Date: Sunday 5th of March
Venue: Lottoland
Gates Open: 1:30
Kick off: 4:00pm (NYC 1:45pm)
Head Referee: Grant Atkins
Assistant Referee: Chris Butler
Head to head: Played 136, Sea Eagles 82, Eels 50, drawn 4
Head to head odds: Sea Eagles ($ 1.77), Eels ($ 2.10)
Broadcast: Live Channel 9 – Coverage from 3:30pm
Last four encounters:
01. Eels 10, Sea Eagles 9 at Pirtek Stadium (2016)
01. Eels 22, Sea Eagles 10 at Brookvale Oval (2016)
02. Eels 20, Sea Eagles 16 at Brookvale Oval (2015)
03. Eels 42, Sea Eagles 12 at Pirtek Stadium (2015)
Preview: The 2017 season NRL season is finally upon us and the honour of closing out round one this season will go to the long time rivals the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the Parramatta Eels who will do battle at Lottoland (formally Brookvale Oval) this Sunday. Over the years the Eels and Sea Eagles have played out a very storied rivalry, a rivalry that continues to burn strong until this very day.
Both the Eels and the Sea Eagles enter this game on the verge of a new day. The Eels enter this encounter off the back of losing a number of key players, none bigger than their former captain Kieran Foran who has been replaced by former Sea Eagle Clint Gutherson. As for the Sea Eagles they will be without the likes of Jamie Lyon, Steve Matai and Brett Stewart, veterans who have been around the club for a very long time. So with changes aplenty, the Sea Eagles and the Eels enter this encounter with a view to the future.
Value Bet: My value bet for this one is for the Eels to claim the victory by a margin of 13 points or more, which is priced at $5 (all odds via Sportsbet). As for the first try favourites for both teams the Sea Eagles have Jorge Taufua at $10 and Tom Trbojevic at $10 On the other side of the coin the Eels have Semi Radradra at $9.50 and Bevan French at $10.
Interesting fact: In years gone by it has been the Sea Eagles who have dominated the Eels in the head to head wins statistic. However, over the past couple of years the Eels have turned that around, winning their past 5 encounters against the Sea Eagles.
It will be a big game for: This game shapes as being a big one for Eels five eighth Clint Gutherson. Whilst Clint Gutherson isn’t a complete novice to the five eighth role, having played the position in a number of games last season and in his U20s career, he’s still relatively inexperienced in this position. However thanks to a promising end to his 2016 season, Eels coach Brad Arthur has chosen to keep the faith in the young Eels back, giving him the first opportunity in 2017 to make the spot his own. Eels fans will be wanting and expecting Gutherson to play a steady hand in the role, if but nothing else than to accommodate the game of now Eels halfback Corey Norman. Despite all of his off field dramas, Norman had an excellent 2016 season, even placing amongst the top point getters in the 2016 Dally M medal award count. In terms of your traditional five eighths Gutherson is nothing of the sort, he is very much a player who relies on his own instinct and running the ball is definitely a strong suit for him. Norman himself is more of a complete playmaker, so we can expect Gutherson to play more of a supporting role. He might even share some of his load with Eels fullback Bevan French. Gutherson is a former Manly Sea Eagles player and grudge matches against an old team are always high on a player’s agenda. Expect a big one from our haircut hero.
Danger man: This week’s danger man is Sea Eagles fullback Tom Trbojevic. The young man has been earmarked to take the number one jersey from Brett Stewart at Manly for many years and he finally gets his big chance in 2017. Trbojevic has been a very highly touted youngster for many years now and this opportunity is no fluke. He has had an excellent past couple of years playing all over the Sea Eagles backline.
Trbojevic presents a danger for the Eels defensive line from pretty well anywhere on the park, as this dynamo is blessed with plenty of speed, evasiveness, tackle break ability and try scoring nous. The Eels defence would be wise to be on guard at all times when the ball is in Trbojevic’s possession. A good start to this season for Tommy Turbo may very well lead to selection in the NSW Origin team, possibly on the wing, given the vacancy currently left by Penrith Panthers winger Josh Mansour. Trbojevic’s height also make him a danger for potential aerial assaults by the Sea Eagles, so look for Manly to kick for Trbojevic quite frequently in attacking field positions.
Team lists:
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
01. Tom Trebojevic
02. Jorge Taufua
03. Dylan Walker
04. Brian Kelly
05. Akuila Uate
06. Blake Green
07. Daly Cherry Evans (C)
08. Brenton Lawrence
09. Apisai Koroisau
10. Martin Taupau
11. Frank Winterstein
12. Curtis Sironen
13. Jake Trebojevic
14. Lewis Brown
15. Nate Myles
16. Addin Fonua-Blake
17. Lloyd Perrett
18. Jarrad Kennedy
19. Cameron Cullen
20. Matthew Wright
21. Johnathan Wright
Coach: Trent Barrett
Late mail: No late mail for Sea Eagles at this point in time, expect them to remain 1-17.
