Manly Warringah Sea Eagles

‘Tommy Turbo’ was pulled off from the field with many experts claiming he hasn’t been 100 percent fit over the past few games.

Fears have grown from the rugby league fans that the 2019 Dally M medalist will face another stint on the sideline, but, the scans on Monday have revealed that he had a minor groin strain and will be named in the 22-men squad for the clash against Gold Coast Titans at the 4 Pines Park on Saturday, April 29.

One of the game's great rivalries reached a peak in the early 80s when the Sea Eagles and Eels met in consecutive grand finals and has been going strong ever since.

Speaking of grand finals, that's where Parramatta were just five months ago but they have started the new season 0-2 and face a tough road trip to 4 Pines Park to face a rejuvenated Manly.

Under new coach Anthony Seibold, the Sea Eagles won the Pre-Season Challenge and carried that form into Round 1, where the return of Tom Trbojevic sparked a 31-6 win.

Toby and Tuaimolo Vaega were among a host of stars for the Sea Eagles, who gave new coach Anthony Seibold the ideal start to his tenure.

The Rabbitohs got the scoreboard ticking in the fifth minute when five-eighth Dion Teaupa grubbered to the left corner for Tom Carr to score. Blake Taaffe's sideline conversion made it 6-0.

Manly hit back in the eighth minute when Cooper Johns set up winger Tuaimolo Vaega with a classy floating pass before the Teaupa returned serve in the battle of the playmakers with a try of his own.

The Sea Eagles dominated every facet of the game virtually from the outset to storm to a 24-0 half-time lead and went on with the job in the second term to achieve their first win during the Origin period since 2015.

While captain Daly Cherry-Evans was the only Manly player on Origin duty, star fullback Tom Trbojevic is out for the season with a shoulder injury but their forwards, led by Haumole Olakau’atu, were too much to handle for the Warriors.

Ricky Stuart's men were 22 points down in the shadows of half-time on Saturday and produced a stunning second-half surge to reel in the Titans and register their second narrow win of the season.

The Sea Eagles were also taken to the wire before opening their 2022 account on the back of a Daly Cherry-Evans field goal.

In round six last year the Sea Eagles headed to Mudgee with a 1-4 record and turrned their season around in a big way with a 36-0 demolition of the Titans.

In a scrappy contest, the Bulldogs levelled the scores with nine minutes to go before Cherry-Evans took advantage of a Braidon Burns error late in the match to slot home a one-pointer from 22 metres out.

On a night the Sea Eagles paid tribute to the late Bob Fulton with the unveiling of the northern grandstand named in his honour, it was the visitors who shocked the home crowd early with two tries inside 14 minutes to take an 8-0 lead.

Bulldogs halfback Brandon Wakeham, a late inclusion for the side, regathered his own kick to opening the scoring in the first minute.

After last year's horror 0-4 start, the Sea Eagles would not have been expecting the early stages of this year to pan out in similar fashion, especially with star fullback Tom Trbojevic fit to start the season - although they have faced two of the competition's most heavily-fancied sides.

The Bulldogs are 1-1 and arguably unlucky not to be 2-0, but are still very much a work in progress. If coach Trent Barrett can help his current club add more early-season pain onto his former club it will go a long way to building a confident platform for the rest of their 2022 campaign.

With halves Sam Walker and Luke Keary combining brilliantly, the Roosters piled on four first half tries to lead 22-0 at the interval but the Sea Eagles never gave up to ensure a respectable fulltime scoreline.

It was the response Roosters coach Trent Robinson was seeking after last weekend's upset loss to Newcastle but Des Hasler would have been frustrated with a first half performance that mirrored last weekend's heavy defeat by Penrith. 

After two early no-tries due to obstruction, Penrith finally made some early dominance count when young centre Izack Tago carried four defenders over the line in the 19th minute.

His centre partner Stephen Crichton crossed in the 31st but with a 12-0 halftime lead in the offing Penrith clocked off for a moment on the stroke of half time and Tom Trbojevic capitalised on some broken play to set up Ethan Bullemor for his first try in Manly colours.

Penrith's dominance last year was in no small part to the superb form of halfback Nathan Cleary, who was always touch-and-go for round one after off season shoulder surgery but has now been ruled out for a few weeks in a huge blow to Penrith's hopes of starting the season with a bang. 

Manly's own dominance was built off the back of a stunning individual season from Dally M medal winner Tom Trbojevic, who has already been setting up tries for fun through the trials and is out to not just match but improve on an individual season already considered one of the best ever.