NRL, ROUND 9, APRIL 29th, 2023 , MANLY SEA EAGLES v GOLD COAST TITANS
4 PINES PARK,MANLY,SYDNEY
Manly is sitting second on the NRL ladder but on the eye test few would know it. Whilst the Sea Eagles have won two on the trot to jump up to second on the ladder, they are just one point above a logjam of teams which stretches down to ninth and have looked shaky of late. A six point win against the Tigers was far from what coach Anthony Seibold would’ve had in mind last week.
To make matters worse for the Sea Eagles, they will be sweating on the fitness of star number 1 Tom Trbojevic, who failed to finish last week’s contest. Turbo Tom looked far from healthy at the start of the match but suffered a groin strain late which saw him hobble off in the 70th minute.
Along with their number 1, the Sea Eagles will also be without Josh Schuster, who is again sidelined to regain fitness and conditioning after carrying leg injuries recently. The Sea Eagles’ spine may look very different when the teams run out on Saturday, which will heap more pressure on Daly Cherry-Evans.
The star number 7 has been in outrageous form in 2023, having already crossed for six tries in seven games while leading the team in attack. His form has been somewhat overshadowed by some other big names, but he’s been a big reason the Sea Eagles sit second, despite some indifferent play. Cherry-Evans will need to play a starring role again if Manly are to get the win at 4 Pines Park. Despite two wins on the trot the Sea Eagles have only won by margins of between 1 to 10 points in 2023 (aside from Round 1).
The Titans enter the round embarrassed by a historic capitulation last week. Leading 26-6 at half-time, fans would have been forgiven for leaving the stands to beat the traffic. The Titans went on to lose the second half 22-0 to a resilient Dolphins team, with the match going a long way to showing the attitude of both clubs. The loss also marked back-to-back weeks for the Titans where their poor defence was exposed badly, having conceded 43 points to the neighbouring Broncos in the round prior.
With three wins and four losses, another poor performance will no doubt start to heap more pressure on Titans coach Justin Holbrook. One thing that will help Holbrook and the Titans is the return last week of the talented AJ Brimson, who terrorised the Dolphins for stretches. Playing at fullback, Brimson managed three line breaks as well as a line break assist and try assist. It was a sublime first half performance and the Titans will be counting on his attacking prowess to fire if they are to beat the Sea Eagles away from home.
The other highlight for the Titans will be the homecoming of Kieran Foran. After playing a large portion of his career for the Sea Eagles, he swapped the northern beaches for the Gold Coast this season. The move has provided a mixed bag, with injuries coupled with indifferent form blunting Foran’s impact. Look for him to stand up in the contest against his old club and provide some much-needed direction.
Whilst both backlines have shown the ability to fire at times, a lot may also come down to the battle in the trenches. The Titans’ representative duo of Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and David Fifita have proven hard for opposing teams to stop – and, with Manly occasionally showing some slowness in the ruck and edges, the Titans have the arsenal to win the forward battle and exploit them.
Sea Eagles team:
1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Jason Saab 3. Reuben Garrick 4. Morgan Harper 5. Christian Tuipulotu 6. Cooper Johns 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Taniela Paseka 9. Lachlan Croker 10. Jake Trbojevic 11. Haumole Olakau’atu 12. Kelma Tuilagi 13. Josh Aloiai 14. Karl Lawton 15. Ethan Bullemor 16. Sean Keppie 17. Toafofoa Sipley 18. Aaron Woods 19. Kaeo Weekes 20. Samuela Fainu 21. Morgan Boyle 22. Ben Condon
Titans team:
1. AJ Brimson 2. Alofiana Khan-Pereira 3. Brian Kelly 4. Jojo Fifita 5. Phillip Sami 6. Kieran Foran 7. Tanah Boyd 8. Moeaki Fotuaika 9. Chris Randall 10. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui 11. David Fifita 12. Joe Stimson 13. Isaac Liu 14. Jayden Campbell 15. Erin Clark 16. Klese Haas 17. Jo Vuna 18. Kruise Leeming 19. Aaron Schoupp 20. Thomas Weaver 21. Thomas Mikaele 22. Sam McIntyre
Referee. Ben Cummins
PREDICTION.
There is no doubt much of who wins this contest is going to come down to the health of Trbojevic and attitudes after both sides have been up and down. Without the class of Turbo, Manly could struggle to outscore the Titans in a shootout, so they will either need him healthy or – at a minimum – their defence to stand up against a team that always has plenty of points. With the game played in Manly the home fans will help here and they may need it. The Titans coach will be furious after last weekend leading the Dolphins 26-0,only to lose 28-26. A record come back. For me, I have to go with Manly but only by about 5 points. You can get Manly minus 4.5 points @ $1.77, OR, if you like the Titans look at plus 7.5 points @ $1.78
BEWARE. I am advised there is a huge rain bomb predicted for Saturday in Sydney. If this happens the kicking will be so important plus handling mistakes.
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