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Find your Sport Nation frequency'No excuse': NRL legend says 5-day turnarounds no reason for Sea Eagles' poor performance
Sam Kosack • April 18th, 2025 12:59 am
The St George-Illawarra Dragons have held on for a gritty 20-18 victory over the Sea Eagles, sinking the Manly side to a third-straight loss.
The Dragons fired in the first half, keeping the Sea Eagles to nil in an uncharacteristic performance for the home side, who typically score points for fun at 4 Pines Park.
Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold post-game questioned the NRL’s draw that saw his side play three games in the space of 11 days.
“I don’t understand it, the competition is demanding, I think it’s something that needs to be looked at,” Seibold said in the post-match press conference.
“We had 20 minutes on the field this entire week… in the AFL, they don’t have less than 6-day turnarounds.
“I don’t understand it, the competition is demanding.
“I think it’s something that needs to be looked at. It’s no excuse because we competed to the end and you don’t do that without energy.
“It’s not just us; it's across the entire competition it needs to be looked at.”
“No one’s going to listen to one coach… we talk about wellbeing and player welfare… it’s something that needs to be looked at.
However, SEN’s Brett Kimmorley said the short turnaround was no excuse for their poor performance.
“It makes you look like you’re blaming it,” Kimmorley said post-game.
“It’s excuses, their first half was executed poorly.
“Why did they come good in the second half? They should have faded away in the second half.
“I think we’ve got such a close competition, the five-day turnaround is so difficult, six days should be a minimum… but every club goes through it so it’s how you handle it.”
The Sea Eagles played two losses at home to the Melbourne Storm and Dragons, and a loss to the Cronulla Sharks in Perth.
Manly lock Jake Trbojevic was ruled out eight minutes in with a Category 1 concussion, stumbling out of a tackle, as well as injuries to Nathan Brown and Ethan Bullemor. Hooker Lachlan Croker is expected to miss another month on the sidelines.
The Sea Eagles have now slumped to their third loss in three games without Tom Trbojevic; their win record without their fullback now at 32 per cent since 2021.
The Dragons’ juniors stood tall for the away side, particularly prop Toby Couchman, who produced a mammoth 69-minute performance consisting of 56 tackles and 140 run metres.
