2m agoFri 5 Sep 2025 at 8:27am
21’Tom Trbojevic is held up as the Warriors just barely survive
The Manly fullback crashes over under the posts and Sam Healey does wonderfully to hold him up until support arrives. The bunker upholds the on-field ‘no try’ call.
The Sea Eagles waste no time spinning it left again, peppering Leka Halasima’s edge, but this time Turbo’s pass is off the mark.
6m agoFri 5 Sep 2025 at 8:23am
19′ Ambulance called for Rocco Berry
ABC Sport sideline caller Michael Carayannis reports that the Warriors can’t get centre Rocco Berry’s dislocated shoulder back into joint, so they’ve called an ambulance for him.
Huge blow for Berry, who you’d assume will miss the finals now.
10m agoFri 5 Sep 2025 at 8:19am
It’s an early double for Lehi Hopoate
Off the back of that line break, the Sea Eagles get a fresh set as a pass is batted down.
Manly reloads and spins it left, where Leka Halasima has been forced to defend in the centres in place of Rocco Berry. An interesting decision not to send Kurt Capewell out there.
DCE and Tom Trbojevic sum it up well, with Turbo nailing a cut-out ball to Hopoate to trot over untouched for his second of the night.
11m agoFri 5 Sep 2025 at 8:19am
14′ The Sea Eagles are threats from everywhere
James Fisher-Harris knocks on deep in Manly territory and Ben Trbojevic gathers the rebound, linking with brother Tom, who finds Tommy Talau.
He flies upfield and gets over halfway, but runs away from a flying Lehi Hopoate on the left wing, and is brought down by Sam Healey, who’s lucky not to get penalised for holding him down.
16m agoFri 5 Sep 2025 at 8:14am
Jake Simpkin is over for the Sea Eagles
We have a third try in the opening 10 minutes, this time on the back of an ill-timed Adam Pompey error, handing possession to Manly in prime field position.
This time it’s Jake Simpkin with a dummy-half sneak, bumping off James Fisher-Harris and winning a wrestling match over the line with Kurt Capewell.
18m agoFri 5 Sep 2025 at 8:11am
The fastest try in NRL history
It’s officially clocked on NRL.com at eight seconds.
Absolutely a record.
22m agoFri 5 Sep 2025 at 8:07am
And the Sea Eagles are in too!
Daly Cherry-Evans bombs a 40/20 and they spin it left straight away, with Lehi Hopoate dotting down out wide.
Not only that, but Rocco Berry has knocked himself out of the game while trying to stop it.
He made a desperate attempt to slap the ball out of Hopoate’s hands and faceplanted, landing awkwardly on his right shoulder and dislocating it.
He’s coming straight off under the care of two trainers. So a dream start turns into a nightmare for the Warriors.
This is insanity at Brookvale.
29m agoFri 5 Sep 2025 at 8:01am
THE WARRIORS SCORE OFF THE KICK-OFF!
Daly Cherry-Evans inexplicably lets the kick-off by the Warriors bounce, Jason Saab fumbles, slips and drops the ball, and James Fisher-Harris gets through to score off the bouncing ball!
It’s nine seconds in and they’ve already scored!!
“That’s gotta be the fastest try … in the NRL,” Dene Halatau says on ABC Sport.
It’s faster than this one from 2017 by Kirisome Auvaa, which held the record at 11 seconds:
29m agoFri 5 Sep 2025 at 8:00am
Here come the teams
Daly Cherry-Evans leads the Sea Eagles out for the last time in front of a packed Brookvale Oval.
40m agoFri 5 Sep 2025 at 7:50am
The equation for tonight’s teams
As you can see, there are a few storylines at stake here with the four teams playing tonight.
Manly has the ability to put 50 on teams, but they’d have to do that and hope for a massive, record-breaking loss for the Roosters and hope the Dolphins lose too to have any chance at finals, so let’s say that’s not happening.
The Warriors are locked into a home final in week one as they can only finish fifth or sixth. And win, lose or draw, the other teams in the bottom half of the eight all play after them and can all shuffle around, so they just need to win for winning’s sake tonight.
The Roosters can guarantee their spot in the finals (and lock in the eight teams) with a victory over Souths, although they could still get in if they lose and the Dolphins drop their game against Canberra on Sunday (or win but not by much).
And the Rabbitohs, they’re playing for pride and AJ, safe from the spoon and only able to climb as high as 11th.
1h agoFri 5 Sep 2025 at 7:30am
LATE MAIL: No messing around for Manly or Warriors
(NRL.com)
The Sea Eagles and Warriors are basically unchanged from their Tuesday teams for this evening’s clash, as Daly Cherry-Evans celebrates his final game in maroon for the second time this year (although this time he actually knows it’s his last).
1h agoFri 5 Sep 2025 at 7:17am
NRL urges fans to stay off the field for AJ’s record
With Alex Johnston closing in on Ken Irvine’s all-time try-scoring record, there has been a lot of talk this season about fans rushing the field if and when he goes past that 212 mark.
The Rabbitohs already told fans not to do it three weeks ago, with Penrith and Cronulla great Luke Lewis lamenting a missed opportunity to emulate the moment Lance Franklin kicked his 1,000th AFL goal and fans stormed the SCG.
“We’re going into something we’ll probably never see again … I loved it when the AFL had all the supporters run on the field,” Lewis said in commentary for ABC Sport.
“It was an iconic moment, the photos are phenomenal.”
And now — with Johnston two behind Irvine heading into Souths’ last game of the year and nothing else to play for — the NRL has doubled down, warning “at no time are fans allowed onto the field”.
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“If the record is broken, make sure you celebrate the right way in the stands, and stay safe,” the league says.
This feels a little like trying to hold back the tide, but let’s see if he gets there first.
1h agoFri 5 Sep 2025 at 6:57am
Welcome to Friday night footy
Hello and welcome to another ABC Sport live blog of Friday’s NRL action.
We’ve got two games for you tonight, but all the focus will really be on one.
First up, Manly hosts the Warriors. The New Zealanders are locked in to either fifth or sixth but will no doubt be keen to win and hope to avoid Penrith in the first week of finals, while the Sea Eagles are out of finals contention unless a few miracles play out.
After that, all eyes turn to the left wing at the Sydney Football Stadium as the Roosters take on the Rabbitohs, with South Sydney winger Alex Johnston two tries behind Ken Irvine’s all time record.
The Roosters certainly won’t be ushering him to the tryline though, with a win guaranteeing their place in the finals.
