Round 6 SEA EAGLES vs SHARKS

[DIEHARD]

MANLY vs SHARKS

[TITAN PETE]

Sea Eagles
1 Brett Stewart
2 Peta Hiku
3 Jamie Lyon (c)
4 Steve Matai
5 David Williams
6 Kieran Foran
7 Daly Cherry-Evans
8 Josh Starling
9 Matt Ballin
10 Brenton Lawrence
11 Anthony Watmough
12 Justin Horo
13 Glenn Stewart

Interchange
14 James Hasson
15 Dunamis Lui
16 Jamie Buhrer
17 Jason King
18 Jesse Sene-Lefao

Coach: Geoff Toovey

- - - Updated - - -

Sharks
1 Michael Gordon
2 Nathan Stapleton
3 Blake Ayshford
4 Ricky Leutele
5 Jono Wright
6 Todd Carney
7 Jeff Robson
8 Andrew Fifita
9 Josh Morris
10 Bryce Gibbs
11 Tupou Sopoaga
12 Wade Graham
13 Chris Heighington

Interchange
14 Isaac De Gois
15 Tinirau Arona
16 Sam Tagataese
17 Siosaia Vave

Coach: Peter Sharp

[TITAN PETE]

Sea Eagles v Sharks preview
By Dan Walsh, Staff Writer
NRL.com
12:45pm Wed 09th April

Sea Eagles v Sharks
Brookvale Oval
Sunday 3pm (AEST)

What a difference seven days makes in the world of rugby league.

This time last week Manly were flying high on the back of impressive wins over the Roosters and Souths, and Glenn Stewart and the Sea Eagles board were tip-toeing through the tulips of his contract negotiations. Meanwhile down in the Shire, the Sharks found themselves scuttling about on the bottom of the NRL sea with a life raft full of injured stars floating about on the sidelines.

Well, maybe not that big a difference. Manly are still one of the form teams of the competition despite their worst performance in years at a waterlogged Leichhardt Oval and Glenn Stewart’s future is murkier than Narrabeen lake when a hit by sou-westerly.

The Sharks, meanwhile, are still swimming around the shallow end of the NRL ladder despite their 31-point thumping of the Warriors but the nips are getting bigger for the Cronulla boys, with Jeff Robson settling back in at halfback and the likes of Gallen, Lewis, Ryan and Tupou all getting closer to returning by the day.

Regardless of their contrasting starts to the year, both these sides could use a healthy dose of consistency. So far Manly have followed impressive wins against Souths and the Roosters with uninspiring showings against Parramatta and the Tigers, while for the Sharks there’s an obvious aim: Turn their early string of drubbings and heartbreakers into more 30-point wins.

Cronulla has welcomed their trips to the other end of Sydney about as much as an outhouse breeze over the years and with good reason: They possess a dismal record of just six wins from their last 44 ventures to the northern beaches graveyard of Brookvale, easily their unhappiest of hunting grounds.

And in further statistical anomalies, Robson will play his 50th match for the Sharks against the club he debuted for back in 2004. Bear with us here. He played against the Sharks that day at Brookvale, and then in his first game for the Sharks in 2012, Robson shaped up against, you guessed it, Manly.

So he’ll be playing his 50th match for the Sharks against the club he debuted for against the club he now plays for. Confused as a cow on Astroturf? Yeah, us too. On both occasions the Sharks got up, so Peter Sharp will be hoping the little fella’s streak continues in milestone matches featuring the Sea Eagles.

For Manly, Glenn Stewart and James Hasson return from injury and NSW Cup respectively, coming in for Jesse Sene-Lefao and Tom Symonds, while the Sharks take the same 17 in as last week but Chris Heighington moves from the bench into the starting side for Tinirau Arona.

Watch Out Sea Eagles: It’s that man Robson that should have the Sea Eagles wary. While the unassuming country boy was solid with a try assist and 193 kicking metres in his return from injury against the Warriors, it’s the pressure he takes off halves partner Todd Carney that is Robson’s magic play, with the mercurial five-eighth setting up three tries when allowed to concentrate on his running game as Robson took care of the organisational duties.

Expect Robson’s influence to grow as he gets more minutes under belt as well, the crafty No.7 has a handy short kicking game and had a hand in eight tries for the Sharks last year.

Watch Out Sharks: What is this? Bizarro World? Believe it or not Manly have won the three matches Brett Stewart has watched from the stands this year, while losing the two the Snake has started, flying in the face of the rugby league wives tale that Manly can’t win without their crafty custodian.

Rest assured the Sharks won’t be buying into it, as Stewart still leads Manly’s try assist column with four from just two hours of football this year. Throw in the Snake’s unrivalled try-scoring feats on his favourite patch of grass – he’s up to 74 from 77 appearances at Brookvale – and the Sharks will want to be on their toes whenever he comes within cooee of the ball.


