The Manly Sea Eagles are fresh off a bye and will be favoured to continue their surge up the NRL ladder when they clash against wooden spoon contenders the Parramatta Eels today. Join us for live scores from 3:00pm AEST.
After scoring over 50 points against the Roosters a fortnight ago, Manly will be expected to convincingly beat an Eels side missing superstar fullback Jarryd Hayne to injury.
Hayne has failed to recover from his strong effort for NSW on Wednesday night and will sit on the sidelines as the Eels look to cause one of the upsets of the season today against their great rivals.
Despite their position on the ladder, Parramatta have already defeated Manly this season, so expect the Eels to start strongly in a bid to rattle the Sea Eagles cage early on.
Manly however are at full strength with Glenn and Brett Stewart, Anthony Watmough and Tony Williams all named to play after playing for NSW on Wednesday night.
Prediction
The only thing capable of unravelling the Sea Eagles this afternoon is complacency.
If Manly play at their best, Parramatta will be in for a very long afternoon against a side that possesses attacking weaponry across the park.
Expect the likes of Watmough, Stewart and Williams to have a field day against a Parramatta edge defence that is prone to leaking tries.
Simply put, if the Sea Eagles can pick up from where they left off against the Roosters and score points early, Parramatta’s enthusiasm will drop and Manly should go on to record a convincing win.
With the odds firmly stacked against them, the Eels will be looking to keep things close for as long as possible.
If the Eels can somehow stay within touching distance of Manly twenty minutes into the second half, the pressure of expectation may begin to burden the Sea Eagles, and this will be the time for the Eels to act in order to cause a big upset.
With a top four spot on the line however, Manly know they have to win today, and with the finals approaching, expect the Sea Eagles to roll up their sleeves and secure a strong victory.
Sea Eagles by 14
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