Manly Warringah Sea Eagles will be looking to get their Jersey Flegg Cup campaign back on track at 4 Pines Park on Sunday following two tough away losses.
Following a 22-18 loss to the Melbourne Storm in Victoria the week before, the Sea Eagles went down 26-24 to the Newcastle Knights in Newcastle last Saturday after trailing 16-4 at the break.
Manly went into the game without regular half-back Tylor Bunting, who was called up to play his first NSW Cup game for Blacktown Workers. Bunting has kept his spot this week for Blacktown after a fine performance.
The Sea Eagles have the chance to rectify their form when they take on St George-Illawarra Dragons in the curtain raiser game to the NRL on Sunday.
Match: Sea Eagles v Dragons
Round 15 -
home Team
Sea Eagles
away Team
Dragons
Venue: 4 Pines Park, Sydney
The Dragons have won one of their last five games to sit ninth on 14 points, two behind the seventh placed Sea Eagles.
Manly Coach Scott Kenna said his team was determined to fire again at home after the demanding road trips. The Sea Eagles have won three of their five games at Brookvale this season.
“We made some crucial errors at crucial times against the Knights and then we couldn’t defend our errors which really hurt us,’’ he said.
“We showed some good character to come back in the second half to take the lead but just couldn’t close the game out.
“Our centre Alton Naiyep was very strong with the ball and looked our most dangerous player.
“Although we missed Tylor, his selection for Blacktown Workers was a good reward for some strong performances over the past month.”
The Sea Eagles welcome hardworking prop Remi Mant into the team this week after some solid performances for the Manly Leagues team in their first season in the Sydney Shield.
