Round 12: Raiders v Sea Eagles preview
Struggling Sea Eagles travel to Canberra to face in-form Raiders
Manly and Canberra are set to round out Indigenous Round on Sunday afternoon at GIO Stadium, on Ngunnawal Land. The home side have been showing great form of late, having snuck out to a five game winning streak, and as a result have climbed to 7th on the ladder. On the other hand, Manly's promising start to the season has fallen away, and they find themselves sitting 12th.
Canberra are coming off an important eight point victory over Parramatta last week. It was a hard fought game, with the Raiders having to contend with the sin-binning of their forward Corey Horsburgh in the 22nd minute. With the scores tied at the half-time break, Canberra showed a certain maturity that hadn't been displayed in the earlier rounds of 2023 to take home the two points with a 26-18 full time scoreline.
Tom Starling finds himself in the starting hooker role, with Zac Woolford out through concussion. Danny Levi is set to make a timely return from a broken jaw, and has been named on the bench.
Manly are heading into this weekend on a three game losing streak that will only become tougher and tougher to break each round. They need to stop digging their own hole deeper, and do whatever it takes to record a win against the Raiders on Sunday. If they can't, they're running the very real risk of their season running down the drain very quickly.
Last week they faced off against Cronulla at their own home ground in Brookvale. Down 20 to zip with just 30 minutes remaining on the clock, things looked like they could be about to get ugly for the home team. To Manly's credit though, they managed a miniature fightback, drawing the scoreline to within touching distance by full-time - a 20-14 loss.
In big news for Manly and the NSW Blues, Jake Trbojevic has been named to make a slightly earlier than planned return from injury this weekend. Josh Schuster is also back into the side, and he is set to partner Daly Cherry-Evans in the halves. Injuries to Josh Aloiai and Kelma Tuilagi means that Ben Trbojevic will be the third Trbojevic in Manly's starting 13, while Samuela Fainu and Ben Condon join the interchange.
Canberra haven't won six straight games since 2016, so a win this round would no doubt be significant for the club.
Last meeting: Round 24 2022 - Raiders 48 Sea Eagles 6
Who to watch: Danny Levi will be a key factor in Sunday's game for Canberra. Returning from a broken jaw, the 27 year old will be inserted into the game off the bench, presumably as a replacement for Tom Starling in the hooker role. Having made just three NRL appearances this year, Levi will be keen to take advantage of this game with Zac Woolford out of the picture. Woolford, Levi, and Starling have been locked in an enthralling battle for minutes at hooker for Canberra throughout this season, so you can expect Levi to stake a claim to the starting number nine jersey long-term, in his return from injury.
As Manly's Lachlan Croker closes in on 100 NRL games, he can be proud of his efforts that have secured him the role of first choice hooker at the Sea Eagles for the 2023 season. The 26 year old has appeared in every game since round five, and has played a minimum of fifty minutes in each. Despite coming from a halves background, Croker has now well and truly established himself as an NRL hooker - this is his 6th year with Manly. Croker made his NRL debut with the Raiders back in 2016, so he will want to make a statement against his former club.
Favourite: Ricky's Raiders are the solid favourites to win this Sunday at home.
My tip: Canberra should extend their winning streak against a disappointing Manly side. Raiders by 12.
