The Manly Sea Eagles will desperately want to record a win and get over a horrible couple of weeks off the field for the club, as they host the Canterbury Bulldogs at Brookvale Oval. Join The Roar for live coverage of the game from 7:30pm (AEDT).
Last week the Bulldogs took on the Parramatta Eels and ran away with a huge victory for a season record of one win and one loss, while the Sea Eagles were able to hold off a late-finishing Melbourne Storm to record a close win at Brookvale.
That win also gives them a record of one win and one loss, although it’s a less convincing record than the Bulldogs after getting smashed by the Eels in Round 1.
Playing five-eighth for Manly will be new recruit Feleti Mateo, with Jamie Burher to take his spot in the forward pack. After playing the first two rounds in the second row Mateo has to take a creative outlook on the game and take some pressure off the shoulders of halfback Daly Cherry-Evans.
After mauling the Eels last week, coach Des Hasler isn’t changing a winning formula, naming the same team.
Moses Mbye needs a big game. He did an excellent job against the Eels, taking plenty of pressure of Trent Hodkinson, and will be looking to perfect his role tonight.
This game is going to be won in the forwards. Which ever team puts the other under more defensive pressure by way of ball possession and field territory will score more points.
All in all the Bulldogs should have too much talent for the Kieran Foran-less Sea Eagles.
Prediction
Bulldogs by 12.
Join The Roar from 7:30pm (AEDT) as Round 3 of the NRL kicks off, and be sure to leave your comments as the match progresses.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Hi Jase, I'm liking the look of Lichaa more and more. I thought it was a big risk letting Ennis go and putting all our eggs in Lichaa's basket. His passing / running selection is very good. He controls the game well. He's a pretty big 9 and a good defender in the middle. The big upside is that he's still only 21 and hasn't even played 20 first grade games yet. When you look at Smith, Jake Friend, Nathan Friend, Ballin, McCullough, Segeyaro all being Qlders, I think he'll be the next long term Blues 9. You have every reason to be proud of Manly. Even with all that they've been through they're pulling together. It goes to show that a broken Manly is still better than most clubs at full strength. I was critical of the way that DCE approached his contract negotiations but he's shown some admirable qualities since.
Jason Hosken
Guest
Gday TB - interested to read your thoughts on Lichaa. I'm still to be convinced he is the Doggies best option. I wouldn't mind seeing Reynolds return at hooker. Played there in the 20s. He'd give the Dogs plenty of spark off their strong go forward. I was proud of Manly's effort. DCE errors a result of carrying both sides of ruck and the only kicking option. Manly stood up to the Dogs forwards but didnt win the battle. Eagles still have plenty to look forward to if they can avoid injuries. I was metres away from Jackson crunching Matai over the sideline - my highlight of the night...apart from kicking the footy with my young bloke on the ground afterwards. Took me 20 minutes to recover him from one of the divots.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Manly don't play at Brookie again until Rd 9 - May 10th. Plenty of time to get it back in shape.
Albo
Guest
Seems that Manly are in such a mess they have lost their groundsman to the Titans ! The ground will surely be a dustbowl by round 6, and matches will need to be moved to Gosford or North Sydney Oval testing the true mettle of Sea Eagles fans.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Of things in September. You're right they're not at the level of souths and roosters at the moment but those teams aren't causing me sleepless nights either. New 1,6 & 9 for the dogs. Lichaa is looking very good. I think he'll be NSWs next long term hooker after Farah. I like the way Mbye (or Mumbai as Rabs calls him) gets early ball to Williams who looks much better for it. I think Hodkinson (or HodGkinson as Rabs calls him) could be under pressure when Reynolds gets back. Both wingers, fullback and a centre have all scored doubles in the past two games which is encouraging even though the attack still looks a bit disjointed. Perrett, Rona and B Morris all have three tries in three games.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Fair summary Steve. Both teams showed enough to indicate they'll be in the thick
steveng
Roar Rookie
The Dogs were far from impressive and would have to improve a lot if they would be on par with the Rabbits, Roosters and the Panthers, again some of the refereeing decisions were amazing and very frustrating again especially those with coming back to the mark (it was like under 10's) and the Ch9 commentary again disappointing especially from Ravs who I don't think knows the rules very well or he is going blind. Not a good game to watch and at the end there I thought that the Eagles could have come away with it
catcat
Guest
My cats were keen to use those sandy bits rather than their litter box
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Even my wife was laughing at it.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I think Manly have a long way to go before they can be ruled out of anything this year.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I'm ignorant as to why Brookvale Oval still exists. Surely it's a mystery.
Muzz
Guest
Mystery is another name for our ignorance : )
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Ah, the mysteries of life....
Muzz
Guest
DCE tried his heart out and there was plenty of energy and enthusiasm by his team mates. Have the rules changed? Is common sense enough for the video ref to overrule a "no try"? I found that most bizarre! Why is the ground so poor at this time of the season?
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Dogs struggled to put away a depleted Manly team, shows Manly have plenty of ticker still while the Dogs are a long way off being elite. I'm sure they will come good at the pointy end of the season as they always do but they look a predictable outfit at present.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Although Matai may be out as well. When he missed the tackle on Lafai and then went down clutching the arm I thought "yeah right" but it looked nasty on the replay.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Sorry, I got it wrong for quite a while without realising. It was 4.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Pretty dour game for the most part eJ but I still enjoyed it. Your blokes are a long way from written off. He made a couple of errors but no one can accuse DCE of not having his heart and his head in the game.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I thought the whole match was... odd. I think it may have been the Brookvale Oval surface. It's cursed. I'm sure of it.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Saw it again. Matai goes into the tackle with Tolman clearly under the ball. He comes out of the tackle with Tolman clearly under the ball. At no stage was there any vision of the ball touching the ground. It looked at one stage like maybe it might of touched the ground but at no stage did we SEE it touch the ground. The ref ruled no try. I really can't understand any way the refs decision could be overturned.