Bathurst's Jack Branda makes Manly Sea Eagles debut in Harold Matthews Cup

After spending the summer training with Manly Sea Eagles, Branda finally got his moment on Saturday, coming off the bench for the Sydney club in its 12-all draw against St George in the fourth round Harold Matthews Cup match.

It was Branda's first ever appearance for Manly in the competition.

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Understandably, the Bathurst High Campus Year 10 student was thrilled to have got the opportunity.

"I found out I was playing on Monday. I was really excited but nervous," he said.

"I got a run for the last 10 minutes, just playing dummy half."

Originally a St Pat's junior, Branda first starting playing rugby league in under 7s and had been working towards a run in the Harold Matthews for a "couple of years".

He said it's been an excellent opportunity to train in the Manly set up.

"There's bigger players down there, just better players," he said.

"We train at Narrabeen. The coaches are really good."

In a match that lasted for just 60 minutes, Branda came off the bench with just 10 minutes to go to get his first taste of Harold Matthews Cup football.

The score was already locked at 12-all when he came onto the field and the Bathurst youngster did his best to help his team find a winner but was ultimately unsuccessful.

Manly originally made the breakthrough in the 20^th minute at Cabramatta when Calvin Levy crashed over to make it 4-0.

St George would bounce back eight minutes later when Lyric Craft-Te Moananui scored and with Shadi Hammoud kicking the conversion, Dragons were up 6-4.

Manly would score its second try of the match only four minutes into the second half, with Jake Fulton scored to make it 8-6.

The Sea Eagles would extend the lead only a couple of minutes later when Kerisiano Russell scored, but another missed conversion meant Manly only lead 12-6.

The Red V would equalise when Malik Amine scored and with Hammoud kicking his second conversion of the match, it was 12-all.

Branda would come onto the pitch five minutes later after the scores were made levelled.

Branda is currently training twice a week, with his father take him down early in the afternoon but things will be made easier, as the Bathurst youngster is set to move down to Sydney permanently.

Manly has already set him up with a family to live with, but the Bathurst talent is expected to return regularly back home when on school holidays.

Branda had also spent some time training this summer with fellow St Pat's junior Dayne Fallon.

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