Saturday has two NRL matches with the second game for Round 25 is between Sydney Roosters and Manly Sea Eagles with the opening kick to commence at 7pm local time. The game is to be played at Allianz Stadium with the favourite for the match being Sydney Roosters. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Sydney Roosters and Manly Sea Eagles.
WHERE AND WHEN: Allianz Stadium, 7pm
Opening odds comparison:
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| Sydney Roosters | 1.85 | 1.75 | 1.81 | 1.75 | 1.85 | 1.78 |
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Manly Sea Eagles
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2.00 | 2.12 | 2.00 | 2.12 | 2.00 | 2.00 |
Preview:
The third game in finals week 1 is between the Sydney Roosters and Manly Sea Eagles, Saturday, 7.45pm at Allianz Stadium. While the minor-premiership winning
Roosters have to be favourites here after their awesome display last week, the Sea Eagles will provide tough competition. This will most likely be a physical encounter, with
two hard fought, low-scoring matches between these two sides already this year. Manly are a great attacking side, but will face what is probably the best defence in the
competition this weekend. It goes without saying that they will also have to watch out for Sonny Bill Williams, who had a great game last week against the Rabbitohs.
The Roosters will go into this game with a lot of confidence, and rightfully so. However, they will have to pay very close attention to Manly this week, with the Sea Eagles
having lost just one game out of nine before last week’s match. In one very impressive statistic, the Manly backline have scored 85 tries in 2013, and are the best scoring
outfit in the second half of the year. With Stewart, Taufua, Jamie Lyon, Steve Matai, and Dave Williams scoring 41 tries in the last 10 games, the Roosters will have no time
to rest at all. It’s the attack of the Sea Eagles vs the defence of the Roosters this weekend, and if it ends up being another low-scoring game, you would have to back the
Roosters.
Teams:
Sydney Roosters:
Anthony Minichiello, Daniel Tupou, Michael Jennings, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, James Maloney, Mitchell Pearce, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Jake Friend, Sam Moa, Mitchell Aubusson, Sonny Bill Williams, Frank-Paul Nuuausala. Interchange (from):Daniel Mortimer, Aidan Guerra, Isaac Liu, Dylan Napa, Luke O’Donnell, Martin Kennedy
Manly Sea Eagles:
Brett Stewart, Jorge Taufua, Jamie Lyon, Steve Matai, David Williams, Kieran Foran, Daly Cherry-Evans, Brenton Lawrence, Matt Ballin, Brent Kite, Anthony Watmough, Justin Horo, Glenn Stewart Interchange (from): Richie Fa’aoso, Tom Symonds, David Gower, George Rose, James Hasson.
Remorseful O’Donnell keen to atone
Remorseful Sydney Roosters utility Luke O’Donnell is desperate to atone for a needless suspension that threatened to derail the Tricolours’ NRL title hopes.
A key figure in the Roosters’ charge to the minor premiership, O’Donnell copped a three-week suspension on the eve of the finals that coincided with a worrying dip in form for the eastern suburbs-based club.
But he returns at just the right time as a ready-made replacement for Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, who will miss Saturday night’s clash with Manly due to a dangerous contact charge stemming from last weekend’s win over South Sydney.
One of the most suspended players in NRL history, O’Donnell’s old ways crept back when he produced a dangerous throw on opposition winger Tim Simona with the Roosters well on their way to a big round 23 win over Wests Tigers.
With O’Donnell sidelined, the Roosters slumped to upset losses to Cronulla and Gold Coast before righting the ship against the Rabbitohs.
O’Donnell’s toughness and experience has been vital for the Roosters this year but he knows he let the club down after they threw him a pre-season lifeline and is keen to make amends.
“I’m pumped to come back and just really excited to be playing in a finals series,” O’Donnell said.
“Obviously there is more responsibility on myself with Jared not there but I’m well up for it, I’ve been training hard and I can handle it.”
“There is a great sense of excitement around the place, we have an exciting mix of guys with heaps of finals experience and a fair few with none at all so that all combined has created a great vibe.”
O’Donnell, who played in North Queensland’s grand final side in 2005 – the closest he has come to a premiership win – is not contracted to the Roosters beyond this year but he told the club website he is only concerned about what is immediately ahead.
“Coming away with the win last weekend has been great for us,” said the former NSW and Australia representative.
“I did more training than usual (during the suspension) but also this time Robbo wanted me to be around the team as much as possible so I would train around the team and do extra sessions either before or after training to make that possible.
“The extra training was really intense so it has got to me to where I need to be.”