Roar Guru
The Manly Sea Eagles are in poor form and will need something special to upset a Melbourne Storm side eager for revenge after their loss at Brookvale Oval earlier in the season. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 6pm (AEST).
Manly are playing like a team burdened by off-field distractions and turmoil. Several injuries to key players hasn’t helped their cause, and a road trip to Melbourne to face the Storm won’t make things any easier for the 2011 premiers.
After enjoying terrific success during the period of 2007-13, Manly are no longer a team that opponents fear. They are a shadow of the side that proved so formidable for many years and it will take something extraordinary to turn things around.
The most alarming part of Manly’s game so far this season has been their defence, which at times has been borderline soft. Their defeats to the Raiders, Bulldogs, Eels and Panthers saw them defend extremely poorly, particularly out on the edges.
For all the doom and gloom however, Manly remain one of only two teams to have defeated Melbourne this season, in an epic Round 2 contest at Brookvale Oval.
On that occasion, Daly Cherry-Evans stole the show yet again with a fantastic performance in the first half, blowing Melbourne wide open en route to a 24-6 halftime lead.
Cherry-Evans has often produced some terrific performances against Melbourne over the years and he may be primed for a solid showing tonight.
The Storm meanwhile are still without Billy Slater but that didn’t stop them from upsetting the Roosters 17-16 last week in a win that moves them to the top of the table.
On attitude and belief alone, the Storm start strong favourites tonight and it’s difficult to see them losing to Manly if key duo Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk continue to play with the class we are so accustomed to seeing from them.
Storm by 8.