve Matai, Brett Stewart, Glenn Stewart and Jorge Taufua all appeared over, but were denied by try-savers.
The score is 14-6 at halftime.
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Brett Stewart scores for Manly. Source: Getty Images
18th minute - Stewart magic claws Manly back
THE Sea Eagles are back in the game courtesy of the brilliance of the Stewart brothers.
Glenn Stewart grubbered for brother Brett close to the line, clawing the Sea Eagles back to 14-6.
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Nathan Merritt scores. Source: Getty Images
11th minute - Rampaging Rabbits on a roll
THE Rabbitohs are all over the Sea Eagles at ANZ Stadium, surging to an early 14-0 lead.
The most recent try went to Nathan Merritt, who crossed out wide following great lead-up work by Greg Inglis and Bryson Goodwin.
In scoring, Merritt equaled the 80-year record of Benny Wearing as South Sydney's leading tryscorer in club history.
The most recent try went to Nathan Merritt, who crossed out wide following great lead-up work by Greg Inglis and Bryson Goodwin.
In scoring, Merritt equaled the 80-year record of Benny Wearing as South Sydney's leading tryscorer in club history.
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John Sutton of the Rabbitohs celebrates a try. Source: Getty Images
8th minute - Souths surge to 8-0 lead
JOHN Sutton charged over from close range to score the first try of the game for the Rabbitohs.
The big five-eighth benefited from a quick play-the-ball, beating a one-on-one tackle and stepping over.
JOHN Sutton charged over from close range to score the first try of the game for the Rabbitohs.
The big five-eighth benefited from a quick play-the-ball, beating a one-on-one tackle and stepping over.
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4th minute - Rabbitohs take 2-0 lead
ADAM Reynolds opened the scoring for the Rabbitohs with a penalty goal.
Glenn Stewart was put on report for his high shot on Sam Burgess.
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3rd minute - Wolfman saves try for Manly
DAVID 'Wolfman' Williams charged off his wing to cut off a Greg Inglis pass and save a try for Manly.
South Sydney winger Nathan Merritt would have strolled over if Williams' high-risk moved failed.
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7.05pm - Stewart recovers from hamstring injury
MANLY are 1-17, with Brett Stewart to play after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Anthony Watmough (knee) and Jamie Lyon (leg bruising) were also cleared.
Peta Hiku, James Hasson and David Gower drop off the extended bench.
SEA EAGLES: Brett Stewart, Jorge Taufua, Jamie Lyon (capt), Steve Matai, David Williams, Kieran Foran, Daly Cherry-Evans, Brenton Lawrence, Matt Ballin, Brent Kite, Anthony Watmough, Justin Horo, Glenn Stewart. Interchange: Richie Faaoso, Jamie Buhrer, Tom Symonds, George Rose
Brett Stewart trains on Tuesday morning. Source: Getty Images
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6.34pm - Rabbitohs unchanged
SOUTH Sydney are 1-17 for tonight's grand final qualifier, with Ben Lowe, Luke Keary and Matt King dropping out of an extended squad.
There were rumours during the week that Keary would make the 17 as cover for Adam Reynolds, who famously injured his hamstring in the corresponding game last year, ending the Rabbitohs' season. But that hasn't eventuated.
RABBITOHS: Greg Inglis, Nathan Merritt, Bryson Goodwin, Dylan Walker, Dylan Farrell, John Sutton, Adam Reynolds, Dave Tyrrell, Issac Luke, Luke Burgess, Sam Burgess, Ben Te'o, Jeff Lima. Interchange: Jason Clark, Roy Asotasi, Chris McQueen, George Burgess
Source: News Limited
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6.16pm - Spiteful clash on the menu
IF the last two clashes between South Sydney and Manly are anything to go by, we're set for a spiteful NRL grand final qualifier at ANZ Stadium.
The Rabbitohs ($1.44) go into the clash as heavy favourites over the Sea Eagles ($2.85), but both sides will be looking to get square following a string of unsavoury incidents in their two head-to-head clashes this year.
South Sydney won both matches (20-12 in round six, and 22-12 in round 23), but the vicious clashes cost a total of 10 weeks in suspensions.
In the round six clash at Brookvale Oval, the Sea Eagles were accused of illegally targeting Greg Inglis with spear tackles.
Manly prop Richie Fa’aoso eventually copped a total of eight weeks for two dangerous throws on the South Sydney superstar.
Centre Steve Matai also copped a week for a high shot on George Burgess, which erupted into an all-in brawl when Sam Burgess stepped in to protect his brother.
In the round 23 clash at Bluetongue Stadium, Jeff Lima copped a week for targeting the injured knee of Anthony Watmough with an illegal leg twist.
It was immediately branded one of the cheap shots of the year.
So you’ve been warned - there’s history between these two teams.
Let the fireworks begin!
The Rabbitohs ($1.44) go into the clash as heavy favourites over the Sea Eagles ($2.85), but both sides will be looking to get square following a string of unsavoury incidents in their two head-to-head clashes this year.
South Sydney won both matches (20-12 in round six, and 22-12 in round 23), but the vicious clashes cost a total of 10 weeks in suspensions.
In the round six clash at Brookvale Oval, the Sea Eagles were accused of illegally targeting Greg Inglis with spear tackles.
Manly prop Richie Fa’aoso eventually copped a total of eight weeks for two dangerous throws on the South Sydney superstar.
Centre Steve Matai also copped a week for a high shot on George Burgess, which erupted into an all-in brawl when Sam Burgess stepped in to protect his brother.
In the round 23 clash at Bluetongue Stadium, Jeff Lima copped a week for targeting the injured knee of Anthony Watmough with an illegal leg twist.
It was immediately branded one of the cheap shots of the year.
So you’ve been warned - there’s history between these two teams.
Let the fireworks begin!
