RD 16: Sea Eagles vs Broncos

[Queenslander]

Manly Sea Eagles vs Brisbane Broncos
Sunday June 25, Brookvale Oval
Kick-off: 3pm

Referee: Shayne Hayne

Team Notes:

Sea Eagles:

The Sea Eagles will go into this weekends match against the Broncos without Stephen Bell and Luke Williamson. Williamson is still recovering from a bad knock he received in last weeks loss to the Sharks and Bell is still out due to the facial fracture he received in State Of Origin 2. Bell had 3 plates and 17 screws inserted to repair the fracture but is recovering well and may be back earlier than the original 6 week estimation.

Broncos:

Hard-hitting lock Tonie Carroll makes a shock return from knee surgery, with fellow representative stars Justin Hodges, Tame Tupou (knee) and Corey Parker (back) also returning from injury.

This means Shaun Berrigan shifts from centre back to hooker to replace new benchman Casey McGuire who becomes back-up dummy-half.

David Stagg moves from lock to join Parker in the second row, forcing Dane Carlaw and Brad Thorn back to the bench.

Origin utility forward Sam Thaiday is the last of the four man interchange with young playmakers Ian Lacey and Brett Seymour 18th and 19th men.

Interesting Facts:

When the Broncos last beat Manly at Brookvale Oval; Round 5, April 19 1992. Broncos 28 d Manly 12;

Paul Keating was still prime minister;

Unforgiven, starring Clint Eastwood won the Oscar for best picture;

Kerry Packer ordered "Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos" be taken off the air during an ad break;

Peter Sterling retired;

Wally Lewis was captain-coach of the Gold Coast Seagulls;

The Broncos won their first premership.

Sea Eagles:

Brett Stewart
Michael Robertson
Chris Hicks
Steve Matai
Paul Stephenson
Travis Burns
Matt Orford
Jason King
Michael Monaghan
Brent Kite
Steve Menzies
Anthony Watmough
Ben Kennedy (c)

Interchange:

Shayne Dunley
Kylie Leuluai
Mark Bryant
George Rose


Broncos:

1. Darius Boyd
2. Tame Tupou
3. Justin Hodges
4. Brent Tate
5. Fraser Anderson
6. Darren Lockyer (c)
7. Shane Perry
8. Shane Webcke
9. Shaun Berrigan
10. Petero Civoniceva
11. David Stagg
12. Corey Parker
13. Tonie Carroll

Interchange:

14. Brad Thorn
15. Dane Carlaw
16. Sam Thaiday
17. Casey McGuire
18. Ian Lacey
19. Brett Seymour (two to be omitted)

Note: Broncos are in blue due to the obvious colour clash, and the fact that the Broncos will be wearing their white and blue away strips for this game

***Please use this thread for game day spoilers***

[[BroncosGirl]]

It'll be good to see how Darius handles FB week inweek out, hope he steps up! And also good to see Anderson get a few runs too!

I reckon Broncos have this one covered !

[Kallan]

Broncos can win this one, I will be tipping them, Nice to see Hodges is back in the team.

[Souths'n'Titans]

Ian Lacey is always in the 18 jumper and ends up playing, just put him in 14-17

[Kallan]

Ian Lacey is always in the 18 jumper and ends up playing, just put him in 14-17

Maybe he just likes to wear the number 18 jersey....

[Souths'n'Titans]

Maybe he just likes to wear the number 18 jersey....

He should wear 21

[BRONCOS FAN]

Yeah it should be a good game. And yeah it is good to see hodges back. Broncos beat them the first time so maybe they will do it again. But the broncs have been a bit weak after origin two so it will be interesting..

[Hoppy2007Dragons]

Eagles at Home, i'm tipping them to be too strong for the ravaged broncos, Manly by 8.

[SuperCliffy#01]

Me i don't care by how much Manly to win.cya. :box:

[Super Cronk]

Tought game to pick but i think Manly will win. Their halves are starting to play some good footy and their pack is very strong.

[Queenslander]

Some interesting facts about this game from The Courier Mail:

When the Broncos last beat Manly at Brookvale Oval; Round 5, April 19 1992. Broncos 28 d Manly 12;

Paul Keating was still prime minister;

Unforgiven, starring Clint Eastwood won the Oscar for best picture;

Kerry Packer ordered "Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos" be taken off the air during an ad break;

Peter Sterling retired;

Wally Lewis was captain-coach of the Gold Coast Seagulls;

The Broncos won their first premership.
************************************************** *********************************

Brooky victory to ease pain
Steve Ricketts
June 22, 2006

BRONCOS chief executive Bruno Cullen says it is important rather than vital that Brisbane breaks a 14-year drought by beating Manly at Brookvale Oval on Sunday.

Still reeling from last Friday night's last-minute 18-16 loss to St George Illawarra at Suncorp Stadium, the Broncos are desperate to pick up two more NRL premiership points before the loss of up to eight players to Queensland State of Origin commitments next week.

It wasn't just the nature of the loss to the Dragons which hurt the Broncos. It was the realisation they had two points in their grasp which could have acted as a cushion for the tough road ahead.

They play Cronulla at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday week when Origin players will be away and then on Friday night, July 7, two days after Origin III, Brisbane must play competition leaders Melbourne in Melbourne before enjoying a bye.

But first there is the little matter of Manly at Brookvale where the Broncos last won in 1992 when coach Des Hasler was then lock for the Sea Eagles; Graham Lowe was coach and Michael O'Connor captain.

