Roar Guru
The Manly Sea Eagles have moved 2-points clear at the top of the NRL ladder after a convincing 21-12 victory against the St George-Illawarra Dragons.
FINAL SCORE:
Sea Eagles – 21
Dragons – 12
The Manly Sea Eagles travel to Kogarah to take on the St George-Illawarra Dragons and with the chance to cement their place at the top of the NRL ladder. Join The Roar for all the action from 7.00pm (AEST).
Table-toppers and having put four of their past five opponents to the sword, the Sea Eagles arrive in great form. We are coming to the business end of the season and this is when Manly shine.
They got the cash over St George-Illawarra in their last meeting, round eight last year, 24-18 and will be boosted this Monday by the return of Anthony Watmough. Dynamic halfback pairing Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans are back to their best and so is flying fullback Brett Stewart.
Off field there has been some dissent, but on the park the northern beaches club has continued to do the business.
Jorge Taufau comes in on the wing for the Sea Eagles, a huge plus considering it was the bullocking back who scored the winning try against the Dragons last year. But surprisingly Manly has an ordinary record at Kogarah, having won just once in their past six attempts.
That stat may give the joint venture outfit some hope.
It’s now or never for St George-Illawarra. The Red V is in 11th place but come into this match off the bye and three wins in a row. They edged the Cowboys 27-24 at home, secured a great 12-point win over the Storm and pipped the Titans by a point.
Paul McGregor seems to have turned them around of late and with Wayne Bennett potentially waiting in the wings next year, every win is important.
The Dragons are also only two points off the eight, with Melbourne sitting on 20 points. From the sixth-placed Broncos to the 13th place Eels there is just two points between eight teams, meaning a win tonight for St George Illawarra would be huge.
The keys for the Dragons are the growing partnership between Gareth Widdop, who has been sensational in 2014, and Benji Marshall, along with Josh Dugan in the centres. Expect Mike Cooper to provide grunt up front and underrated hooker Mitch Rein, always a handful, to add extra spark in attack.
Can the home team pull off an upset or will Manly stay on course for the minor premiership?
Join The Roar at 7.00pm AEST to find out.