Andrew Pelechaty previews the Sunday afternoon clash between the Gold Coast Titans and the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles on the Gold Coast. Here’s what we have to look forward to.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Gold Coast Titans Vs Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Venue: CBUS Super Stadium, Gold Coast.
Date: Sunday August 14, 4:05pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Related: NRL Team List Tuesday
Embed from Getty ImagesTitans: 1. Jayden Campbell 2. Sosefo Fifita 3. Phillip Sami 4. Brian Kelly 5. Patrick Herbert 6. AJ Brimson 7. Tanah Boyd 8. Moeaki Fotuaika 9. Erin Clark 10. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui 11. David Fifita 12. Beau Fermor 13. Isaac Liu 14. Greg Marzhew 15. Herman Ese’ese 16. Jaimin Jolliffe 17. Sam McIntyre 18. Corey Thompson 19. Toby Sexton 20. Paul Turner 21. Klese Haas 22. Jarrod Wallace
A rested Toby Sexton returns on the extended bench. Patrick Herbert returns from injury.
Embed from Getty ImagesSea Eagles: 1. Reuben Garrick 2. Jason Saab 3. Morgan Harper 4. Tolutau Koula 5. Christian Tuipulotu 6. Kieran Foran 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Toafofoa Sipley 9. Lachlan Croker 10. Martin Taupau 11. Haumole Olakau’atu 12. Andrew Davey 13. Jake Trbojevic 14. Dylan Walker 15. Ben Trbojevic 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Josh Aloiai 18. Josh Schuster 19. Kurt De Luis 20. Brad Parker 21. Kaeo Weekes 22. Morgan Boyle
Josh Aloiai is back from a knee injury, Sean Keppie is out, but Kieran Foran is expected to play despite a hamstring injury.
Referee: Chris Sutton
MATCHDAY PREVIEW
After three losses in a row (and the “Manly Seven” controversy), the Sea Eagles can keep their slim finals hopes alive with a big win over the Titans.
The Titans are all but guaranteed the wooden spoon and are probably counting down the days until the season ends so they can start rebuilding for 2023. It surely can’t get any worse than 2022?
Manly had a comfortable win over the Titans in Round 6 (26-18) at Brookvale, shooting to a 24-4 half-time lead (two tries to Haumole Olakau’atu and singles to Reuben Garrick and Kieran Foran).
While you can write off Manly’s loss to the Roosters as an anti-climax after being understrength and in the headlines, the losses to the Dragons and Parramatta were more alarming. They were blown away in the second half against the inconsistent Eels, leading 20-14 after 52 minutes before Parramatta scored the last 22 points. The Sea Eagles have a difficult final three weeks – playing Cronulla-Sutherland at Brookvale, Canberra at Bruce Stadium (which is a massive “four-point game”), and the improving Canterbury-Bankstown at Homebush.
Manly will be looking to erase their -8 differential against the Titans and give themselves a big advantage over the Raiders (-33) in the race for the eight.
Embed from Getty ImagesINTERESTING FACT
Reuben Garrick has an impressive record against the Titans having scored nine tries in five games against them. That includes a tally of 28 points (four tries, six goals) from when the two sides last met at CBUS Stadium (June 20, 2021) with the Sea Eagles winning 56-24.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Sea Eagles by 18.
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