Eels v Sea Eagles preview

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The Manly Sea Eagles are streaking into finals contention and the Parramatta Eels will try to retain pride in their jersey when these teams clash on Friday night. 

In an added boost for Manly, who have not won at Pirtek Stadium since 2013, it appears Jamie Lyon (Calf), Nate Myles (Knee) and Matt Parcell (Hamstring) will all be returning from injury. 

For the Eels they too have positive news on the injury front as Michael Jennings (Hamstring) returns, captain Beau Scott is back and Manu Ma'u returns from a one game suspension. 

There's been more to upset Parramatta fans than delight them in the past few weeks. 

Not only has the Gold Coast Titans signing of Jarryd Hayne stung but a three game losing streak to the Wests Tigers, Penrith Panthers and those Titans plays with their confidence.

Clinton Gutherson has excelled in a positional change to five-eighth, keeping his team a threat in attack especially when there's broken play. 

The visitors are starting to play how coach Trent Barrett envisioned when he restructured the roster over the off season. 

With the expected late editions to the side it will be the first time since the opening weeks of the season that their main squad will be on the field, all except Steve Matai who's out injured for the season.

Daly Cherry-Evans will be the likely difference maker as he's finally come into some strong form, which has correlated with Manly's four game win streak, and is going against a team without their first choice halves.

On this streak the Sea Eagles have defeated the St George Dragons by 30 points at home, New Zealand Warriors in golden point at Perth, South Sydney Rabbitohs by eight points away and the Newcastle Knights by 20 at Brookvale Oval.

Last meeting: Round 7 2016 - Sea Eagles 10 Eels 22

Michael Jennings scored two tries in his 200th game and Kieran Foran had a win on his return to Manly's fortress. The Sea Eagles were inconsistent and missed Daly Cherry-Evans, Matt Parcell and Brenton Lawrence. While it was an incredibly different time for Parramatta, they were ruthlessly grinding out teams for wins and looked like certainties for the finals. 

Who to watch: ‘Tommy Turbo' is in sensational form and now running around at fullback there's nothing he can't do. In the past two months Tom Trbojevic has been one of Manly's best each round and he's been dominant despite playing with an ankle injury. Climbing into the eight doesn't seem like a tumultuous task now the Sea Eagles are just two points outside the top eight and has Trbojevic at fullback. 

Returning from a two week absence, Michael Jennings is likely going to be Parramatta's impact player on Friday night. He was the standout from this contest earlier in the season and considering the likes of Corey Norman, Kieran Foran, and Semi Radradra are missing there will be a heavier workload and more responsibility for Jennings in attack.

The favourite: The Sea Eagles. They're entering the contest having won their last four games. The majority of Manly's squad is back on the field after Martin Taupau, Dylan Walker, Jorge Taufua, Jamie Buhrer, Nate Myles, Matt Parcel and Cherry-Evans all missed significant time. Parramatta have been providing their fans with a winning effort each week but they have lost their last three games; and it's not getting easier to mentally prepare for the remainder of the season. 

My tip: Even with a strong Parramatta effort on Friday night missing Norman and Foran in the halves is too much to overcome. Sea Eagles by 8.

1. Michael Gordon 2. Vai Toutai 3. Michael Jennings 4. Brad Takairangi 5. Bevan French 6. Clinton Gutherson 7. Jeff Robson 8. Danny Wicks 9. Isaac De Gois 10. Tim Mannah 11. Manu Ma'u 12. Tepai Moeroa 13. Beau Scott
Interchange: 14. Kaysa Pritchard 15. Peni Terepo 16. Ken Edwards 17. Daniel Alvaro

1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Jorge Taufua 3. Lewis Brown 4. Brayden Wiliame 5. Matthew Wright 6. Dylan Walker 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Darcy Lussick 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. Martin Taupau 11. Nathan Green 12. Jamie Buhrer 13. Jake Trbojevic
Interchange: 14. Blake Leary 15. Josh Starling 16. Addin Fonua-blake 17. Siosaia Vave

Referees: Matt Cecchin, Chris James; Sideline Officials: Russell Turner, Nick Morel; Video Referees: Bernard Sutton, Jared Maxwell, Ben Galea