Round 9: Sea Eagles v Titans preview
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles will look to soar to three wins on the trot when they go up against the Gold Coast Titans at 4 Pines Park on Saturday night.
Manly come into this clash following two hard fought victories over the Melbourne Storm and Wests Tigers. They were made to work for their two competition points last start dealing with in game injuries which forced a reshuffled backline. However, they were able to weather the storm of the Tigers in the second half and run away with the two competition points.
Coming into this clash with the Titans. They'll need to hold the fort in defence. Gold Coast have shown this season with sustained possession they can run up points in a matter of minutes. Manly's edge defence has also been suspect at times this season, so if they don't aim up out wide. It will be another big comeback they'll have to perform. Look for DCE and Schuster to try and dictate terms early with their kicking game and game management as the Titans have shown their ability to fold faster then origami.
The big concern this week has been the fitness of Tom Trbojevic. Turbo was pulled with 15 minutes to go, but will take his place baring any late flare-ups of an abductor strain. Christian Tuipulotu returns from a knee injury on the wing and Reuben Garrick moves into the centres to replace Brad Parker. Cooper Johns takes over from Josh Schuster at five-eighth with a quad injruy. Kelma Tuilagi returns from concussion in the back row so Ethan Bullemor reverts to the bench while Karl Lawton (shoulder) has also been named to return, Aaron Woods is 18th man.
The Titans. Well, this is getting awfully familiar now and not for the right reasons. For the fourth time in recent memory, they have blown a 20+ point lead to get run down with their effort going into NRL history for the wrong reasons with a blown 26-0 lead. It's hard to get behind the Titans when they take their fans and NRL neutrals on a heart palpitation on a weekly basis.
Onto Manly, they can take the confidence that their attack has been flawless… for 40 minutes almost every match this season. AJ Brimson looked confident back in the fullback jumper, but there was no one else willing to pull their sleeves up in the second stanza to run with Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and Mo Fotuaika and that's a significant concern moving forward. If they dictate their attack consistently down Manly's right edge and not fold at the first sign of trouble defensively. Then they are set to give the Manly side a shake.
Justin Holbrook has made some changes to the side that collapsed. Phil Sami moves to wing while Jojo Fifita goes to centre. Klese Haas and Joe Vuna have been added to the bench at the expense of Kruise Leeming and Thomas Mikaele
Last meeting: Round 22 2022 - Titans 44 Sea Eagles 24
Who to watch: For Manly, the focus needs to be on Cooper Johns. Johns comes into the side to replace the injured Josh Schuster and has been a joy to watch in the number 6 jersey for the Eagles this season. In his three appearances at 6, Johns has been great, forcing two dropouts and being the foil in behind DCE. All he needs to do is stay consistent, and Manly are on their way.
For the Titans. The focus comes on the man that Schuster replaced. Kieran Foran has had a mixed start to life as a Titan. While his experience has brought much needed resolve to the Titans. He's only set up one try, forced one dropout and set up four line-breaks. Gold Coast need more from their big season acquisition and against his old club, it's the perfect story of revenge.
The favourite: The Manly side start deserving favourites for this clash. Gold Coast have a good recent record at Brookvale Oval only losing twice at the venue since 2013.
My tip: With Turbo running at 80% it's easy to see why many are going to go against Manly. However, can people trust the Titans after their 26-0 capitulation… It's a real tipsters nightmare this match-up but the mind is telling me that Manly will have enough reserve to weather the Titans. Manly by 8.
