Traffic woes prove an omen for Manly

Manly's remarkable NRL season came to a screeching halt as South Sydney roared through to the grand final with a 36-16 win at Suncorp Stadium.

It started from the moment Manly's bus turned onto the packed M1 from their Sunshine Coast base on Friday night and things went from bad to worse in their 36-16 qualifying final defeat.

Heavy traffic that delayed them and caused the kick-off to be pushed back 15 minutes was a terrible omen for Des Hasler's Sea Eagles who must have been wishing they were left stuck on the bus once South Sydney were done with them.

Superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic tried hard to continue his Dally M-worthy form but after three weeks of a bruising finals series the Sea Eagles were out on their feet against a fresh Rabbitohs side.

The prolific No.1 appeared to set up one try and score another in the first half but both were fairly denied after closer scrutiny in a continuation of their wretched luck on the night.

On Thursday Wayne Bennett said stopping 'Turbo' was as simple as tackling him, and that's just what Souths did for the most part.

The most influential player in the game was kept to just 79 running metres, five tackle-breaks and a consolation try late.

It also ends Hasler's perfect streak of eight grand-final qualifier wins as a player and coach.

But although it finished in a stutter, Manly's season deserves plenty of recognition.

Their climb from an 0-4 start to the season to a top-four finish marks one of the most incredible achievements for a team in rugby league history.

They are just the sixth team in rugby league history to recover from such a bad start to the year and make a grand final qualifier.

It also caps off the most successful season for the club since they finished runners up to Sydney Roosters in 2013.

Australian Associated Press