Here we go again, Manly and Parra. It never gets old. With these two arch rivals, no matter where they are on the ladder, the clashes are always looked forward to and the fans of both sides write these matches down in their diaries.

No doubt tomorrow night’s clash has that extra spice with both teams having players who have played for each other. Lyon, Foran, Gutherson, Lussick have all worn both the blue and gold and maroon and white. We must also mention Brad Arthur’s time as an assistant coach at the peninsular club as well. No doubt Keiran Foran will get a very warm welcome from the Brookvale faithful. And yes the blue and gold army always let Jamie Lyon know about his past.

This Round 7 clash will see the old rivals clash for a 135^th time.

Manly do have a very healthy lead with 82 victories to 48 for the Eels. At Brookvale, they have clashed 63 times with a 41 to 18 lead to Manly.

In recent matches, the Eels have won the last 3 encounters, but in the last 10 matches between these two great rivals, Manly have a 6 – 4 win count.

Stats show that the Sea Eagles are slow starters with only 1 ‘win’ in the first 20mins to Parra’s 3 in the same time in games. So if the Eels continue to start strongly, it will go a long way to keeping the Sea Eagles at bay.

Manly’s strongest period is in the first 20 minutes after the break, winning 4 times in that time period. Getting on the front foot straight after the break has become a feature of Manly’s game this year, keeping them competitive at times when the matches could have got away from them.

Parramatta still hold a 100% completion with leading at half time (4). This gives the Eels fans great confidence at half time although this stat could be tempered but the fact that Manly have been down at half time and won twice.

Last 10 Meetings:

Since 2011, the Eels have only managed to win one out of five clashes at Brookvale Oval. During this period, the Sea Eagles home ground has earned the reputation as “Fortress Brookvale”, a reputation earned on the back of Manly’s resilience and a playing surface that would be a “Heavy 9” on most race tracks.

Of course, three of those four recent victories by Manly at Brookvale were earned against a cellar dwelling Parramatta line up. Brad Arthur coached Parramatta teams have a one win/one loss record at Brookvale. Perhaps this is a more relevant application of the historical record at the ground.

Like most Parramatta fans, I’ve been looking forward to this week’s game.

Go you mighty Eels!

Colmac

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