In a quality first week of finals football, this clash could be the pick of them.
Sydney finished atop of the ladder and claimed the minor premiership last week with a good win over South Sydney.
It was much needed return to form for the Roosters who had been beaten in the previous fortnight by Gold Coast and Cronulla.
They went back to what had made them a force to be reckoned with all year – good defence and strong forward play.
They held Souths to 12 points and made good ground when on the attack right through the middle of the ruck.
After producing arguably their best performance of the season against Melbourne in round 25, Manly fell 10 point short against the Panthers last week.
Admittedly they were without several big names but the Sea Eagles may have been looking too far ahead and not paying enough attention to last week’s opponents.
They’ll be back and focused this week and a similar effort to that that they produced against Melbourne, will see them represent exceptional value at $2.00, especially when given that Sydney power-house forward Jared Waerea-Hargreaves missing due to suspension.
His absence in what will no doubt be a physical clash, could prove vital.
Manly have won four of their last six games against the Roosters but more importantly, the Roosters have won both clashes this year – by 12 points in round 4 and in round 16 at Brookvale, 6 points.
There was little in both games and interestingly, in both games, Manly were never in front at any stage.
This will be a beauty and with three of the past four matches between the two resulting in a total match score of 30 or less, a similar result will be on the cards here.
Odds comparison by NRL Odds:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Sydney Roosters | 1.85 | 1.75 | 1.81 | 1.75 | 1.85 | 1.78 |
|
Manly Sea Eagles
|
2.00 | 2.12 | 2.00 | 2.12 | 2.00 | 2.00 |
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.
