- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The New Zealand Warriors are out to consolidate their position inside the top eight when they face the Manly Sea Eagles. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 5:30pm (AEST).
As a result of Parramatta’s lost 12 competition points, the Warriors now find themselves inside the top eight, despite their inconsistent performances this year.
However the Warriors have a poor record against the Sea Eagles, with ten defeats from their past 11 clashes, including a surprisingly one-sided loss this year at Mt Smart Stadium.
Manly’s quest for a double over the Warriors has been dealt a blow with Dylan Walker out for a month with a hand injury. The Warriors meanwhile welcome back established stars Ryan Hoffman and Manu Vatuvei.
Despite looking stronger on paper, the Warriors have a nasty habit of giving up halftime leads, particularly in Perth. New Zealand have led in three of their past four matches at the break in Perth, only to go on and lose all three matches. Their inability to finish the job from a strong position cripples the Kiwi side’s ability to make the finals, let alone win the competition.
Over the past month or so, the Warriors’ form has improved significantly, with their best performance coming in a golden point defeat to the ladder-leading Cronulla Sharks several weeks ago. If they build on that intense effort against the Sharks, they should defeat Manly comfortably.
While Manly are coming off a dominant win of their own over the Dragons, the injury to Walker and absence of Brett Stewart hurts their cause. Daly Cherry-Evans is still a player to be feared, but he lacks the support cast required to reproduce his sensational performances from 2011-13.
Prediction
The Warriors should end their winless run in Perth.
Warriors by 12.