Round 9: Sea Eagles v Raiders preview
Manly hitting their straps while Raiders hit the wall
After a somewhat clunky start to the season for Manly, where they scored victories against Souths (36-24) and the Roosters (21-14), they then lost back-to-back games against seemingly lesser opponents (at the time anyway) Parramatta (24-28) and the Dragons (12-20). Since then though, their attack has started to look more and more impressive, as they racked up an impressive 120 points in their last 4 games, notching 3 wins and a draw.
Their defence though is still patchy, conceding 88 points in the last 4 weeks, with some poor reads and a lack of communication on the edges of their defensive line.
The Raiders have been doing things in fortnightly blocks. They started with solid back-to-back victories against the Knights and Tigers, then conceded 54 points across their next two games, losing both, to the Warriors and Sharks. Then had a combined score of 62-28 over their next 2 games, both wins against Parramatta and the Titans. Their last fortnight has seen them record back-to-back losses to Brisbane and Cronulla, by a combined score of 74-10.
Canberra are consistently inconsistent, helped none by the loss to injury of chief playmaker Jamal Fogarty, adding to an injury ward, which last week was also housing Elliott Whitehead, Corey Horsburgh, Jordan Rapana, Corey Harawira-Naera and Zac Hosking. Throw in Ricky Stuart's penchant for constantly meddling with the line-ups and what we have is a Raiders side that have used 28 players already in 2024, 9 of which have played in every game thus far.
If the Raiders can throw some shape at the Manly defensive line, especially on Luke Brook's side of the field, opportunities will present themselves. That looks difficult given their complete lack of imagination in attack last week against the Sharks.
Similarly, Manly's attack has many similarities to the Sharks and they will play a very similar style. Plenty of 1 and 2 out's, pushing up the middle, strong committed runs on the edge's of the ruck and utilizing their talented halfback and fullback, both of whom are always in support.
Canberra's defence was feeble at times against the Sharks, with a number of occasions seeing players failing to put their bodies on the line. You just know Ricky Stuart would have been extremely unimpressed with that.
Manly will be without strike back rower Haumole Olakau'atu who has been hit with a 2 game suspension after last weekend's game. Ethan Bullemor will move from the bench and into the starting side to replace him. Toafofoa Sipley comes onto the bench.
For the Raiders, rookies Chevy Stewart and James Schiller have been dropped, replaced by Albert Hopoate and Nick Cotric respectively. Whitehead returns and will move into the second row, pushing Simi Sasagi onto the extended bench.
Last meeting: Round 12 2023 - Raiders 14 Sea Eagles 42
Who to watch: Elliott Whitehead is a huge addition to this Raiders side and it wouldn't surprise if he is tasked with the job of constantly making a beeline for Luke Brooks. Brooks isn't a slouch defensively, given his size, but his poor communication has in the past left him isolated in defence. Whitehead will be seeking to exploit that with his late step at the line and offloads.
Daly Cherry-Evans will no doubt be seeking to bombard the Raiders with his brilliant kicking game and using his combination with Tom Trbojevic to create opportunities for speedster Jason Saab.
Favourite: Manly's point scoring prowess and Canberra's erratic form means Manly will enter as favourites. Manly have the wood on the Raiders of late too, winning 11 of their last 15 clashes at 4 Pines Park.
My tip: Canberra have been looking sluggish and Manly have been playing with a lot of freedom in attack. Even an improved Canberra is going to struggle here. Manly by 12.
