Manly Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler has lamented two crucial '12-point turnarounds' in their prelim final loss to South Sydney, as well as a poor completion rate and lack of composure.
Outclassed over the course of the 80 minutes, Manly were disallowed two tries in the first half that ultimately led to Rabbitohs tries at the other end of the field
Speaking to the media after the game, Hasler admitted those two moments were costly and his side gave the Rabbitohs too many opportunities.
“Souths played very well tonight...we didn’t do ourselves any favours in that first half, we afforded them too much field position and they capitalised on it," he said.
"They are a very good football side and the two disallowed tries, we probably needed one of those to fall our way.
"That didn’t eventuate and they were both 12-point turnarounds, so that kind of hindered us a little bit.
“I think you’ve got to manage these games; they are big-moment games. We didn’t manage it as well as what we should have.
"Once you start to get that imbalance, you start to fatigue a little bit and I think South Sydney got down our end too easily."
Manly made 17 errors during the game, with star players Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic coming up with three apiece, as a disrupted lead-up bled onto the field.
The side were delayed by traffic on their way to the game, with the NRL forced to push the game back 15 minutes in order to allow the Sea Eagles an adequate warm-up and preparation at Suncorp Stadium.
Cherry-Evans told the media that it didn't have an impact, and paid credit to the grand final-bound Rabbitohs for capitalising on their chances with the football.
“I don’t think we can use that as an excuse," he said.
“You’ve obviously got to give credit to Souths, they played their usual quality style of rugby league and made us pay for a lot of those errors we made tonight.
"That’s what the good sides do – you just can’t give good sides opportunities like that, because they will make you pay and it’s very disappointing to have the season unfold like that."
