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Manly have piled more pressure on under-fire Warriors coach Nathan Brown, dishing out a 44-12 NRL drubbing at Four Pines Park. With close to 25% of their salary cap missing through Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans, the Sea Eagles demolished the hapless Warriors in a 24-0 first-half job. Jake Trbojevic made a statement in his first game since being dropped by NSW coach Brad Fittler, playing close to his best match of the year with deft hands before the line. Powerful second-rower Haumole Olakau'atu also made his Origin case after being overlooked by the Blues for Game I, terrorising the Warriors' right edge.  But as good as Manly were to keep themselves in touch with the top-eight, the Warriors were terrible. Their first half was insipid, completing just nine sets and having only four play-the-balls in Manly's half. The loss marked the club's seventh in eight games, meaning they will finish the round in 14th place. They will return home to Auckland next month after almost three years playing out of Australia, but by that point the club's season could be over. Saturday night's loss came after questions were already asked over Brown in the past week. At times in the first half it was like a competition between Manly's forwards to score the softest try. Toafofoa Sipley went over from dummy-half early, Olakau'atu spun over from first receiver and Marty Taupau pushed his way to the line off a penalty tap. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Warriors. Bunty Afoa found himself sin-binned for a professional foul, pulling Reuben Garrick back on a kick. Afoa's act saved his side one try, but two more were scored while the prop was off the field when Taupau scored from the next play and Josh Schuster the next set. On the Warriors' only attacking set of the first half, they gave the ball over after three tackles when they were pinged for an obstruction. Their timing was also out on the right edge, with Shaun Johnson passes regularly going behind winger Dallin Waetene-Zelezniak and slowing the momentum. A movement down that side also cost them points late in the game, when Manly flyer Jason Saab intercepted a Reece Walsh pass and raced 95 metres to score. Saab's inside man Morgan Harper also enjoyed something of a rebound after being axed earlier this year following his nightmare game against Cronulla's Siosifa Talakai. The Manly centre did well to hold up Jack Murchie over the line in the second half, before later busting down field and putting Reuben Garrick over to score. Olakau'atu was Manly's best. At one point he shoved Chanel Harris-Tavita metres backward as he fended him off, before later flattening Marcelo Montoya when he ran over the top of the Warriors winger.
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