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Cherry-Evans lands the winning field goal for Manly and the Sea Eagles secure their place in the finals in the most dramatic of circumstances here, beating the Warriors 22-21.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
New Zealand Warriors 21
Manly Sea Eagles 22
The Manly Sea Eagles are still in danger of missing out on finals football and need to beat the struggling New Zealand Warriors to keep their premiership dreams alive. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 2pm AEST.
A couple of months ago, Manly were being touted as premiership dark horses courtesy of a winning run and form renaissance mid-season that had put every team on notice.
Since a heavy defeat to the Dragons over a month ago, the Sea Eagles have been unable to recover their mojo, suffering poor defeats to the Melbourne Storm, Wests Tigers and Canterbury Bulldogs.
As it stands, Manly are clinging to a top eight birth and face a tricky assignment against a Warriors team welcoming back Shaun Johnson.
Although New Zealand’s finals hopes were erased several weeks ago, key players such as Johnson and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck will be keen to build some form ahead of October’s Rugby League World Cup.
The Warriors will also be desperate to end a seven-match losing streak and finish the final two rounds of the season with back to back wins heading into 2018.
Whatever the case, a high scoring contest awaits between two talented but inconsistent sides who still have a lot to work on defensively.
The biggest concern for Manly involves their inability to keep opposition teams at bay. Even the Bulldogs, the worst attacking team in the competition, managed to put Manly to the sword last week, which speaks volumes about the Sea Eagles’ troubles without the footy.
Prediction
If Manly are unable to muscle up in defence, the Warriors are a worthy shot of causing an upset and ending a dreadful winless run. If Manly can click into gear however, the Sea Eagles should have New Zealand covered.
Sea Eagles by 6
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