Manly-Warringah 32–6 New Zealand Warriors — Preliminary Final, 2008 NRL Finals Series
27 Sep 2008 · Sydney Football Stadium, Moore Park, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 32,095
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 2008 NRL finals series: Manly-Warringah 32–6 New Zealand Warriors, at Sydney Football Stadium, Moore Park, Sydney, NSW on 27 Sep 2008.
Sourcing caveat: No try/goal minute timestamps were found for this fixture. "Stewart (B)" denotes Brett Stewart, "Stewart (G)" denotes Glenn Stewart — both Sea Eagles teammates sharing a surname, distinguished here since both scored in this match.
Scorers
| Manly-Warringah | Tries: Stewart (B); Stewart (B); Matai; Menzies; Orford; Robertson; Stewart (G) Goals: Matai (1/2 conversions); Orford (1/5 conversions) |
| New Zealand Warriors | Tries: Kirk Goals: Hohaia (1/1 conversion) |
Team sheets
| Manly-Warringah | New Zealand Warriors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brett Stewart | Fullback | Wade McKinnon | 1 |
| 2 | Michael Robertson | Wing | Aidan Kirk | 2 |
| 3 | Steve Bell | Centre | Brent Tate | 3 |
| 4 | Steve Matai | Centre | Jerome Ropati | 4 |
| 5 | David Williams | Wing | Manu Vatuvei | 5 |
| 6 | Jamie Lyon | Five-Eighth | Michael Witt | 6 |
| 7 | Matt Orford (c) | Halfback | Nathan Fien | 7 |
| 8 | Brent Kite | Prop | Ruben Wiki | 8 |
| 9 | Matt Ballin | Hooker | Ian Henderson | 9 |
| 10 | Josh Perry | Prop | Steve Price (c) | 10 |
| 11 | Anthony Watmough | Second Row | Simon Mannering | 11 |
| 12 | Glenn Hall | Second Row | Ben Matulino | 12 |
| 13 | Glenn Stewart | Lock | Micheal Luck | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Heath L'Estrange | Lance Hohaia | 14 | |
| 15 | Mark Bryant | Evarn Tuimavave | 15 | |
| 16 | Jason King | Sam Rapira | 16 | |
| 17 | Steve Menzies | Logan Swann | 17 | |
| Des Hasler | Coach | Ivan Cleary | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Shayne Hayne |
Match report
Manly blew the Warriors off the park in the opening half, leading 12-0 at the break and finishing with seven tries to one. Brett Stewart's double led the way, with six different try-scorers reflecting Manly's attacking depth heading into the Grand Final. New Zealand's run from 8th seed to a preliminary final ended here, with only an Aidan Kirk consolation try.