Lachy MacCorquodale previews he Saturday night clash between the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Warriors
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Vs Warriors
Venue: 4 Pines Park, Sydney
Date: Saturday June 4, 7:35pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Related: NRL Team List Tuesday
Embed from Getty ImagesSea Eagles: 1 Reuben Garrick 2. Jason Saab 3. Morgan Haprer 4. Toultau Koula 5. Christian Tuipulotu 6. Josh Schuster 7. Kieran Foran 8. Josh Aloiai 9. Lachlan Croker 10. Toafofoa Sipley 11. Haumole Olakau’atu 12. Andrew Davey 13. Jake Trbojevic (c) 14. Dylan Walker 15. Karl Lawton 16. Martin Taupau 17. Sean Keppie 18. Taniela Paskea 19. Ethan Bullemor 20. Kurt De Luis 21. Kaeo Weekes 22. Jorge Taufua
Jason Saab returns for his first game since suffering a toe injury at the expense of Jorge Taufua. Josh Schuster will start in the halves for just the fourth time in his career, joining Kieran Foran as Daly Cherry-Evans misses this match due to Origin duties.
Embed from Getty ImagesWarriors: 1. Reece Walsh 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3. Rocco Berry 4. Adam Pompey 5. Marcelo Montoya 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita 7. Shaun Johnson 8. Ben Murdoch-Masila 9. Wayde Egan 10. Jazz Tevaga 11. Euan Aitken 12. Tohu Harris (c) 13. Jack Murchie 14. Taniela Otukolo 15. Bunty Afoa 16. Aaron Pene 17. Bayley Sironen 18. Freddy Lussick 20. Dunamis Lui 21. Eliesa Katoa 22. Daejarn Asi 23. Jesse Arthars
Wayde Egan and Bayley Sironen have been named to make their return at the expense of Freddy Lussick and Dunamis Lui after recovering from their respective injuries.
Referee: Grant Atkins
MATCHDAY PREVIEW
Before we head to Sydney for the first State of Origin clash of 2022, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Warriors have an extremely important outing on Saturday night. Both sides have won just one of their past five fixtures and a win on Saturday night, could prove to be the difference maker come seasons’ end.
The Sea Eagles are currently two points outside the top eight and the Warriors are right on their tail, sitting four points outside the top eight. They are coming off a convincing 20-point defeat at the hands of the second placed Melbourne Storm.
Manly struggled to move up the field last week, averaging five metres per set less than the Storm, resulting in minimal opportunities in the Storm’s own 20 metres. Only two of their forwards – Josh Aloiai (115) and Haumole Olakau’atu (109) – eclipsed 100 metres in a particular sombre attacking performance from the Sea Eagles. They once again struggled to generate scoring opportunities due to the absence of Tom Trbojevic, who will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.
The Sea Eagles are going to require a more inspired performance from their forwards this week, as they aim to win just their second match since round six. Plenty of fans will be watching Josh Schuster with intrigue after expressing a desire to play in the halves from next year onwards and he’s got the perfect opportunity to put his best foot forward.
Meanwhile, the Warriors couldn’t hold off the Newcastle Knights last weekend, as the Knights clawed back from a four-point deficit to win by a margin of eight points.
The Warriors started the game in fantastic fashion, scoring twice in the opening 10 minutes of the fixture and despite having a 55 per cent share of the football, they couldn’t close out the match.
Just based off the team stats, you would’ve expected the Warriors to win this one as the home side made more metres and missed less tackles than the Knights. However, it wasn’t to be for the side from New Zealand as they suffered their fourth consecutive loss.
The inclusion of dummy-half Wayde Egan will be a welcome one for the Warriors, who haven’t won a game without him. They too, have suffered plenty of losses since the beginning of the season and a win against the Sea Eagles on Saturday would be their second win since round five.
Embed from Getty ImagesINTERESTING FACT
This clash has historically been a one-sided affair, with the Sea Eagles coming away as victors in 26 of the 38 matches played between the two sides. This includes a streak from 2010 through to the end of 2017, which saw the Warriors win just once in 14 matches during that period. However, the Warriors have the slight upper hand since the beginning of 2018, winning four of seven matches, despite losing twice to the Sea Eagles last year.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Sea Eagles by 4
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