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[VIDEO] Manly Sea Eagles vs Canterbury Bulldogs: NRL highlights, scores, blog

20th September, 2014
Teams

Manly Sea Eagles
1. Brett Stewart
2. Jorge Taufua
3. Steve Matai
4. Jamie Lyon
5. Peta Hiku
6. Kieran Foran
7. Daly Cherry-Evans
8. Jason King
9. Hayden Hodges
10. Brenton Lawrence
11. Tom Symonds
12. Justin Horo
13. Dunamis Lui

Interchange: Jesse Sene-Lefao, Cheyse Blair, James Hasson, Josh Starling.

Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs
1. Sam Perrett
2. Corey Thompson
3. Tim Lafai
4. Josh Morris
5. Mitch Brown
6. Josh Reynolds
7. Trent Hodkinson
8. Aiden Tolman
9. Michael Ennis
10. James Graham
11. Josh Jackson
12. Tony Williams
13. Greg Eastwood

Interchange: Reni Maitua, Dale Funicane, David Klemmer, Moses Mbye.

Kickoff: Saturday 20th September, 7.45pm AEST
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Last Meeting: Bulldogs 23 def Sea Eagles 16, Round 17 2014
Referee: Gerard Sutton, Ben Cummins
Head-to-Head: Sea Eagles 5, Bulldogs 5 (Last 10 meetings)
Betting: Sea Eagles $2.30, Bulldogs $1.62
Trent Hodkinson will look to provide inspiration for the Bulldogs at Belmore Sports Ground against the Sharks. (Digital image by Jason Oxenham, copyright nrlphotos.com)
Roar Guru
20th September, 2014
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21396 Reads

MATCH RESULT:

Manly will be shattered that there season comes to an end in such tight circumstances, but full credit to the Bulldogs – when the game was on the line they stood up.

It remains to be seen how much this one took out of them, Penrith will be pretty happy to see that game went to golden point.

FINAL SCORE:
Manly 17
Canterbury 18

MATCH PREVIEW:

Tonight marks the first time that the Manly Sea Eagles and the Canterbury Bulldogs face each other in an NRL finals match since 2012. Join The Roar from 7:45pm AEST today for live scores and coverage of this second elimination final.

There’s a lot at stake with the winner one win away from a place in the grand final, while the loser will be left to drown their sorrows.

Des Hasler is up against the man who replaced him at Manly, while the Sea Eagles are out to convince the game that their golden era still has one more play.

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Manly have been forced to make a number of changes from the side that went down to the Rabbitohs last start.

Veteran Anthony Watmough is out through suspension resulting in a reshuffle of the entire back-row. Tom Symonds shifts to the second row and Dunamis Lui will start at lock.

It’s not all bad news for Manly though, James Hasson has recovered from injury and makes his return to the side from the bench.

Of greater concern for Geoff Toovey is who will take the hooking responsibilities. Youngster Jayden Hodges has been named to start and will be given to the final hours before the match to prove his fitness.

The boom prospect was in the wars in the battle against the Bunnies finishing the night in hospital where he was later cleared of a serious neck injury.

Regular hooker Matt Ballin hasn’t been named in the 17, but could make an early return from injury if the situation demands it.

Des Hasler has named an extended squad for the battle against his old club, but does have the luxury of making minimal changes to the run-on team that thrashed the Storm.

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Pat O’Hanlon is out, while Reni Maitua, Moses Mbye, and Harlan Alaalatoa have all been named on the bench.

Prediction:
If relying on the form guide, the Bulldogs would be hot favourites to take out this match and advance to a preliminary final showdown with the Panthers, but you can never write off Manly.

The Sea Eagles along with the Storm have been among the most consistent performers in the NRL for over half a decade, and they won’t back down from that reputation without a hell of a fight.

There’s no question that this is their biggest challenge and they are missing some key cattle particularly in the forwards. In contrast, the Bulldogs will take to the field with a giant and mobile pack.

Manly will gain confidence from their last 25 minutes against the Rabbitohs, and with the dangerous Kieran Foran running the ship, they will fancy their chances to post some points at some stage.

Mentally, it will be interesting to see where their heads are at as they have had a challenging year with injuries and rumours of senior player unrest.

If the Dogs pick up from where they left off against the Storm they should have enough to get the job done.

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