Parramatta Eels
01. Bevan French
02. Semi Radradra
03. Michael Jennings
04. Brad Takairangi
05. Josh Hoffman
06. Clint Gutherson
07. Corey Norman
08. Suaia Matagi
09. Kaysa Pritchard
10. Tim Mannah (C)
11. Manu Ma’u
12. Tepai Moeroa
13. Beau Scott (C)
14. Nathan Brown
15. Daniel Alvaro
16. Rory O’ Brien
17. Frank Pritchard
18. Jamal Fogarty
19. Cameron King
20. David Gower
21. Scott Schulte
Coach: Brad Arthur
Late mail: Much like the Sea Eagles no late changes expected for the Eels, expect them to remain 1-17.
2 Key Match Ups:
01. Daly Cherry Evans vs Corey Norman:
The first key match up is battle of the halfbacks with the Sea Eagles Captain Daly Cherry Evans lining up to face Parramatta Eels superstar Corey Norman.
One could argue without all the 2016 penalties, misfortunes and ramifications the Eels would have easily made the top eight, however that’s not the way things panned out. In an otherwise dark season for the Eels, Corey Norman became a shining light up until his suspension. Indeed, he went from being a good player who occasionally plays a good game to being amongst the NRL top line halves. He possesses every facet of a top shelf playmaker, and until his suspension last year, added the important quality of consistency.
This year will be Norman’s defining season in terms of how good he can really be. Had he not been involved with off field misdemeanors last season he may be the Eels captain today? His path to redemption starts this Sunday and he will be hoping and aiming to lead the Eels to victory over arch rivals the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.
Daly Cherry Evans himself will be looking to have a massive 2017 season. With a new halves partner in former Eel Blake Green, DCE will hope to have some of his workload lightened. Green had a couple of impressive seasons at the Melbourne Storm before departing the franchise at the end of last season. Cherry Evans is a very good young halfback, perhaps amongst the best in the game on his day and the Eels will know a lot of the Sea Eagles attack will come from him. He possesses a strong short/long kicking game, excellent passing game and an adequate running game. Cherry Evans has lost some key personnel On his outside, including Jamie Lyon, Brett Stewart and Steve Matai. However, Cherry Evans is ready to make some new stars at Manly and what better place to start than at Lottoland this Sunday against the Eels.
02. Jake Trebojevic vs Beau Scott:
The second key match up is a battle of the lock forwards with Sea Eagles young gun Jake Trebojevic lining up to face Eels veteran Beau Scott. Last season was one of Beau Scott’s best in recent memory. In his time on the field, he was back to his dominant best in both attack and defense. Scott is a very valuable part of the Eels forward pack and team (given the fact he is captain) and offers experience into a talented yet youthful Eels forward pack
It is the intensity at which Scott plays the game that makes him such an asset to this Eels line up. Scott is one of the few players in the game capable of unbalancing stars like Johnathan Thurston. This made Scott a valuable commodity in Origin. This Sunday’s encounter between the Eels and Sea Eagles is expected to be fairly physical and if that’s the case you can expect Beau Scott to be front and centre for the blue and gold effort.
Also amongst the players that will be front and centre will be Sea Eagles young gun back rower Jake Trebojevic. The Manly captain enjoyed a very strong 2016 NRL season. Although he did not represent NSW last season, he seems almost certain to represent NSW in the future. Being selected as captain ahead of Daly Cherry Evans demonstrates how highly he is regarded at Manly.
Trebojevic is almost a throwback to players of the 70’s and 80’s. He plays the game hard and fast; he runs hard and tackles hard and has a massive workload around the ruck. All these things sound simple however its quite often how well great players do the simple things that separates them from the rest and Jake Trebojevic is definitely a great player in the making.
I personally see the match up between Trebojevic and Scott to be more than just a match up on paper,p. Expect these guys to come face to face on a number occasions throughout Sunday’s game, I’m really looking forward to this one.
My tip: I believe the Eels will come out on top in this one. The inclusion of Corey Norman is a big factor as the Eels are a much different, much better team when Norman is around. As a result I expect the whole Eels line up to lift from his presence and prove be too strong for a new look Manly Warringah Sea Eagles outfit.
Eels 32, Sea Eagles 18.
Man of the match: Corey Norman or Bevan French
Enjoy the game, GO THE EELS !!!
Nathan
