Tony Abbott salutes Sea Eagles success before they collapse in second half
The former Prime Minister Tony Abbott definitely spoke too soon on this occasion, seemingly boasting about the Manly Sea Eagles success in a half-time video.
He took to social media to post the video toasting their performance, but his salute came too early as the team collapsed in the second half losing to Penrith.
"Great to be here at Brookie Oval and so far Manly is doing bloody well indeed. Cheers," the former Prime Minister said while raising a can to the camera.
While they were reportedly up 20-4 at that stage at Brookvale Oval the second half didn't go so well with Penrith claiming a 31-24 win over Manly.
But Abbott reportedly left the game 60 minutes in, missing the Sea Eagles's collapse, according to the Daily Mail.
The video has been viewed around 47,000 times since it was uploaded yesterday afternoon.
Off field dramas and injuries to key players are taking their toll at Manly, coach Trent Barrett has conceded after their dramatic 31-24 NRL loss to Penrith.
Dylan Walker put forward a compelling case for his inclusion in the NSW side for State of Origin II with an inspired effort that led the Sea Eagles to a 24-4 lead early in the second half at Brookvale Oval on Sunday.
But from there it was all Penrith, as they piled on 27 unanswered second half points in 29 minutes to put another significant dent in Manly's finals hopes.
The home side was without Jamie Lyon, Steve Matai, Daly Cherry-Evans and Brenton Lawrence as the Panthers, led in the halves by Nathan Cleary and Bryce Cartwright, piled on 27 points in 29 minutes to move back into the NRL's top eight.
Barrett said his team had "capitulated" in the final half hour.
"It is, very, very hard to take," Barrett said.
"It's probably been a pretty common element in all our games. There's just a 15 minute period where we just capitulate and we can't handle any adversity. That's what happened again.
"That was a massive game in terms of our season. Now it's going to be real hard (to make the finals).
Two first half tries to Walker, another to Tom Trbojevic and Jorge Taufua's 46th minute touchdown to put Manly ahead 24-4 looked set to give them their fifth win of the year.
But the Panthers came storming home.
After a lone Tyrone Peachey try in the first half, tries to Josh Mansour in the 49th minute, Nathan Cleary, 55th minute, Lelani Latu 67th minute, and Peter Wallace in the 71st minute put the visitors ahead 26-24.
Dallin Watene Zelezniak put Penrith further ahead in the 75th minute before a Matt Moylan field goal two minutes from time sealed the incredible win.
Panthers coach Anthony Griffin said he never lost faith in his team.
"I always thought if we could get some ball, we were still a chance," he said.
News break – June 13
