3 minute read

Manly suffered a late collapse against the spirited Wests Tigers at Lottoland on Saturday with the visitors recording a 34-32 victory.

Manly have blown their glimmer of hope to play NRL finals this year after a stunning late collapse against the Wests Tigers at Lottoland.

The Sea Eagles led by 14 points with 11 minutes to play before the Tigers laid on three tries, including an Adam Doueihi double, for an extraordinary 34-32 win.

Doueihi, playing in the centres, crossed for a try with just two minutes on the clock to level the scores at 32-all before kicking the conversion to snatch victory.

A hat-trick of tries from winger David Nofoaluma set up the frenzied finish on Saturday, which resigned the Sea Eagles to their sixth-straight loss.

After a difficult week of honesty sessions and the confirmed exit of club legend Benji Marshall at the end of the season, the Tigers found the strength to fight back and keep their season alive.

"One thing I do know about this group it they have a lot of belief," Tigers coach Michael Maguire said.

"You give them the opportunity to put themselves in the right space to get their plays on and a you saw in the last 10 minutes, they fought their way back into the game.

"Their belief got them the win."

The Tigers now have an unlikely shot at a finals berth if they win all three of their remaining games against South Sydney, Melbourne and Parramatta, but other results would also need to go their way.

Manly looked set to cruise to victory after a powerful first half in which they led by 14 points after 28 minutes.

It was set up with four tries - three of which were created by Daly Cherry-Evans.

A landslide of possession and a high completion rate helped Manly shoot to a 20-6 lead, with the Tigers scoring on their first dalliance in territory through Nofoaluma.

With his second career hat-trick, the spirited winger helped devise the comeback along with halfback Luke Brooks, who set up the final try for Doueihi.

"We had that game won 10 times over and we found 11 ways to lose it," Manly coach Des Hasler said.

"But we should have won it, no many how many excuses you want to make.

"We had a couple of debutants and lost some players, but still... you hang on... we just panicked."

The stunning loss will come as a bitter blow for Manly who appear to have lost winger Jorge Taufua for the rest of the season with a torn calf muscle.

It's the latest in long run of troubling injuries for the 28-year-old who has suffered an ACL injury and a broken collarbone in recent seasons.

Debutant five-eighth Josh Schuster was taken from the field late with a severe leg cramp he sustained while putting up a kick.

They'll join a slew of stars including Tom Trbojevic, Joel Thompson, Reuben Garrick, Moses Suli and Dylan Walker on the sidelines over the final three rounds.