Saturday night NRL action is normally referred to as Super Saturday but with the Origin period upon us and teams handed a bye, just the sole fixture will take place on the northern beaches of Sydney. Despite just one fixture, there is still money to be won with our NRL tips!
The tipsters at Before You Bet will have you covered across all sports this weekend. Stay tuned and you may even be able to have a sickie on Monday!
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles vs New Zealand Warriors
4 Pines Park, Saturday 4th June, 7:35pm (EST)
Squads
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
1. Reuben Garrick 2. Jason Saab 3. Morgan Harper 4. Tolutau Koula 5. Christian Tuipulotu 6. Josh Schuster 7. Kieran Foran 8. Josh Aloiai 9. Lachlan Croker 10. Toafofoa Sipley 11. Haumole Olakau’atu 12. Andrew Davey 13. Jake Trbojevic Interchange: 14. Dylan Walker 15. Karl Lawton 16. Martin Taupau 17. Sean Keppie 18. Taniela Paseka
New Zealand Warriors
1. Reece Walsh 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3. Rocco Berry 4. Adam Pompey 5. Marcelo Montoya 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita 7. Shaun Johnson 8. Ben Murdoch-Masila 9. Wayde Egan 10. Jazz Tevaga 11. Euan Aitken 12. Tohu Harris 13. Jack Murchie Interchange: 14. Taniela Otukolo 15. Bunty Afoa 16. Aaron Pene 17. Bayley Sironen 18. Freddy Lussick
Match Preview
The Sea Eagles struggled last week on the road against the Storm, comprehensively defeated 28-8. While keeping the Storm honest for majority of the match, they were unable to score points and eventually, the points conceded grew too large. It was yet another indication that the Sea Eagles are not at the same level of the top teams in the competition and will struggle to reach that level without Tommy Turbo.
Nevertheless, when it comes to teams like the Warriors, the Sea Eagles appear to have an edge. The visitors are just 2 competition points behind their hosts and are on a 4-game losing streak. Their recent performances have been had positive and negative in equal measure. Having competitive moments during games is one thing but they are still yet to (recently) play for the entire 80 minutes. There is also a direct correlation between this and losing performances.
The Sea Eagles will be without DCE for this game, seeing Schuster move to 5/8 and Foran to Halfback. The disruption should offer another dimension to their attack, but it also takes an edge off their deep kicking game. Hopefully for them, the Warriors won’t be pressuring them too much coming off their own line. The Warriors are their own worst enemy each week and the Sea Eagles have the experience and quality to make their opponents pay for their mistakes. The bookies have this mindset too with the Sea Eagles favourites ($1.48 v $2.65).
Confidence is high in this fixture too. Despite losing their two best players, Jake Trbojevic remains, and he will be out to prove a point after being overlooked for Origin. Hasler will know how to get the best out of his team for this game and they will benefit in key combinations in their spine. Interestingly, 6/8 losses for the Warriors have been by 12-points or less. Take the line on for this match and then go from there. If the Sea Eagles get rolling with confidence, the Warriors defensive structure may abandon them.
Prop Bets:
Schuster to Score ($5.00 at Ladbrokes)
SGM - Sea Eagles H2H, Saab, Harper & Olakauatu Tryscorers ($14 at Ladbrokes)
Sea Eagles -5.5
$1.90 (4 Units)