‘Just little wins’: How Talakai ripped Manly apart in 40 of footy’s best-ever minutes

The NRL’s man-mountain of the moment, Siosifa Talakai, may have just chalked his name into the history books with one of the greatest 40 minutes in rugby league—40 minutes that saw him near single-handedly rip Manly to shreds.

Talakai had already been one of the most talked-up stars of the 2022 season before that electrifying 40 minutes at Shark Park on Thursday. Then, almost all on his lonesome, he plowed right through Manly to give his team a 32–0 lead. Two tries, three try assists, 11 tackle busts, and three offloads. All in 19 carries. All in the first half too.

The greatest 40 minutes in rugby league? Maybe, but Siosifa won’t say it.

Instead, the form man of the NRL says it’s just the “little things” he’s doing right to start the season that has seen him spring into immediate New South Wales Origin contention, and given him the moniker of “rugby league’s unstoppable man.”

“It’s little wins. The more you can get little wins [over your opponent], you start to build confidence as well. I guess you start to show your skill,” he said following his team’s victory last night.

In fact, Talakai doesn’t even want the spotlight on himself. He’s quick to up his teammates.

“If my back-rower Teig Wilton doesn’t hold up [Daly] Cherry-Evans and stop Morgan Harper for that little bit of space … it’s not just me, it’s our whole edge. We did a bit of footage on their whole right edge. We knew they were tight and they would jam. I tried to take him [Harper] on the outside a few times and he adjusted quite a bit. He knew that I was going to try to take him on the outside, and I saw him become a bit aggressive, so I thought I’d take him on the inside and I pulled it off.

“Every game is fun in a way, but I haven’t had one like [Thursday night]. It was pretty special.”

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The immense 40 minutes — a brutal demolition of Manly that nearly came undone as the travelling silvertails surged back in the second half — has been the talk of the town since 8.30pm last night. It’s fired Talakai, who was born in Sydney, right into the State of Origin conversation. Freddy Fittler watched the whole game from the sides.

He liked what he saw. A lot.

And Talakai knows this is his chance to get into the sky blue jumper too.

“I definitely want to make myself eligible for NSW,” he said. “With Tonga being a tier two team, I know I can play there as well. I want to try to make Origin first and, hopefully, I get to represent Tonga [too]. I want to represent my parents, I owe a lot to them. I did an Emerging Blues camp two years ago and I’ve done a little bit in SG Ball.

“[And] I loved watching [Fittler] play when I was younger as well.

Either way, it’s next up on Talakai’s hit list: “Hopefully, I get the opportunity to play for the Blues and grow with him by my side as well. I had a point to prove with last year not being up to standard.”

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