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Freakish Manu stars in Roosters' halves

3 minute read

Joey Manu is one of the best centres in the world but he showed his athleticism and versatility while starring at five-eighth for Sydney Roosters.

Roosters coach TRENT ROBINSON.
Roosters coach TRENT ROBINSON. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Joey Manu has no chance of making a permanent switch to the halves - but he could if Trent Robinson wanted him to.

The New Zealand international is regarded as one of the best centres in the NRL, but for the Sydney Roosters this season, he's shone at both fullback and five-eighth too.

And with teen sensation Sam Walker rested for Saturday night's 44-16 victory over Canberra, Manu's incredible athleticism was on show to the full.

The 24-year-old scored a sneaky try with a one-on-one steal at the line and followed up minutes later.

In a stunning piece of skill, Manu put up a bomb but got under it in time to launch above the defence, catch it high and score before they knew what was going on.

A try assist and a line-break assist finished off his impressive night.

"He's such a good player to watch, he's unnatural, but classy," said coach Trent Robinson.

"Just to watch him go about playing his game, you never cease to get amazed by the different things he'll do or come up with.

"He's also inside the team game, but he just has those moments.

"He has them at training and he has them in games. It was great to get him closer to the ball tonight and allow him to come up with different plays that advanced our game."

It's no wonder then that Robinson has encouraged Manu to take teenage star Joseph Suaalii under his wing.

Playing in the centres, the 17-year-old scored his first NRL try on Saturday, but got to show more power and skill than in his debut against Brisbane last week.

His pass for Sitili Tupouniua to score his second try particularly impressed the coach.

"I thought that was really good," Robinson said.

"A young guy at 17, with all the talk around him... He could have tried to overplay that to try and come up with something special.

"Instead, the picture told him to pass that inside for Sitili and it was the right play at the right moment.

"It was a team play. I loved the balance of his game there."

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