Round 17: Sea Eagles v Wests Tigers preview
The battle for ninth place continues with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles hosting the Wests Tigers at Brookvale Oval.
Both the Tigers and the Sea Eagles enter this weekend with six wins and 10 losses with a win this Saturday afternoon putting the winner in good stead as the race for ninth place heats up.
The perennial ninth placed Tigers, announced earlier in the week that 253-gamer, Benji Marshall will not return to the club for the 2021 season. This announcement comes at a good time for the club, with Marshall's performance being hot and cold much like the form of the club this season. The Tigers are also headed in a younger direction as coach Michael Maguire makes his stamp on the playing roster. The Tigers will want to send out Marshall with some good form to end the season, however, five losses and a single win from their past sixth matches have taken the Tigers from seventh place to 11th place. Marshall and the Tigers suffered a 24-point loss to the league leaders on the weekend, giving former coach Ivan Cleary the bragging rights over Michael Maguire and the Tigers. Maguire had some positives to draw on his sides first half performance against the Panthers, taking the game to the current leaders but in typical Tiger fashion, failed to put together a full 80-minute performance.
Despite hinting at some big changes during his post-match press conference, Maguire has kept his halves combination of Marshall and Luke Brooks intact, whilst swapping Adam Doueihi into the centres with Moses Mbye moving to fullback. Asu Kepaoa will come in for his second game replacing Tommy Talau on the wing and Josh Aloiai will return after the birth of his child, pushing Matt Eisenhuth to the bench with Shawn Blore dropping out of the side.
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles have followed suit with their form when compared to their opponents for the weekend. The Sea Eagles have won only one of their past six matches, which includes a current five game losing streak. Manly have struggled with injuries this season but, like the Tigers, it's been their defence over the past month and a half that has let them down. The Sea Eagles have conceded on average 36 points per game over their past five fixtures and have failed to restrict a team to less than 26 points. Despite these defensive concerns, it might not play as big of an effect as It has over the past few weeks as their opponents this weekend are not the prime example of a good NRL defence, conceding an average of 38 points over the past six weeks including conceding 28 points in their sole win in that period. Skipper Daly Cherry-Evans and coach Des Hasler will be aiming to record the club's first win since round 11 this season by exploiting the defence of the Tigers, in particular, the defence of his opposition halves, Marshall and Brooks.
If Manly can achieve this, it'll give them a great chance of ending their losing streak. Although this won't be made easy with Joel Thompson and Reuben Garrick being omitted from the side with injury, bring replaced by Jack Gosiewski and Abbas Miski respectively. Corey Waddell will be joining the bench with Gosiewski's shift to the back row.
Last meeting: Round 22 2019 - Sea Eagles 32 Wests Tigers 12
Who to watch: Manly captain, Daly Cherry-Evans is the man to watch for the Sea Eagles this weekend, who'll be determined to end the clubs' losing streak. Cherry-Evans will need to provide a great performance if he's to get his injury-ravaged side back in winning form. The Queensland halfback has laid on 11 try assists in 16 appearances this season, including a eight forced drop outs. Cherry-Evans has also averaged a career-high 451 kick metres per game which can only indicate this his side have been on the back foot more than any season in which he has played in the northern beaches. Isolating his opposition halves with his big backrowers will be a key part of his game plan for the upcoming weekend.
In his last season for the Tigers, Benji Marshall has been the Tiger that has provided the most spark in attack this season. The 35-year-old has been credited with 12 try assists from as many matches this season, an assist to games ratio which has been his best since he assisted a mammoth 35 tries in the 2012 season. However, for Marshall, his biggest inconsistencies have come in his defensive play. The Tiger legend has a tackle efficiency percentage of 79% which ranks towards the lower end when compared to his counterpart halves in the competition. Marshall also ranks 6th for the most try causes this season, with 10 try causes credited to his name this season, essentially meaning that Marshall will be responsible for conceding a try a game, whilst also providing a try a game. The defence of Marshall could be a massive part in how this game plays out on Saturday afternoon.
The favourite: It's fairly even between the two sides, but Manly have been favoured for the match this weekend. Experience could play a factor in this with players such as Cherry-Evans and Jake Trbojevic leading Manly into battle, compared to the youthful side that the Wests Tigers will field.
My tip: Both sides are seriously out of form, making it a hard one to tip. The Sea Eagles forward pack have a great opportunity to dominate a younger inexperienced pack although the x-factor of Tigers' hooker Harry Grant could turn the tide. Manly are desperate for a win and I expect them to just edge out the Tigers in a tight one. Sea Eagles by 6.
