Manly’s ridiculous fullback depth was on full display as fourth-string option Clayton Faulalo lifted his side back into the top four with a gritty win over the Titans despite being without four of their most important players.
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The 12-10 result on a wet night in Sydney was their seventh win from eight matches since Kieran Foran took over as coach, with the club great playing for the Titans last September.
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The Sea Eagles used to fall to pieces without superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic, but things are changing on the northern beaches with the hosts getting the job done with fellow custodians Lehi Hopoate (suspension) and Tolu Koula (Origin) missing.
In just his second official NRL start at fullback, Faulalo threw a cracking pass for fill-in winger Blake Wilson to score the only try of the first half before he raced onto an inside ball from Ben Trbojevic to extend the lead.
Faulalo survived a hip drop with 21 minutes to go to finish the game with 238 metres to put his name up in lights as a potential target for teams in 2028.
“He’s been unbelievable,” Foran said.
“The performances he’s put in over the past month have been exceptional. He’s been near on our best player on the field for the past month along with plenty of others.
“I thought he came up with some special plays at important times.”
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Titans stalwart Mo Fotuaika became the club’s most-capped player after going past Mark Minichiello with his 174th appearance for the Gold Coast.
But there was no fairy tale victory on Saturday night with the Titans producing one of their most uninspiring performances of the year despite having an early Jaylen De Groot try disallowed due to a knock-on.
It was the story of their night with the visitors making 16 errors against a team missing several star outside backs as well as rampaging edge forward Haumole Olakau’atu.
The Titans were also without Jojo Fifita and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, with their forwards failing to pick up the slack even though both wingers ran for more than 200 metres.
They scored in the final minute through AJ Brimson to set up a grandstand finish, but they failed to fire a shot with the loss leaving them stuck in second last ahead of next week’s bye.
“We made it harder for ourselves than we could afford to,” coach Josh Hannay said.
“We gifted them field position and possession, so that’s frustrating because it’s something we can control.
“The defensive resolve to not break and stay in the contest (was a positive) and I’ve seen a lot of that from these guys this year.”
Hannay rues errors but praises resolve | 05:34
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The Sea Eagles will be without two Trbojevics next week with Ben joining Tom on the sidelines after a heavy collision in the second half.
The rangy back-rower clashed heads while carrying the ball, with reports the initial category two ruling was changed to a category one which means he won’t be fit to face the Sharks on Friday night.
It’s a setback for Manly given Trbojevic had run for 122 metres and was looking dangerous on the left edge.
“We’re not too sure yet. We’re going to have a look at it again and see where it sits,” Foran said when asked about the category ruling.
“I’m not sure what they’ve ruled there because initially it was just a cat two. I’m not sure what’s happened there and why it’s been overridden.”
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