Round 8: Sea Eagles v Bulldogs preview
Another coaching war brewing as Des Hasler hosts Dean Pay's Bulldogs.
For the first time since Hasler's messy exit from the Belmore club at the end of the 2017 season, the man known by many as ‘the mad scientist' will face off against many of his former players on Saturday evening.
Hasler himself says there will be nothing personal in this match-up at all. Bulldogs Coach Pay on the other hand may feel a little differently after being left with the task of cleaning up the club's salary cap debacle upon Hasler's exit.
Pay has done a fair job in that department in a short amount of time and in fact, more than half the 17 named for Saturday's match never ran out under Hasler's watch.
On the park, the Sea Eagles have found a new defensive resolve this season which helped them bounce back from a controversial defeat to the Dragons in Round 6, with a hard fought victory over the Raiders last Sunday. That win was particularly impressive considering they lost skipper and halfback Daly Cherry-Evans mid-match to an ankle syndesmosis injury.
That injury has forced Cherry-Evans out of action for the next 4-6 weeks gifting a reprieve to Kane Elgey who was dropped at the eleventh hour last week in favour of Lachlan Croker. The pair will now be faced with the giant task of steering the ship in their skipper's absence.
In other changes to the Sea Eagles line-up, Lebanon International Abbas Miski will make his NRL debut, replacing injured winger Jorge Taufua (calf) and Addin Fonua-Blake returns from a two week suspension up front, pushing Toafofoa Sipley to the bench and Morgan Boyle to the reserves.
The Bulldogs bounced back from a tough loss to the Rabbitohs on Good Friday with a win over the Cowboys last week and have made just the one official change to their line-up with Fa'amanu Brown named on the bench in place of Chris Smith.
Don't be surprised to see a few changes to the final 17 come Saturday. Brown is another hooker/halves option and the Bulldogs are highly unlikely to carry both he and Michael Lichaa on the bench. The names of Kieran Foran and Dylan Napa also loom large in the reserves list as both are eyeing off returns from injury.
Last meeting: Round 22 2018 - Sea Eagles 18 Bulldogs 6
It was a night in which Tom Trbojevic with a double and Cherry-Evans proved the difference. Neither will be there on Saturday night and Hasler will need to find another way to ignite their attack.
Who to watch: The absence of Manly's two attacking stars means much of the burden will fall upon the hooking duo of Api Koroisau and Manase Fainu. The duo have bucked the trend of most clubs heading towards 80 minute hookers to form a valuable one-two punch in the opening rounds this season. Koroisau, a crafty attacking player himself has been charged with doing much of the defensive work in the early exchanges with Fainu coming on late in the half to unleash his speed around the ruck.
It's been a reasonably slow start to the season for edge back-rower Corey Harawira-Naera after moving from the foot of the mountains in the offseason. That was before unleashing a tackle busting, two try performance on the Cowboys last Friday night. Renowned for running tough lines in attack, Harawira-Naera will be looking to repeat last week's effort as he takes aim at young Manly halves Croker and Elgey on the edges.
The favourite: Despite the loss of their skipper, Manly remain favourites at $1.70 with the Bulldogs sitting at $2.15.
My tip: Tough game to pick with the loss of Cherry-Evans evening things right up here. Manly's defence will hold them in good stead and make this a tight one. With all the coaching talk this week centred around Bennett, Siebold and Hasler, Dean Pay has been eerily quiet so far. Expecting him to have his charges fired up with a ‘Dogs Of War' ambush firmly on the cards. Bulldogs by 2.
