Brett Kimmorley's first game as Tigers coach turned into a nightmare as Brent Naden was sent off for a dangerous tackle in a 30-4 loss to the Sea Eagles at Campbelltown Stadium on Sunday.
Naden lifted Jake Trbojevic above the horizontal and drove him into the ground in the 65th minute and was given his marching orders by referee Peter Gough.
The star for Manly was Blues hopeful Haumole Olakau'atu, who scored a try and had 11 tackle breaks as the Sea Eagles turned a narrow 6-4 half-time lead into their seventh win of the season.
The Tigers made a fast start when Naden got across the line in the 13th minute but replays showed he had lost the ball as he tried to get it down.
Five minutes later the home side were made to pay for wasting that opportunity when Trbojevic turned a ball back inside for Josh Aloiai to plunge over for the game's opening four-pointer.
Garner responds as Ofahengaue can't be stopped
Back-to-back errors by Luciano Leuila handed Manly field position on the half hour mark but a forward pass from Josh Schuster to Jason Saab saw the chance go begging.
The Tigers opened their account in the 35th minute when Joe Ofahengaue took the ball to the line and slipped an offload to Luke Brooks who found Kelma Tuilagi and the bench forward shovelled it on to Luke Garner who scored.
Brooks then opened the door for Manly when he kicked on the full in the 38th minute but the Tigers five-eighth made amends by trapping a Kieran Foran grubber and defusing the situation.
Olakau'atu can't be stopped
After a barnstorming run by Olakau'atu put the Sea Eagles on the attack 14 minutes into the second half it was Reuben Garrick who sliced through on the right edge to put Manly out to a 12-4 lead.
There was more to come from the Tongan enforcer in the 62nd minute when he left James Tamou and Naden in his wake to storm over from close range.
Naden's afternoon went from bad to worse in the 65th minute when he was sent off for a dangerous lifting tackle on Trbojevic.
A penalty goal to Garrick in the 67th minute stretched Manly's lead to 18-4 and the two competition points were in the bank for Des Hasler's men.
Young gun Tolutau Koula then produced a dazzling burst of speed from his own side of halfway to snare the first try of his career and Aloiai made it a double as Manly rubbed salt into the wounds.
Brent Naden sent off for dangerous tackle
Match Snapshot
- Tigers centre Brent Naden copped a head knock trying to tackle Haumole Olakau'atu in the 30th minute and was sent for a HIA which he passed.
- Manly powerhouse Haumole Olakau'atu staked his claim for a Blues Origin call-up with 16 runs for 163 metres and 11 tackle breaks to go with a crucial one-on-one steal.
- Jake Trbojevic got through a power of work in defence for the Sea Eagles with 38 tackles.
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- The Tigers have lost their past four games at Campbelltown Stadium.
- Brent Naden became the first Tigers player to be sent off since Corey Pearson in 2002.
- The Tigers had just 44 per cent of possession and completed at 72 per cent.
- Manly fullback Reuben Garrick took his season tally to 126 points with a try and five goals. Garrick has now scored seven tries in his past six games.
Play of the Game
Manly forward Josh Aloiai had Jake Trbojevic to thank for grabbing the 13try of his 115-game career in the 18th minute of play. Reminding NSW selectors of his value as a ball-player, Trbojevic went to the line and turned a neat pass back inside for Aloiai to crash over. With the Manly pack well and truly winning the yardage battle over their Tigers opponents Aloiai cashed in with 207 metres from 20 runs as well as the first try double of his career.
Aloiai opens the scoring for Manly
What They Said
"That was one of our better wins of the year. That was a really tough game. It was always going to be a tough game, both from the aspect of the change [of coach] the Tigers had early in the week and they came really committed. It was a really tough game of footy for us and I'm really proud of the way they boys went about it. We played really disciplined footy. We've been working really hard on our attitude with possession and we've been pretty tidy in that regard." - Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler
Sea Eagles: Round 14
"Our priority area is to make sure we stay together. We're in a really difficult time as a club. Obviously we are not going to make decisions quickly, we are not going to become one of the top sides straight away. The reason why the decision [to sack Michael Maguire] was made last week was because things were not going great. I've spoken to the players and told them it's up to as coaches to coach as much as we can into them, to get training plans and make us feel like we're improving them little steps by little steps by little steps. There's no quick fix in this unfortunately." - Wests Tigers interim coach Brett Kimmorley
Wests Tigers: Round 14
What's NextÂ
The Tigers face the Bulldogs for the second time in a month and will be hoping to repeat the dose after winning 36-22 at Leichhardt Oval in round 11.
The Sea Eagles are at home against the Cowboys on Friday night at 4 Pines Park. Manly are four from four on their home deck in 2022.