The Manly winger set to out-score the entire Bulldogs team in 2021

You know you are struggling as a team when a single opposition player could end up scoring more points than your entire squad in the space of one regular season.

That is the embarrassing scenario facing Canterbury on Sunday, when Manly’s goal-kicking winger Reuben Garrick could single-handedly pass their team points tally for 2021.

Topped Dog ... Reuben Garrick is on track to out-score the entire Canterbury Bulldogs.Credit:Getty Images

Garrick, who sits on 274 points with 20 tries and 97 goals, is just ten points behind the Bulldogs’ tally of 284 with two rounds remaining. And the 24-year-old scored 30 points alone when the Sea Eagles belted Canterbury 66-0 in round 16.

Not since Jason Taylor in 1996 has a player scored more points than a rival club. On that occasion Taylor, then a featherweight playmaker with North Sydney, posted 225 during the regular season and the entire South Queensland Crushers team could only muster up 220 points.

Mick Cronin trying to escape a tackle.Credit:Fairfax

The same happened in 1978 when Newtown only posted 199 points for the season. Two players topped the Jets that year: Mick Cronin, a proud Gerringong export like Garrick, scored 260 points for Parramatta and Wests Peter Rowles posted 216.

Garrick finds it hard to believe he has a chance to join that rare club, but was quick to praise Manly for giving him plenty of shots at goal - especially superstar No. 1 Tom Trbojevic who set him up for “more than half my tries”.

“It’s pretty crazy to think about it, especially after last year when I didn’t have the best year with my boot or with scoring tries,” Garrick told the Herald on Monday. “All I wanted to do this year was be consistent.

“Being a goal-kicker and on the wing with Tommy in your team is a big factor. You don’t get a shot at the points if the team isn’t going well. And while I don’t know the percentage of tries Tommy has given me, it’s more than half, definitely.”

Garrick has dived over for tries in the left corner on the back of countless plays featuring Kieran Foran, Brad Parker and Trbojevic.

“We have a good combination there,” Garrick said. “We get a feel for what the other team will do defensively, then Tommy and I will adjust. He works it out quickly in the game and we’re able to exploit the opposition not long afterwards.”

Foursome ... the Manly winger scoring one of four tries against the Gold Coast in round 15.Credit:Getty

Garrick was working with former Wallabies kicking coach Damien Hill on a weekly basis before the competition relocated to Queensland, and has a success rate of just over 80 per cent.

Hazem El Masri’s regular-season NRL points record of 288 points in 2004 also looks certain to tumble.

“Good luck to Reuben, he’s been playing well, and Manly are the dark horse in the competition,” El Masri told the Herald. “They’re travelling so well, especially with ‘Turbo’ [Trbojevic]. What a player he has been.

“Records are meant to be broken. So many of them have already been broken this year. It’s been a tough year for the Dogs. We’ve had our share of injuries, a lot of 50/50 calls have gone against us, and we don’t have the calibre of player or X-factor in our team to turn things around when we do fall behind. Maybe it’s best to get it all out of our system now and then with all the good signings look forward to next year.”

But far from talking up his points haul, Garrick said the highlight of the Saturday afternoon when they ran riot against the Dogs at an empty Bankwest Stadium was the Sea Eagles’ defence and keeping Canterbury scoreless.

“It was our most clinical performance of the year,” he said.

Trbojevic looks set to return after being rested from the Canberra clash, with the giant Raiders’ pack ensuring Garrick was still feeling battered and bruised on Monday.

A win for Manly on Sunday at Redcliffe - where Manly skipper and local junior Daly Cherry-Evans will be the crowd favourite - plus a loss for the Sydney Roosters against Souths on Friday night will see the Sea Eagles move into the top four for the first time all year.

Christian Nicolussi covers rugby league for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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