Dominant displays from NSW pair Anthony Watmough and Tony Williams and 24 points from skipper Jamie Lyon inspired Manly to a 52-14 NRL win over Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
Williams, playing his first game in Manly colours since round three, showed Blues coach Ricky Stuart he’ll be fit enough to take his place the State of Origin decider in Brisbane, having not played since the series opener in Melbourne due to a back injury.
The giant back-rower, who played the full 80 minutes, took just four minutes to make an impression when he brushed off Mitchell Pearce and Sam Perrett to set up Jorge Taufua for a try and lay the foundations for a dominant display from the premiers.
Watmough, who clocked up more than 120 metres in the first half, increased his side’s lead four minutes later when he latched onto a Matt Ballin kick to score, with Lyon adding the extras.
Williams, whose last appearance for Manly saw him slugged with a seven-game suspension for a dangerous tackle on Isaac De Gois, showed there’s more to his game than brute strength with a beautifully-weighted chip-kick which found Steve Matai, who ran through some feeble defending to score.
And worse was to come for Brian Smith’s side when Watmough broke through the line and ran for 40 metres before setting up Daly Cherry-Evans.
The Roosters did cross the line on the stroke of halftime when Perrett scored following a Pearce cut-out pass, with Braith Anasta’s kick cutting the deficit to 24-6 at the break.
Smith’s side started the second period brightly and threatened to stage a dramatic fightback with tries from Tom Symonds and talented 18-year-old Tautau Moga.
However, they were unable to sustain their superiority and Manly sealed the victory with three tries in eight minutes from Dean Whare, Brett Stewart and Jamie Buhrer.
Lyon, who kicked eight goals from nine attempts, added some extra gloss to the scoreline, when he intercepted a wayward Pearce pass and ran 50 metres for the visitors’ eighth four-pointer.
And the former NSW playmaker took his side past the 50-point mark with his second try late in the game, outpacing Moga to get a hand on Buhrer’s kick.
The only negative for Manly was an knee injury for Cherry-Evans, who limped off 10 minutes from time.