It’s NRL Finals Fever time for the mighty Manly Warringah Sea Eagles at Accor Stadium on Sunday.
Accor Stadium will be the hottest ticket in town and the spotlight of Sydney when the Sea Eagles clash with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in front of an expected crowd of more than 50,000.
Team News
The great Tom Trbojevic returns for the Sea Eagles at full-back after missing last week’s final round game against the Sharks with a shoulder injury that is easily manageable. Trbojevic is ready to top off a big week with a huge performance on Sunday after winning Manly’s Best and Fairest, and Players’ Player awards.
Form Guide
Ladder position: Sea Eagles 7th (33 points); Bulldogs 6th (34 points)
Head to Head since 1998 (NRL era): Played 43: Sea Eagles 22, Bulldogs 21
Past five games record: Sea Eagles 3 wins, Bulldogs 3 wins
Points scored: Sea Eagles 634, Bulldogs 529
Points conceded: Sea Eagles 521, Bulldogs 433
The players have worked really hard: Anthony Seibold
The players have worked really hard: Anthony Seibold
Play that Fine Record!
The Sea Eagles have won 10 of their past 11 games against the Bulldogs.
Manly have also won 74 of the 138 matches played between the two clubs since 1947 with 43 being at home and 26 away.
At Accor Stadium, the Bulldogs and the Sea Eagles are locked at nine wins apiece from the 18 games played at Homebush.
And the last time we met a fortnight ago, it was the Sea Eagles who walked away from Accor Stadium with a 34-22 victory. History may well repeat!
A century of finals
Sunday’s elimination finals match will mark the 100th finals game for the Sea Eagles since the club was formed in 1947.
Manly will become just the fourth club in the history of rugby league to reach this feat behind Easts/Roosters (116 games), St George Dragons (109) and South Sydney Rabbitohs (100).
May there be many more great Manly finals wins!
Luke Brooks…our ‘Mr Resilient’
The old saying, ‘good things come to those who wait’, certainly applies to Luke Brooks this week as all the hype is around his maiden finals after a record breaking wait of 229 games.
‘Brooksy’ has been a revelation in his first season at Manly after 11 long and difficult years at the Wests Tigers. He has formed a lethal combination with Daly Cherry-Evans, who takes all the pressure of leading a team around off the exciting five-eighth.
A brilliant runner of the ball with a lethal left step, one gets the feeling Brooksy is ready to shine on the big stage. May there be many more finals to come for this very humble and respected young man.
Manly fans do travel
You’ve just got to smile and laugh when you hear the worn out tale of how ‘Manly fans don’t travel’.
That theory has been well and truly laid to rest this season with Sea Eagles fans coming out in force, be it selling out eight of our 10 home games at 4 Pines Park, to the huge support the team receives in Canberra and Brisbane to name a few. Plus, there were plenty of Sea Eagles fans who certainly made the long and exciting trip to Las Vegas.
And of both teams’ allocated supporters bays, it was the Sea Eagles who sold out first for Sunday. Bring your banners, paint your faces, and get ready to roar yourselves silly in our first finals appearance since 2021, and the first in Sydney since 2019.
We may be outnumbered in the end, but as always, our presence and voice will be heard, so let’s get that famous ‘M.A.N.L.Y, M.A.N.L.Y’ chant echoing around the ground.
See you there for what will be one hell of a game!