Wayne Bennett was then in his fifth year as Brisbane coach as Allan Langer led the side to a convincing 28-12 win.

"It's been a long time between drinks, although I don't think our record at the ground presents any hurdles for the players," Cullen said. "This is a big game, there's no doubt about that. But I would say the two premiership points are very important rather than vital."

Melbourne (24) heads the NRL table followed by Brisbane, Cronulla, the Bulldogs and Dragons all on 20, with Newcastle and Manly on 18.

If Brisbane loses on Sunday it could drop out of the top four and losses to Cronulla and Melbourne could put the side back on the fringe of the top eight.

Last year Brisbane led the premiership for 16 weeks and at one stage held a six-point lead at the top of the ladder before losing its last seven games, including two finals.

After consecutive losses to South Sydney and St George Illawarra the alarm bells are not yet sounding at the Broncos, but they will be if the club fails to get at least one win in the next three matches because the run home after the post-Origin bye is formidable with matches against the Cowboys (away), Tigers (h), Raiders (a), Storm (h), Bulldogs (a), Eels (a) and Warriors (h).

Manly has its own problems after last Saturday's 15-12 loss to Cronulla with halfback Matt Orford in doubt with an ankle injury. The Sea Eagles have several options including the switch of Michael Monaghan from hooker to halfback or the promotion of Michael Witt.

Cullen has stepped up contract talks with a number of players including David Stagg, Tame Tupou, Darius Boyd and Ian Lacey.

Redcliffe centre Nick Emmett will attempt to have a tripping charge downgraded at the QRL judiciary today and if successful will be available for the Broncos-Cronulla match under a dual registration arrangement between the clubs.

The former Parramatta lower grader, who trained with the Broncos this week, was selected in the City team to play Country at Cloncurry on Saturday but will miss the match because of the tripping charge.

Redcliffe prop Pat Gardner comes into the squad with Jackson Nicolau (Norths) switching from the bench to centre.

The Courier Mail

[Supergoose]

Broncos were unlucky last week but were shocking the week before. Manly have been playing with plenty of heart but playing ordinary for a couple of weeks. If both teams show up to play then it will be a tight contest. Hunt missing from the Broncos could be a massive blow for them as he provides a lot of the talk from the back. Manly to win.... just. (I will still pick the Broncos out of loyalty though)

[Coaster]

Broncos will lose this one.

They dont have a combination to score tries without the "special lockyer/hunt move"

Losing Hunt will hurt the Broncos no end.

Players will be saving themselves for melbourne SOO, and Manly at Brooky are never easy.

Manly 28-10
MoM Menzies

[Teegy]

Broncos will lose this one.

They dont have a combination to score tries without the "special lockyer/hunt move"

Losing Hunt will hurt the Broncos no end.

Players will be saving themselves for melbourne SOO, and Manly at Brooky are never easy.

Manly 28-10
MoM Menzies

i was going to back manly but last time you said your team would lose was origin and we all know what happened their

Broncs by 12+

[Teegy]

SMH

Manly's inability to break a 20-year losing streak at Toyota Park against the Sharks last weekend will help steel the Sea Eagles for Sunday's NRL showdown with Brisbane.

Ground hoodoos often prove difficult hurdles in NRL games as the Sea Eagles again discovered in their narrow 15-12 loss to the Sharks.

This weekend it's Brisbane's turn to snap a ground hoodoo that has seen them go winless at Brookvale Oval since 1992.

Since they entered the premiership in 1988 with a 44-10 win over Manly at Lang Park, they've won just three of their 12 games at Brookvale Oval.

Coaches play down such statistics.

But they are a fact of life and can often get into players' heads.

Brisbane have some injury problems with centre Justin Hodges unable to train because of the 'flu along with Casey McGuire (hip).

Back-up hooker Ian Lacey trained despite a corked buttock as did winger Tame Tupou (knee).

The good news was that Tonie Carroll continued to train well following knee surgery and should be cleared for an early return against Manly.

Origin forward Sam Thaiday caught the eye more than usual at training with some of his long dreadlocks dyed pink.

"I'm a bit of character and I like to be different," said the recently turned 21-year-old with the gollywog hairdo.

"My mum hates pink and if she sees me with pink hair she'll probably kill me.

"I'm just rebelling against my mum."

Coach Wayne Bennett wants Thaiday to rebel against Manly's pack with the same aggression he displayed for Queensland last week.

"He (Bennett) wants me to play the way I played for Queensland with a bit of aggression and bring a lot more enthusiasm onto the field for the Broncs," said Thaiday.

"Hopefully I can do that for him.

"He just wants that consistency week in, week out, not having a couple of good games and then throwing in a low game."

Thaiday, who's made a rapid transition from a raw young forward to representative football believes his two Origin games for Queensland have helped him considerably.

"I think I've matured as a player. It's made me a bit tougher and I know what that next level's like now."

Thaiday however doesn't know what Brookvale Oval is like having never played at the Sydney ground.

"I haven't played there yet so it will be a good experience," he said.

"We really haven't talked much about our record there."

Manly's pack, which includes Ben Kennedy and Anthony Watmough, will be a handful for the likes of Shane Webcke, Petero Civoniceva, Brad Thorn and Thaiday.

"They've got a good strong pack that plays well week in and week out which we have to deal with," said Thaiday.