This article has been transcribed without permission from The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday, 22nd July, 1995, page 66.
Manly's elation at their six tries to three demolition of the equal second-placed Knights last night was tempered by the 60th minute dismissal of centre Terry Hill for a high tackle. It was Hill's first match back from a four-game ban for head butting, which cost him two Test appearances.
Referee David Manson confirmed country origin lock Nik Kosef had also been reported - for a tackle which has ruled Knights' half Andrew Johns out of football for the rest of the regular season with a broken collar bone. The incident also caused Kosef to re-evaluate his sleeping arrangements.
``There was no malice. Johnsy's a mate of mine - I was going to stay at his place tonight,'' Kosef said, before he was told Johns was more likely to spend the night in hospital than in a local bar. ``It wasn't a spear tackle, I might have gone a bit too far with it.''
The prospect of six to eight weeks without Johns was so disturbing to Newcastle coach Mal Reilly that he rated the injury of far greater significance than last night's failure to draw level with the competition leaders before a record 32,642 crowd. Every time Newcastle came within range last night, the Sea Eagles surged away again with another piece of superbly executed attack.
With Cliff Lyons having a decidely ``on'' night, Manly's attacking confidence was best illustrated by the fact that three of their tries were scored on the first tackle - and the other three on the last.
But like the sending-off of Hill and the reporting of Kosef, an explosive feud between rival props and State of Origin teammates Mark Carroll and Paul Harragon provided an enthralling sub-plot to the main event. To put it succintly, Carroll won.
Just 10 seconds after kick-off, Harragon, acting as a decoy, collided with Carroll, who appeared to throw the first punch after a heavy front-on confrontation. Even after they were separated, the pair appeared to exchange barbs on the field while referee David Manson attempted to settle simmering tempers among all 26 players. ``It appeared that things had quitened down and Harragon tried to re-instigate it,'' Manson said.
And when Harragon tried to pull of a ``bell ringer'' on Carroll late in the match, it was the Newcastle captain who ended up prostrate after running into Carroll's elbow. On the first incident, Carroll commented: ``He started it - I had my jumper over my head and he smacked me again.'' On the second, Carroll offered this: ``He put his best shot on me and ended up on the ground. We're still mates. It's just the way it is, he has to lead his pack around the park and I have to lead mine.''
Manly conceded just one late try, despite having to play for 20 minutes without Hill, who appeared to strike Knights winger Tony Herman on his blindside as he was chasing a loose ball. Manly coach Bob Fulton said: ``Terry is confident, and so are we, that he can get out of it. People who have seen the video say he just put his arm out and Herman ran into it and just faked it.''
Fulton said he had expected fireworks ``because Manly-Newcastle games are like that'', while Reilly said his side had lacked ``mental experience''.
In comparison to Johns's injury, Manly escaped relatively lightly, with Kosef suffering a knee injury and Carroll taking his collection of stitches in a three-week-old eye cut to 34.
Asked the significance of last night's victory, Fulton answered: ``It means we're a pretty good football side.''
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