Manly in 3rd place in Australia's NRL after 28-16 win Sunday

By AP
Published

SYDNEY (AP) The Manly Sea Eagles moved into third place in Australia's National Rugby League on Sunday with a come-from-behind 28-16 win over the Wests Tigers, moving to within four points of first-place Melbourne.

The Sea Eagles trailed by eight points with 25 minutes remaining before back-to-back tries to wingers Matthew Wright and Akuila Uate - Uate's a 40-meter effort - put them back in the lead for good.

Melbourne leads the NRL with 30 competition points, followed by the second-place Sydney Roosters on 28. The Storm and Roosters were among four teams with weekend byes.

Manly, Brisbane, defending champions Cronulla and North Queensland are next with 26 points each.

In the other Sunday match, North Queensland kept pace with the leaders with a 23-10 win over South Sydney.

Gold Coast halfback Ash Taylor scored two tries and set up two others to lead the Titans to a 30-10 victory over Cronulla.

Heavy rain fell all afternoon Saturday on the Gold Coast and continued as the game began, creating large pools of water. But Taylor managed well in the wet conditions, slicing through the defense from a scrum to give the Titans an 8-0 lead close to halftime.

Brisbane's bid for a top-four finish remained on track after beating Newcastle 34-22. Without Queensland State of Origin forwards Josh McGuire and Matt Gillett, the Broncos trailed 12-6 at halftime before powering home in the second half.

The loss marked the eighth time this season the Knights have lost after leading at halftime.

''We didn't play badly,'' Broncos coach Wayne Bennett said. ''They had some pretty good football.''

The Broncos scored two early tries in the second half, taking a 24-12 lead within 10 minutes.

''When we lose that momentum, we have that disappointment, and then we don't come together with our defense,'' Knights coach Nathan Brown said.

On Friday, Elliott Whitehead's 84th-minute try gave Canberra an 18-14 win over the St. George Illawarra Dragons, and Penrith beat the New Zealand Warriors 34-22.