Manly coach Anthony Seibold has revealed why he elected to leave exciting young gun Joey Walsh on the bench for the entirety of his side’s heartbreaking golden point loss to Canberra.

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Walsh was arguably Manly’s best during the Pre-Season Challenge and heading into the season opener, Sea Eagles fans were keen to see what impact the teen sensation would have against the Raiders.

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With the NRL changing the interchange size from four to six players, it now gives teams the luxury of picking an extra half or outside back in case injury strikes or a spark is needed.

Manly certainly could have used something in attack during the middle to late stages of the game when Canberra had all the running to score 28 straight points, with Manly left scoreless from the 19th to the 74th minute.

However, Seibold resisted putting Walsh on. In the post-match press conference, Manly’s coach revealed why he made that decision with somewhat of a terse reply to a journalist’s question.

“Well, Suia Taukeiaho got injured. He tore his calf after about 15 or 18 minutes,” Seibold said.

“Against a big forward pack like the Raiders, we needed to get Corey Waddell on. I think that was pretty obvious for everyone to see.”

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Because of the injury, Seibold used all four of his bench forwards, meaning the fifth or sixth players (Walsh and Clayton Faulalo) couldn’t be used.

Seibold and skipper Tom Trbojevic were also both asked about Ethan Sanders’ game winning field goal in golden point.

Sanders seemed to have an unusual amount of time and space to get the kick off on what was the fifth tackle of the set.

“I’m not sure. I don’t know,” Seibold responded when asked if Manly players may have been called offside by the referee.

Trbojevic was then asked if he thought there was “confusion” among the Manly defensive line.

“I was obviously at the back so I didn’t actually think he was going to kick it. It’s not my job, I guess, to put pressure on him but we’re going to have to watch it back,” the fullback said.

“I think someone came from marker but he (Sanders) obviously did a great job to kick it.”