Sloan sizzles as Dragons put Sea Eagles to the sword

The brilliance of Ben Hunt and a blistering double to Tyrell Sloan led the Dragons to a 20-12 win over the Sea Eagles at WIN Stadium on Saturday.

Hunt tormented Manly with his kicking game while Sloan was at his electric best as the Red V bounced back from heavy losses to the Dolphins and Cowboys.

The Sea Eagles hit the ground running in the fourth minute when Tolu Koula crossed for the game's opening try courtesy of a miracle offload from Tom Trbojevic, who took on four defenders and threaded the pass through to his centre for a 6-0 lead.

The Dragons hit back almost immediately when Manly winger Tommy Talau made a mess of a Hunt bomb and Jack Bird pounced on the loose ball to score. Zac Lomax converted to level the scores at 6-6.

Dragons winger Mikaele Ravalawa went close in the 16th minute but he was denied in the left hand corner by some desperate Tom Trbojevic cover defence.

The first penalty of the game came in the 17th minute when Dragons prop Blake Lawrie hung on too long in tackle but it came to nothing for Manly after Tom Trbojevic came up with his fourth error of the match.

The Dragons looked to have regained the lead in the 19th minute when Moses Suli crossed but the try was ruled out due to an obstruction by Luciano Leilua.

With the weight of possession going their way late in the half the Dragons hit the front in the 34th minute when Sloan's footwork proved too much for Reuben Garrick as the flashy fullback racked up his fifth try of the season.

The home side went further ahead in the 38th minute when Hunt delivered a short ball to a charging Jaydn Su'A who couldn't be stopped from close range.

The Sea Eagles came out firing after the break but the Dragons showed great resolve to defend three consecutive sets to keep their eight-point lead intact.

With 22 minutes to play Jaxson Paulo launched himself at the corner in a bid to grab Manly's second try but Ravalawa came across in cover and put him into touch.

Just four minutes later Paulo went close again when he chased a Daly Cherry-Evans grubber and almost came up with a miraculous put down but replays showed he had knocked on.

Having held firm at one end the Dragons poured upfield through Tom Eisenhuth before Hunt laid on another try with a chip kick for Sloan to make it a double and six for the season.

A string of errors from Manly cruelled their chances until Haumole Olakau'atu finally crashed over with three minutes to play but the damage had been done.