Sea Eagles v Sharks preview

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Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles v Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Sunday 4:05pm at 4 Pines Park, Brookvale / Cammeraygal

This top 8 contest shapes as a very intriguing contest.

The Sharks are playing much more consistently over the last 4 weeks, which has seen them pick up 3 wins. It could've been 4 had they not slaughtered a 5 on 3 play on the right side against a 12-man Tigers side.

Meanwhile Manly started the season in strong form, then lost heavily to Melbourne 48-24 in Round 5, then had 2 more losses to the Sharks and Dragons before an impressive win over Penrith prior to last weeks bye.

Since 2021, Manly have won 6 of their 8 games the week after the bye, however, Cronulla have won 4 of their 6 games against teams that are coming off a bye. The Sharks have also won their last 3 straight games against Manly at 4 Pines Park and 6 of their last 8 games against Manly overall - making it the Sharks most dominant era against the Sea-Eagles ever.

Added to the mix is the looming State of Origin selections, giving many players extra incentive to play well and we have ourselves the makings of a great battle.

Manly and the Sharks are 2 of the top 3 sides for dominating possession, 2 of the 5 top sides for set completions, both rank highly and almost similarly for post contact metres and are 2 of the 4 top sides for total metres run.

One area both are lacking in is a running game from dummy half. In recent weeks the Sharks rake Blayke Brailey has started to run somewhat more frequently and it has added another dimension to the Sharks forwards running game. Don't be surprised if this is utilized more in this contest to try and get the Manly defence on the back foot to allow the Sharks to storm downfield more frequently - especially given former hooker and current Sharks lock Cameron McInnes is able to slot in at dummy half, it becomes a zero risk play.

There are some tantalising battles across the park too. Red hot fullback William Kennedy is up against superstar Tom Trbojevic; Jason Saab will be against Ronaldo Mulitalo and DCE squares off against Nicho Hynes.

Both sides love running plays on the edges of the ruck, have size, power and speed out there and send much of their attack late in sets out to the edges. Cronulla does have a slight advantage in the middle thanks to the dominant form of new recruit Addin Fonua-Blake.

This should be a cracker of a match!

Last meeting: Round 6 2025 - Sharks 24 Sea Eagles 18

Who to watch: Current Dally M Medal leader William Kennedy has been in stellar form this year. His elusiveness in the broken field coupled with his brilliant support play, ability to set up tries, or even score them himself when close to the line, defensive positioning and fielding of kicks has been near perfect this year. Braydon Trindall has also been in good form of late and when he's playing well, the Sharks are scoring plenty of points. 

For Manly, Haumole Olakau'atu loves a contest and he will be keen to rip into this very solid Sharks forward pack. Tom Trbojevic has already had a few games on the sideline due to injury and with the NSW Origin selectors watching, he'll be keen to out-perform the form fullback in the NRL right now to prove that he deserves the call up once more for the Blues. Don't be surprised if he's popping up everywhere in attack, especially sniffing around the ruck looking for some second phase play opportunities.

Favourite: Manly at home and after a weeks rest are the favourites.

My tip: I'm not one to think that Sharks are the underdogs here. They're in form, they have recent dominance over Manly, including at the Sea-Eagles home ground, and the Sharks beat them just a few weeks ago. Sharks by 8.

1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Jason Saab 3. Tolutau Koula 4. Reuben Garrick 5. Lehi Hopoate 6. Luke Brooks 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Jake Trbojevic 9. Jake Simpkin 10. Siosiua Taukeiaho 11. Haumole Olakau'atu 12. Ben Trbojevic 13. Jazz Tevaga 14. Tommy Talau 15. Corey Waddell 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Nathan Brown 18. Caleb Navale 19. Clayton Faulalo 20. Jakob Arthur 21. Michael Chee Kam 22. Aitasi James

1. William Kennedy 2. Samuel Stonestreet 3. Jesse Ramien 4. KL Iro 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Oregon Kaufusi 11. Briton Nikora 12. Billy Burns 13. Cameron McInnes 14. Daniel Atkinson 15. Jesse Colquhoun 16. Braden Hamlin-Uele 17. Thomas Hazelton 18. Jayden Berrell 19. Tuku Hau Tapuha 20. Hohepa Puru 21. Niwhai Puru 22. Chris Veaila

Referees: Gerard Sutton; Sideline Officials: Drew Oultram, David Munro; Video Referees: Ashley Klein;