Manly Sea Eagles vs North Queensland Cowboys Tips, Odds, Teams & Predictions – NRL 2023 Round 20

4 Pines Park will play host to Saturday's Round 20 NRL game between Manly Sea Eagles and North Queensland Cowboys. The game kicks off at 5:30 pm with North Queensland Cowboys heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Manly Sea Eagles vs. North Queensland Cowboys game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Saturday July 15, 2023 at 5:30 pm

Where: 4 Pines Park

Bet: Bet On This Match HERE

Manly Sea Eagles vs North Queensland Cowboys Odds

Manly Sea Eagles vs North Queensland Cowboys Preview

A massive clash for both clubs, with North Queensland Cowboys in a share of seventh place (ninth on for-and-against) on 22 points and the outright 10th Manly Sea Eagles just one point back. Both teams are making big contributions to the State of Origin dead-rubber on Wednesday.

The Sea Eagles have named NSW reps Daly Cherry-Evans and Jake Trbojevic to back up, while the Cowboys have done the same with Queensland trio Valentine Holmes, Murray Taulagi and Jeremiah Nanai. Manly also have Dean Matterson debuting off the bench with Ben Trbojevic injured.

Manly don’t have the feel of a team on the cusp of the Top 8 and rising. The Sea Eagles have lost six of their last nine and lost marquee fullback Tom Trobjevic to a season-ending injury. But they responded to heavy losses to the Eels and Storm with a gripping 18-16 eclipse of the Roosters in Round 18.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, are arguably the hottest team in the NRL. A four-match winning streak includes a 45-20 win over the Storm, a golden point defeat of the Panthers (with Origin players out), a 31-6 beatdown of Souths and a record-smashing 74-0 destruction of the Tigers.

The Sea Eagles have won four of their last five against the Cowboys, but they went down in a 28-26 thriller at Brookvale in the clubs’ sole encounter last season. Their last three clashes all produced 54-plus points.

Few players in the competition are firing quite like Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater in recent weeks, but the unit as a whole seems to have rediscovered the form that carried them to a top-four finish and a prelim in 2022.

Manly is heavily reliant on the inimitable class and influence of Daly Cherry-Evans. But the Sea Eagles are 5-2 at 4 Pines Park this season, while the Cowboys struggled on the road until taking down the Rabbitohs. A flip of the coin with Manly providing decent value as a $2.25 underdog.

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