Round 11: Sea Eagles v Titans preview
High flying Sea Eagles host struggling Titans in Indigenous Round.
As Manly and the Gold Coast prepare for their Round 11 fixture on Friday evening, they will be looking to draw inspiration from two of the greatest Indigenous players in rugby league history.
For the Sea Eagles, former premiership winner Cliff Lyons' storied career has been represented on the specially designed jersey they will run out in. Lyons was the scheming five-eighth who played 332 first grade games and represented New South Wales and Australia. His running game and dummy were top shelf, but his ability to put a player through a hole was pure genius and the partnership the 2 x Dally M winner struck up with Steve Menzies over the years is now the stuff of legends.
A tribute to a legend
Learn about our 2019 Indigenous Jersey.
- https://t.co/SondxOiJ0U#ManlyForever pic.twitter.com/DOlh3GyqJu
— Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (@SeaEagles) May 14, 2019
The Titans first signing before entering the competition in 2007 was livewire Preston Campbell. The diminutive fullback or five-eighth joined the club after an already successful career with the Sharks and Panthers who he won a premiership with in 2003. It was a key signing to the Titans early success that helped draw in the crowds in their early years. With blistering speed off the mark, footwork, ball-playing ability and a fearless attitude to cart the ball into the defensive line at speed - little Presto had it all. He played an integral role in getting the All-Stars concept off the ground and played in its inaugural match in 2010.
Manly Coach Des Hasler has named an unchanged line-up for this clash and will be looking for his troops to continue their strong defensive resolve. Bouncing back from their magic round loss to the Broncos, Hasler's men toppled the Sharks last Sunday and with the returns of star duo Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic not far away, they are in serious striking distance of the top four.
Titans Coach Garth Brennan has made a few changes to his struggling outfit who've now lost their last four games. Moeaki Fotuaika starts up front at prop with Jack Stockwell dropped to the reserves, Shannon Boyd returns from concussion via the bench alongside Keegan Hipgrave. Sitting second last on the ladder and six points out of the eight, the time has to be now if the Titans are to make anything of their season.
Last meeting: Round 23 2018 - Sea Eagles 34 Titans 42
With both teams out of finals contention, defence clearly wasn't a priority as the Titans prevailed in a high scoring affair at Lottoland with Jake Trbojevic and Alexander Brimson both crossing for doubles.
Who to watch: Look for hard running back-rower Joel Thompson to have a big game on Friday evening. Representing the Indigenous All-Stars on six occasions previously, Thompson was forced to sit out this year's match through injury. That burnt the proud Indigenous man who does countless hours of community work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids. Also donating his time to helping the Gamarada healing group in Redfern, Thompson will be setting himself for a big one. Look for him to cross the chalk at some stage as he puts a target on a down on confidence Ash Taylor when attacking the Titans line.
Another man looking for a big game in Indigenous round will be five-eighth Tyrone Roberts. Returning to the NRL after a twelve month stint in Super League last year, Roberts hit the ground running back in February with a five-star performance helping the Indigenous All-Stars to a dominant victory and earning himself the Preston Campbell Medal for best player on ground. It's been a tough season with the Titans which has been effected by an injury he picked up in round one. The recently appointed Captain will need to be at his scheming best for the Titans to be competitive in this one.
The favourite: Manly are strong favourites to account for the Titans.
My tip: The Titans are desperate and playing for their season and did notch two victories over the Sea Eagles last year. That was a different Manly team though and it's hard to see them finding the points to break the Manly brick wall. Sea Eagles by 16.
