Friday night’s second NRL Round 14 match is between Manly Sea Eagles and Canterbury Bulldogs. The opening kick is set to commence at 7.35pm local time with the game to be played at Brookvale Oval in Manly. The home team the Manly Sea Eagles are the current favourites in the market. View our preview and teams for the game between Manly Sea Eagles and Canterbury Bulldogs.
Brookvale Oval
Friday 7.35pm
Featured Bookmakers:
Manly Sea Eagles $1.70 vs Canterbury Bulldogs $2.20 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match
Manly Sea Eagles $1.67 vs Canterbury Bulldogs $2.25 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Odds Comparison by NRL Odds:
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| Manly Sea Eagles | 1.70 | 1.65 | 1.67 | 1.65 | 1.70 | 1.68 |
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Canterbury Bulldogs
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2.20 | 2.30 | 2.25 | 2.30 | 2.20 | 2.17 |
Preview:
Fourth placed Manly take on seventh placed Canterbury in the second of Friday night’s matches.
Last week Manly travelled to New Zealand to take on the Warriors and, in a typically hard fought encounter between the two sides, fell short by two points.
It continued a mix bag of results for Manly over the past month with a loss to Roosters and a draw with Melbourne included.
They return to Brookvale where they are 4-2 this season with the losses coming to top sides, South Sydney and Roosters.
Canterbury made it four wins from their last five games with a few late tries securing their 10 point victory over the struggling Cowboys in Townsville.
The win sees them seventh on the ladder but this will be the first time in five weeks, that they face a team inside the top eight and they’ll need to lift again as they won’t be presented with the opportunities afforded to them by the Cowboys last week.
Nothing has separated these two sides in the past four clashes with Manly holding a 3-1 record. On three of these occasions a total match score of 26 points or less as been registered..
Expect another close encounter here with Manly to prevail – if only just.
Teams:
Manly Sea Eagles:
Peta Hiku, Jorge Taufua, Jamie Lyon (c), Steve Matai , David Williams, Kieran Foran, Daly Cherry-Evans, Brenton Lawrence, Matt Ballin, Brent Kite, Anthony Watmough, Justin Horo, Glenn Stewart. Interchange: James Hasson, Tom Symonds, Jamie Buhrer, George Rose
Canterbury Bulldogs:
Ben Barba, Mitch Brown, Josh Morris, Krisnan Inu, Sam Perrett, Josh Reynolds, Trent Hodkinson, Aiden Tolman, Michael Ennis (c), Sam Kasiano, Frank Pritchard, Tony Williams, Greg Eastwood. Interchange: Dene Halatau, Josh Jackson, James Graham, Dale Finucane, Tim Browne
His return to Brookvale Oval may not be as keenly anticipated as that of teammate Tony Williams or coach Des Hasler, but Canterbury halfback Trent Hodkinson still expects to feel the wrath of the Manly faithful on Friday.
Williams is making his first NRL appearance for the Bulldogs at Brookvale since his high-profile exit in the off-season, and is likely to wear the bulk of the boos.
The 24-year-old back-rower left the Sea Eagles at the end of last year to ink a lucrative deal to reunite with Hasler, who coached Manly to two premierships before joining Canterbury.
But Williams has endured a slow start to his time at Belmore and it’s Hodkinson who could potentially have the greater impact on the game.
The playmaker, lured away from the Sea Eagles after his promising rookie season, has yet to hit any great heights in the blue and white with injuries hindering his progress.
But since returning to first grade in round six this year the Parramatta junior has been integral to the Bulldogs’ mid-season revival, also taking over the goalkicking duties – which is where the Manly fans will offer their best sledges.
“It’s going to be good, back out there at Brookie,” Hodkinson said this week.
“I’ve only been up against them once since I’ve made the move over. I’m looking forward to the challenge.
“I’ll probably get a few blokes yelling at me from the sideline when I’m kicking for goal but we’ll see what happens.”
It will be Hodkinson’s second appearance at Manly’s home ground since his departure, following a 27-16 loss in 2011.
He was unable to feature last season as injuries restricted him to just six games. Hodkinson was forced to undergo surgery on both shoulders which cruelled his campaign.
“It’s tough,” he admitted.
“I had the one shoulder done and then six weeks later had the other shoulder done.
“I probably wasn’t the best bloke to be around at home.
“But I got through it and I’m back now so it’s all paid off.
“… I had a horror run last year.”