Plays To Watch: Carney hitting Nathan Stapleton on the chest with those picturesque long balls and Sam Tagataese following his five-eighth around like a bad smell, after a sublime short ball put the big man over for his first meat pie of the season.

For Manly, Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran chipping for the likes of Stewart and Jamie Lyon, two of the best kick chasers in the game. Also, Anthony Watmough and Steve Matai backing their ability to run over the top of the Sharks’ shaky right-side defence of Carney and Blake Ayshford.

Where It Will Be Won: Both sides have had no trouble rolling up field this year, with the Sharks ranked best in the league for all running metres (3888) and the Sea Eagles following close behind with 3697 metres.

But while Manly also sit second in terms of metres conceded (2631), Cronulla have been rolling out the red carpet for the opposition in conceding a competition-worst of 4226 metres. Unless they can keep the Sea Eagles forwards under wraps, Cherry-Evans and Foran are going to have one hell of a silver platter to work their magic from.

The History: Played 82 – Sea Eagles 57, Sharks 23, drawn 2. It’s been all Manly of late, with the Sea Eagles claiming eight of their last nine clashes against the Sharks, including last year’s entertaining finals encounter when they put an end to Cronulla’s 2013 hopes.

What Are The Odds: Manly are the short priced $1.26 favourites with Sportsbet.com.au – shortest price of any side this round – with 75 per cent of all money going on them. The Sharks are the $3.75 outsiders. Interestingly though, bets are two to one in favour of the Sharks so there’s some thought that they can roll Manly here.

Match Officials: Referees – Gavin Badger & Adam Devcich; Touch Judges – Michael Wise & Nick Beashel; Video Referees – Steve Clark & Andrew Dunemann.

Televised: Channel Nine – Delayed 4pm (AEST)

The Way We See It: Given Manly’s yo-yo impression is due for another upswing, Cronulla could well be up against it as we continue our Sunday footy love affair with the NRL’s suburban grounds. The Sharks still look a few good men and a few weeks short of being able to challenge the competition’s big dogs but even if they were firing on all cylinder that record at Brookvale is so bad you couldn’t logically tip against it. And yes we’re well aware that abandoning logic has been the soundest tipping method by far this year. In any case, Manly by 10.

[Tamwelg]

Vbookie added

[TITAN PETE]

Manly reboot for Sharks visit
By Chris Kennedy, National Correspondent
NRL.com
7:00am Sun 13th April, 2014



Manly players still smarting from a big loss to Wests Tigers at Leichhardt last week say they won't be taking the Sharks lightly when their old rivals travel to Brookvale on Sunday afternoon.

"We've just got to put that one behind us and focus on the Sharks this week... they played really well against the Warrriors [in a 37-6 Round 5 win at Remondis Stadium]," Foran told reporters this week.

"We want to get a win up at 'Brooky' and put that one behind us and just move on."

He said the Sharks are better than their one win, four loss record suggests and look a different side with halfback Jeff Robson back controlling the play.

"They've been unlucky in a few games, being without a few troops - they're getting everyone back on deck and that makes them a real danger again," Foran said.

"I think they needed [Robson] back. He's a class player, he really steers them around the park well and frees Toddy Carney up to play his style of game so that makes them even more dangerous this week," he said.

Foran was not yet born when the fierce rivalry was born between the two clubs in the 1970s, when Manly defeated Cronulla in the Sharks' first grand final, in 1973. Five years later the two clubs went to war twice n a week, the Sea Eagles winning won a controversial grand final replay against the Sharks in 1978, just three days after the '78 decider had been drawn 11-all.

"I've seen the old games and old tapes so I'm aware of the rivalry," Foran said.

"It's always a tough game when we play the Sharks. It doesn't matter where we play them, it always seems to be a physical encounter.

"They're a big strong forward pack and I know we want to get back into the winning circle this week so we're going to try and bring our A-game and hopefully test them."

Manly second rower Justin Horo agreed the Sharks were boosted by the return of Robson and said they would be a different proposition with injured players starting to return.

"Just the direction they had, I watched briefly a bit of their game [against the Warriors] and they looked a lot sharper. They'll want to build on that and we'll have to be ready to go," Horo said.

Manly prop Josh Starling said Sharks forward Sam Tagataese would also be a big threat.

"The [Sharks have] hit some form, they're getting a few players back and getting a roll on," said Starling.

"Big 'Taggers' (Tagataese), he's playing unbelievable for them, with their halves coming back and good kicking games it's going to be a tough one."

[Tamwelg]

Manly win 24 - 4.