Penrith Panthers vs Manly Sea Eagles - Round 9, 2026
The result
Penrith held on 18 to 16 over Manly at CommBank Stadium, a finish settled only when Izack Tago crossed in the 61st minute to level the ledger before the Panthers closed it out. Manly had opened the scoring through Clayton Faulalo inside five minutes and led again at 12 to 10 in the second half, but never got closer than two points after halftime.
How it unfolded
Penrith ran for 1813 metres to Manly's 1355 and threw 38 tackle breaks to the visitors' 14, dominating the collisions all afternoon. Manly completed at a higher rate, 81 percent to Penrith's 76, though it made 38 missed tackles to Penrith's 14.
Against projection
Haumole Olakau'atu ran riot for 85 points against a projection of just 48, while Siosiua Taukeiaho came off the bench to score 46 against an 11 projection. At the other end, Tolutau Koula managed only 24 against a 63 projection, and Lehi Hopoate's 29 fell well short of his 64 projection despite scoring a try. Lindsay Smith was pulled after 42 minutes but still put up 43 points.
Price moves
Brian To'o's 52 against a break even of just 8 lifted his price $45,000, and Blaize Talagi's 54 against an 11 break even added $33,000. Thomas Jenkins went the other way, his 19 against a 79 break even costing him $63,000, while Kobe Hetherington fell $42,000 after scoring 5 against a 49 break even.
Ownership outcome
Nathan Cleary delivered 82 points against a 73 projection, the kind of return that rewards coaches who lean on him as captain. Joey Walsh, without a listed projection to beat, still returned 43 points for Manly in a game most eyes were on the bigger names.
