Manly can push up NRL ladder: Barrett

It’s been a tumultuous year at Manly, but coach Trent Barrett believes the Sea Eagles can finish as high as ninth on the NRL ladder.

For the bold prediction to come off, the 14th-placed team would have to win all four remaining games – starting with Saturday’s home clash with Canterbury.

The Sea Eagles’ Lottoland base has been rebranded McGrath Foundation Stadium for the round 22 match as part of the NRL’s Women in League round.

Barrett sees an opportunity to build on last Sunday’s stunning golden point victory over the Sharks at Cronulla and secure a seventh win of the season.

“We certainly want to finish the year as well as we can and as close to the eight as we can,” Barrett told reporters on Friday.

“There’s an opportunity for us to edge up in around 9th or 10th spot and that’s what we’re aiming to do.”

Manly take an unchanged team into face the Bulldogs, who they haven’t played since round 24 last year.

Dean Pay’s team will be boosted by the return of enforcer David Klemmer from suspension, along with Jeremy Marshall-King slotting back into the halves with Lachlan Lewis.

The Dogs are coming off two straight wins for the first time this season to move past the Sea Eagles on the ladder.

They had a comfortable 36-22 victory over finals contender Brisbane last week.

“Deano’s doing a good job with them, they’ve had their fair share of adversity throughout the year, similar to ourselves but they’re having a real crack,” Barrett said.

“Canterbury sides historically don’t give much and this team is pretty similar.”

STATS THAT MATTER

* The Bulldogs have won seven of their past eight against Manly.

* This will be the first time in 53 years Manly and Canterbury meet when both sides are in the bottom four.

* Manly are looking to avoid losing seven straight at Lottoland for the first time since losing a record eight in 2003-04.

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