Roar Guru
Manly have come away 2 point winners in Sydney tonight. In what could be described as a scrappy affair, Manly held on for a gutsy win. That sends the Roosters to 0-4 for the season, a huge turn around for the Minor Premiers from 2015.
Manly lost Jamie Buhrer early with a suspected broken hand, combine that with Daly Cherry-Evans going off with 15 to go and Manly had every right to lose the game tonight.
Blake Ferguson was outstanding tonight, so was Shaun Kenny-Dowall for the Roosters. He had the most runs from anyone on the field in his 200th, and bagged a double.
The Roosters really dominated early, running riot up the middle but failed to find points. Manly’s bench played extremely well, the likes of Lussick, Vave and Leary putting in huge efforts.
Final score
Roosters 20
Manly 22
Saturday night’s fixture sees the Sydney Roosters host the Manly Sea Eagles, live from Allianz Stadium. No excuses for either side in this one, both fielded strong squads. Join The Roar for all the action from 7:30pm (AEDT).
The Roosters have a few changes for tonight’s game, they are without Dale Copley (pectoral) and Ian Henderson (leg). Brendan Elliot steps into the No.3 jersey and will look to fill the experienced shoes of Copley. Eloni Vunakece comes onto the bench to replace the injured hooker, who suffered a horrendous leg break last week. We wish him a speedy recovery.
After last week’s demoralising defeat at the hands of the Cowboys, the Roosters will be looking to post some points and do their fans proud this week. They weren’t their normal selves last weekend, conceding as many points in 80 minutes as they would have over 3 fixtures last year.
It’s hard to point the finger at any one performer for the Roosters, but it’s fair to say it will take a full team effort to defeat Manly tonight, themselves coming off a nice win Monday night.
The Sea Eagles won ugly five nights ago, but nonetheless got their season tally underway. Jamie Buhrer has been added to the squad so the Sea Eagles will travel with 18 this weekend. Daly Cherry-Evans and Dylan Walker are slowly getting their combination together, will this be the week it finally clicks?
If the Roosters lose this one, rule them out for Premiership contention, it has statistically never been done. Recent form between the sides would dictate that the Roosters are every chance in this one though, having won their last meeting 46-10.
Both sides are underperforming early on in the year. Going off last weeks form, despite the short turn around, I like Manly to go back to back in this one.
Manly by 14
No excuses for either side in this one, both fielded strong squads. Join The Roar for all the action from 7:30pm (AEDT).