Round 18: Bulldogs v Sea Eagles preview
The last placed Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs kick-off Friday night football as they host the struggling Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.
The second instalment of the ‘Des Hasler Cup' for 2020 is upon with the Sea Eagles looking to retain the crown after defeating the Bulldogs 32 points to six in the third round, the first after the season shutdown.
For the first time in a long time, one of these clubs are going to have something to cheer about as both teams have failed to register a win since round 11 when Canterbury upset Newcastle and the Sea Eagles knocked off the Cowboys.
The Bulldogs' losing streak continued with a four-point loss to the Gold Coast Titans which unfortunately keeps Canterbury as the favourites to take home the wooden spoon. Not only was another loss dealt to the Bulldogs, season ending injuries were suffered by both Kieran Foran and Dylan Napa which can only weaken their chance of avoiding the dreaded wooden spoon.
The Bulldogs last finished the season with the wooden spoon in 2008 and will be doing everything in their power to avoid finishing last. This match against the Sea Eagles is their best chance of doing so with their final two games against top eight sides, South Sydney and Penrith.
They've won one of their past 13 matches although this includes six losses by less than six points, so a victory this weekend is not out of reach for the Bulldogs. It'll be interesting to see how the new halves combination of Jake Averillo and Lachlan Lewis works out in the absence of star five-eighth Foran.
The Wests Tigers showed that Manly are a bit sketchy defensively when you attack at speed and with creativity which could play into the hands of the ad-lib Averillo as he'll be their key to their try scoring endeavours.
Foran and Napa are joined by Kerrod Holland and Marcelo Montoya who have been dropped from the 17. Jayden Okunbor makes his first appearance this season shifting Dallin Watene-Zelezniak into the centres whilst Reimis Smith fills the vacant centre role. Luke Thompson returns to the starting side at lock, moving Aiden Tolman to prop, with Brandon Wakeham and Sauaso Sue returning to the bench.
The Sea Eagles also on a six-game losing streak, gave up after 14-point lead in the final 10 minutes to succumb to the Tigers despite having possession of the football for 68 per cent of the match. Manly somehow coughed up 34 points despite giving the Tigers limited time with the ball in their hands.
It's an all too familiar sign for the Sea Eagles who have now conceded 26 points or more for six straight weeks as they continue to slide down the ladder and could potentially see themselves drop to 13th if they fail to win and the Titans defeat the Broncos.
Their defence has been a big worry since their losing streak begun and it has prevented them from winning on multiple occasions, just as it did on Saturday night.
Despite the loss, Manly did look good in attack piling on 32 points as Addin-Fonua Blake and Martin Taupau marched their way through the Tigers' pack. They'll be key players once again in their clash against the Bulldogs this Friday.
Manly do have the upper hand in fixtures against the Bulldogs recently, having won four of the previous five matches and three from three with Hasler back in charge.
The Sea Eagles are also with their own injury worries with Jorge Taufua and rookie Josh Schuster being ruled out for the rest of the season which sees Cade Cust return in the halves and Abbas Miski onto the wing for his first game this season.
Last meeting: Round 3 2020 - Sea Eagles 32 Bulldogs 6
Who to watch: Canterbury Bankstown hooker, Jeremy Marshall-King has been in some of his finest form since he came up against his former club, the Wests Tigers in round 14. Since that performance he has been reinstated as the starting hooker for the Bulldogs and has assisted three tries in his last four appearances, one more than he had managed in the previous 13 matches. Marshall-King also has two-line breaks and eight tackle breaks to his name over the past four matches and has been reliable running the football out of dummy-half. With Foran out this week, there is some work that needs to be picked up by the Bulldogs spine and Marshall-King could be one to benefit. He lines up against Danny Levi this week and will be eager to show the former New Zealand hooker what he can do.
As always with Manly, it is skipper Daly Cherry-Evans who is the one to watch. The Queensland halfback was integral in his side's attack on the weekend producing an incredible four tries for his teammates, taking his season assist tally to 15. Cherry-Evans also came up with two forced dropouts as his side retained possession well on the weekend. It was their defence that let them down on the weekend, but they come up against a limited attacking side in the Bulldogs without their star Kieran Foran. So, whilst their defence continues to struggle, it could be their attack that wins the game for the Sea Eagles if they can manage to score 30 odd points again.
The favourite: Manly enter this fixture as the favourite with three wins from their last three matches against the Bulldogs. The Sea Eagles have also won three times the games that the Bulldogs have managed to win this year and as a result are favoured to win this match.
My tip: Despite Manly's defensive struggles, I still expect them to win this clash as their go-forward is just going to be too hard to stop. The loss of Kieran Foran is also a big factor as the Bulldogs may struggle to produce points. Sea Eagles by 14.
