Check out the match preview and prediction for the round 21 clash between the Roosters and the Sea Eagles.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Sydney Roosters Vs Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney.
Date: Saturday July 27, 7:35pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Roosters: 1. James Tedesco, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 4. Sitili Tupouniua, 5. Dominic Young, 6. Luke Keary, 7. Sam Walker, 8. Spencer Leniu, 9. Brandon Smith, 10. Lindsay Collins, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Victor Radley, 13. Connor Watson, 14. Sandon Smith, 15. Naufahu Whyte, 16. Nat Butcher, 17. Terrell May, 18. Michael Jennings, 19. Siua Wong, 20. Ethan King, 21. Salesi Foketi, 22. Zach Dockar-Clay
Sea Eagles: 1. Tom Trbojevic, 2. Jason Saab, 3. Ben Trbojevic, 4. Reuben Garrick, 5. Tommy Talau, 6. Luke Brooks, 7. Daly Cherry-Evans, 8. Taniela Paseka, 9. Jake Simpkin, 10. Josh Aloiai, 11. Corey Waddell, 12. Karl Lawton, 13. Jake Trbojevic, 14. Gordon Chan Kum Tong, 15. Ethan Bullemor, 16. Toafofoa Sipley, 17. Nathan Brown, 18. Jamie Humphreys, 19. Clayton Faulalo, 20. Caleb Navale, 21. Ben Condon, 22. Dean Matterson
Referee: Ashley Klein
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
In a round featuring a number of genuine four-point games in terms of the race to the finals, I don’t think any other fixture could have quite as big an impact as this one.
Coming into last week, the Roosters were bookies’ favourites to go down to Melbourne and get the job done against the Storm. It was a win that would have both consolidated their position in the top three, as well as sent a message to the rest of the competition that they’re here for an assault on this year’s premiership.
Now though, they’ve slid below the Sharks and sit only two points clear of the Dragons in ninth position. To make matters worse, they now face the team breathing down their necks in the spot behind them. A side who they lost to earlier in the season. A side featuring a Tom Trbojevic who’s just shown us that he’s very much capable of being the best player in this competition.
With Manly having a relatively favourable run home, a loss in this one could genuinely prevent the Roosters from achieving a top four finish – something that very recently seemed almost a certainty.
With the focus this week being on the fact that the Roosters have struggled to win the big games this year, this game is crucial to the way the rest of their season plays out.
On the other side of the park, Manly are in red-hot form. Having come off two dominant home victories, and with a top four spot on the line, Anthony Seibold’s men will be immensely high on intent coming into this one.
Veteran halfback Daly Cherry-Evans comes into the back end of the season off the back of an Origin series where he’ll be filthy with himself that he couldn’t lead his Maroons to a series win they really should have had. Don’t be surprised if he looks to make it up to himself by coming out with a vengeance in leading his Sea Eagles to a strong charge home.
This is the biggest game of the week, and it’s such a difficult one to split. One thing’s for sure though – the loser will have an uphill battle to win this competition from there.
Head-to-head stats can be found at Number Crunch Stats.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Check out all the NRL Predictions here.
Roosters by 2 points.
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