Sea Eagles prepare for Leichhardt battle
A victory over the Wests Tigers on Thursday night will secure an NRL finals berth for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles for the first time since 2021.
It will be another classic battle between the two rival clubs as the Tigers look to avoid a third straight wooden spoon against a Manly side that has proved lethal in recent weeks.
The Sea Eagles are coming off a solid win over the Warriors that kept them in sixth place with games against Wests Tigers, Bulldogs and Sharks to come.
Team news
The electrifying Tolu Koula comes into the team at centre for the injured Tommy Talau, who sustained a low grade pec muscle strain against the Warriors last week.
Form Guide
Ladder position: Sea Eagles 6th (31 points); Tigers 17th (14 points)
Head to Head since 1998 (NRL era): Played 36: Sea Eagles 22, Tigers 14
Last Round: Sea Eagles 24 d Warriors 10; Tigers 18 d Rabbitohs 16
Past five games record: Sea Eagles 4 wins, Tigers 1 win
Last Time We Met: Sea Eagles 54 d Tigers 12, 4 Pines Park, Rd 27, 2023
Match: Wests Tigers v Sea Eagles
Round 25 -
home Team
Wests Tigers
16th Position
away Team
Sea Eagles
7th Position
Venue: Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
Building consistency
Manly Coach Anthony Seibold wants to see his players maintain their level of consistency that has seen the Sea Eagles win seven of their last 10 games.
"We've had a real narrow focus on ourselves this week. We've had a short turnaround again. We want to try and build towards our best footy,'' Seibold said.
"We feel like we have made some really good strides over the last two months. We're going there to expect the Tigers to be at their best, but it comes back to how we turn up and play."
Building consistency into our game: Anthony Seibold
Rare trip to Leichhardt
The Sea Eagles will play their first NRL game at historic Leichhardt Oval in over four years on Thursday night.
You have to go back to round 2, 2020, when the Sea Eagles beat the Sydney Roosters 9-8 in in a match played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Manly full-back Tom Trbojevic inspired the Sea Eagles that day, scoring a try and saving several with some desperate defence before Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans kicked the winning field goal.
The last time Manly played the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt was in the opening round of the 2019 season.
On that day, current Manly halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Luke Brooks opposed each other, with current Tigers coach Benji Marshall at five-eighth alongside Brooks.
Wests Tigers skipper Api Koroisau played hooker for the Sea Eagles that day while Manly prop Josh Aloiai came off the bench for the Tigers.
Furthermore, the Sea Eagles have won their past six games against Wests Tigers.
Old Clubs
Speaking of old clubs, that will certainly be the case for several players on both teams tomorrow night.
The Sea Eagles have ex-Tigers in Aloiai, Nathan Brown, Luke Brooks, and Taniela Paseka.
Brooks played 205 games in 11 seasons for the Tigers before finding a new lease of life at Manly, where he has been dynamic in the halves alongside Daly Cherry-Evans and not having to worry about the burden of carrying a team.
A win for Brooks tomorrow night will see him lock in his first finals appearance.
Injured Manly centre Tommy Talau has also been a revelation in his first season at Brookvale after leaving the Tigers at the end of last year.
The Tigers have former Manly players in the Fainu brothers - Samuela, Latu and Sione, in their team after all three came through the Manly pathways program.
Samuela Fainu made his NRL debut for Manly against the Tigers last year while Josh Feledy, named on an extended bench, made his NRL debut for the Tigers against the Sea Eagles after coming through Manly's pathways program.
Get on Chez!
Sea Eagles captain Daly Cherry-Evans loves scoring tries against the Wests Tigers, crossing for 11 in his last 11 games against the joint-venture club.
Remarkably, eight of those 11 tries have been doubles, coming in 2017, 2018 and 2021.
His best effort was in 2021, scoring doubles in both of Manly's wins over the Tigers.
What's the odds of another double this week?
