Roar Guru
The Wests Tigers are back in the winner’s circle, beating the Manly Sea Eagles 30-26 in a highly entertaining contest this afternoon.
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Final score
Wests Tigers 30
Manly Sea Eagles 26
The Manly Sea Eagles got their premiership campaign back on track against the Sydney Roosters last week but need to be weary of a Wests Tigers side in pretty good form. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 4pm AEST.
Despite sitting at opposite ends of the ladder, today’s clash between Manly and Wests should be a competitive affair, similar to the last meeting between the two team’s this year.
On that occasion, the Sea Eagles secured a 28-16 victory after the Tigers had unexpectedly put up stubborn resistance at Lottoland.
Fast forward a few rounds and the Tigers are playing well enough to perhaps cause an upset at home this afternoon.
The Tigers have been competitive in recent matches against finals aspirants the Parramatta Eels and Penrith Panthers and will fancy their chances of pushing Manly all the way at home.
While their top eight hopes ended a while ago, the Tigers will be desperate to avoid the wooden spoon, and a win here will go a long way to ensuring that they don’t end up with the tag of being the NRL’s worst performing side in 2017.
With perfect conditions expected this afternoon in Sydney, today’s contest could very well be a high scoring affair between two teams that love to attack with the footy.
The battle between James Tedesco and Tom Trbojevic in particular should be great to behold. Tedesco is the current NSW fullback but another strong showing from Tom this afternoon will only strengthen his claim for an Origin jersey next season.
Tedesco however has very fond memories of the last time these two sides played at Leichhardt Oval, scoring a hat-trick and setting up several tries in a one sided Tigers victory. If Manly wish to secure two priceless competition points today, keeping Tedesco quite is a must.
Prediction
The Sea Eagles have plenty to play for but the Tigers should prove dangerous opposition today given recent form. Manly at their best should get the job done but anything less could see the Tigers spring an upset.
Manly by 8