Ennis blasts Bunker 'madness' that burned Dogs

1 year ago 82

Manly has carried its beardown pre-season signifier into the NRL play proper, with a large first-up triumph implicit the Bulldogs astatine Brookvale Oval.

In the archetypal lucifer of the Anthony Seibold era, the Sea Eagles ran successful 5 tries - including a career-first hat-trick to Daly Cherry-Evans - to triumph 31-6.

But the lucifer was tarred with a tinge of controversy. After a tightly fought archetypal half-hour, a Bunker determination to nonstop Bulldogs fullback Kyle Flanagan to the misdeed bin proved a important turning point.

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In the shadiness of fractional time, Reuben Garrick made a tally down the near borderline and was each but implicit the interaction enactment erstwhile helium enactment a grubber backmost in-field for Tom Trbojevic, who had Flanagan blistery connected his heels.

Trbojevic looked arsenic if helium had overrun the shot and failed to stitchery it, but referee Grant Atkins saw Flanagan's hands successful Trbojevic's backmost and sent it upstairs for a imaginable punishment try.

While the punishment effort wasn't given, the nonrecreational foul was upheld and Flanagan was sent to the bin.

The determination near erstwhile Bulldog Michael Ennis incensed.

"It is hardly a interaction from Flanagan; it is thing much than laying a manus connected him," helium said successful commentary for Fox Sports.

"There is nary propulsion from Flanagan … a nonrecreational foul, that is ridiculous.

"That's a pugnacious telephone ... an outrageous decision. Madness."

With winger Jacob Kiraz besides disconnected the parkland for a HIA, it near the Bulldogs close broadside defence incredibly weak, and successful the adjacent acceptable Reuben Garrick each but strolled implicit to enactment the Sea Eagles successful front.

Then connected the different broadside of halftime, and with Flanagan inactive watching from the sidelines, a chaotic walk from Viliame Kikau went to crushed and was toed guardant by the Manly skipper, who past won a hip-and-shoulder contention with Josh Addo-Carr to score.

Bulldogs blasted implicit 'ridiculous' error

Post-game, Cameron Ciraldo said portion helium was amazed Flanagan was binned, helium said it was the mode his players reacted - oregon so didn't - that was the quality successful the match.

"I didn't deliberation helium was going to spell to the misdeed bin, but helium did and we didn't grip it well," helium said.

"It was disappointing, but we could've handled it amended erstwhile helium was off."

It was a unsmooth archetypal crippled for the Belmore club, with Kikau successful peculiar making galore errors.

But 1 successful peculiar had Ennis fired up

With the Bulldogs heavy successful their ain territory, the shot was bizarrely passed to Kikau to footwear them retired of trouble, alternatively than Matt Burton.

Kikau proceeded to enactment it into interaction connected the full. In the pursuing plays, Tom Trbojevic scored the opener for Manly connected his long-awaited instrumentality from injury.

"That's ridiculous from the Bulldogs; Matt Burton has the longest footwear successful the competition," Ennis said.

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"They lone made 23m successful this acceptable - this was his accidental to basal up and thrust it down the tract and bull their medicine.

"Instead, it's passed retired to retired to Viliame Kikau to get a footwear away, and they crook it implicit 30m from their ain line.

"They person to beryllium better, the Bulldogs."

Trbojevic said he'd had a "very tense week" arsenic helium prepared for his archetypal crippled successful 9 months.

"It's been a agelong 9 months since I past played … but it's bully to get backmost retired present and a circular 1 triumph - I haven't had 1 successful my vocation truthful it was bully to commencement the twelvemonth well," helium told Fox Sports.

New signing Reed Mahoney was the Bulldogs' lone effort scorer.

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