Manly have scored a crucial 44-6 victory over the Knights on Sunday afternoon, moving back into the NRL top-eight as a number of young stars showed their class.
In front of a packed crowd at Brookvale Oval and plenty of old boys in the crowd, all eyes were on Tom Trbojevic after his move to fullback.
But instead, it was debutant playmaker Jamie Humphreys who got the first say, setting up a break down the right before backing up to score a try in his first NRL game.
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“Look at the way he ball plays, straight as a gun barrel,” Andrew Johns said on Nine.
“He straightens the attack perfectly. Like a good halfback, pass and follow.”
Jamie Humphreys celebrates a try with Haumole Olakau’atu. Getty
Newcastle’s woes continued as Tom Trbojevic and Jason Saab increased the margin, before Lehi Hopoate produced the highlight of the afternoon.
A lovely cross-field kick from Luke Brooks landed safely in the hands of Hopoate, who instantly flicked the ball back inside to Tommy Talau for an amazing try.
“That is absolutely brilliant,” Phil Gould said.
“He is so classy this young Hopoate, it’s like he has been doing it for years.”
Lehi Hopoate stunned the Knights with a freakish try assist. Nine
Johns was equally impressed by the magical moment from the 19-year-old.
“There is something special about this man,” the rugby league Immortal said.
Newcastle trailed 20-0 at the half-time break and to make matters worse, Brodie Jones left the field with a head knock while Greg Marzhew battled a leg injury.
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The second half was more of the same for the Sea Eagles, with Hopoate getting over for two tries of his own as the diehard supporters erupted for the rising star.
Humphreys came up with another smart piece of play to help put Haumole Olakau’atu in the 68th minute as salt was well and truly rubbed into the Knights’ wounds.
The performance from the visitors got so bad in the second half that their greatest-ever player in Johns described it as a ‘training run’ for Manly.
Newcastle got a late consolation try as veteran back-rower Tyson Frizell barged over from close range, but the afternoon belonged to Manly.
“They have absolutely torn them apart and it looked that way from the early stages,” Mat Thompson said on Nine.