RUGBY LEAGUE BETTING PREVIEW - MANLY SEA EAGLES VS CANBERRA RAIDERS

Rugby League

2024-05-03 - Manly Sea Eagles vs Canberra Raiders

A Sports Betting Preview by Stu

Manly Sea Eagles v Canberra Raiders
Rugby League : Australia : NRL Season 2024
Friday 3rd May 2024 - KO 1755 AEST

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Manly Sea Eagles

Manly have quietly snuck up to stand alone 4th on the ladder, a 5-1-2 record with just Penrith, Melbourne and Cronulla above them now. The Sea Eagles also received some excellent news out of the Judiciary on Tuesday evening when the key playmaker, Cherry-Evans managed to argue his way out of a charge that would have ruled him out for 2-3 weeks, this means Haumole Olakau'atu is the only suspended player from that particular tackle from last weeks match.

Manly left it late to overcome the Eels at home last weekend but I the end won by 14 points, 32-18 thanks to two late tries both to Garrick, who had a sensational personal tally on the day of 20 points. Manly trailed at HT, 6-12 but soon after the break, came to life scoring 4 tries to one in the second half to win comfortably in the end.

Manly Sea Eagles Team News – with Haumole Olakau'atu out suspended, Sipley comes back into the side from the bench and Ethan Bullemor is promoted to the starting line up. No other changes.

Canberra Raiders

The Raiders are placed just outside the top 8 in 10th position, on equal points with 5 other teams at the start of round 9 with a record of 4-4. Coach Ricky Stuart was furious with his teams display, particularly at home and has made 3 changes – see below, which I am surprised about as there could have easily been more.

Canberra are fresh off a horror outing at home, not even troubling the scorer in the entire match, certainly one of the worst performances I can recall from the Raiders. Canberra did have a number of good chances in the first half, dropping the ball or making dumb plays in scoring positions and that certainly cost them a chance. In the end, it was a 7 try to nil display, Hynes kicking all but one conversion in a more than dominant display.

Canberra Raiders Team News – Albert Hopoate comes in at fullback, Nick Cotric onto the wing and Elliott Whitehead's returns from injury to start in the second row.

Odds

Manly at home start as favourites, $1.21 to $4.50, the line is 12.5 points and combined points 42.5

The Betting Verdict

These teams have met a total of 37 times, with Manly out in front on the H2H count, 22-15. At Home Manly win 61% of the time while the Raiders have played here 18 times for 7 victories, 39%. In the last 4 meetings the Sea Eagles have won three of those four against the Raiders.

Defence is a major concern for the Raiders having conceded 74 points in their past two games and will face a side that has scored 139 points in their past four games at 4 Pines Park. Canberra will need a massive turnaround in both attack and defence if they are to even stay close to Manly at their beloved Brookvale Oval. Cotric returning should aid on attack and there is still some lethal attacking options, its just the team is not gelling well at all.

The teams last met in May 2023, Manly winning very well away from home 14-42, Tom Trboyevic scoring a hattrick amongst Manly’s 8 tries to Canberras 2. Five of those eight tries were scored in the second half too, showing once again that the Sea Eagles are a strong second half team.

Manly will almost certainly be too strong for the Raiders, but this is the NRL and on any given day most teams can beat each other. That said, Manly at home are a tough proposition and have the attacking ability to pile on points and I suspect the wrath of Ricky Stuart will also have the Raiders up for this match too.

The last 2 meetings have recorded a match total points of 56 and 54 so with the Sea Eagles in hot attacking form, the suggested option here is for the points to exceed the 42.5 set.

The Pick :

Manly Sea Eagles 30-18 Canberra Raiders

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the total combined points over 42.5 points at odds of $1.91 with Bet365