Preview: Sea Eagles v Cowboys
VENUE & TIME: Sydney Football Stadium - Saturday, September 10, 8.35pm (AEST), 10.35pm (NZT)
COVERAGE: Channel 9/Sky Sport
HEAD TO HEAD: Played 17 - Sea Eagles 10, Cowboys 7.
LAST TIME: Round 14, 2011 - Sea Eagles 24-4.
WALKING WOUNDED:
Manly are still without suspended duo Glenn Stewart and Darcy Lussick but get back a handy trio of players in Brett Stewart, Kieran Foran and Will Hopoate. Dallas Johnson, who surely gets paid by the tackle, returns at lock for the Cowboys.
FORM:
The sides have met twice this year for a win apiece. North Queensland got the money 22-20 in highly controversial circumstances in Round 8 in Townsville before Manly returned serve with a 24-4 shut-out at Brookie six weeks later. It's worth noting Johnathan Thurston was absent from that game. Manly enjoy a slender advantage in head-to-head battles (10-7) and have won four of the last six games between the clubs. The Sea Eagles enter the finals with four wins from their last five matches. Worryingly for the Cows, they lost four of five in the same period. Manly have won seven of nine finals games played at the SFS.
WHO'S HOT:
Steve Matai is one try away from becoming just the fourth Manly centre to crack the half-century of 'meat pies'. His transformation from angry ant to a disciplined leader and match winner has been remarkable. He still plays the game hard and tough but has cut out a lot of the crap that was threatening to derail his career. His 2011 stats make for impressive reading: Nine tries, 15 line breaks, 16 offloads and 72 tackle busts thank-you very much. They should also keep a tally on the number of bruises he's inflicted on anyone stupid enough to run at him. Dally M rookie-of-the-year Daly Cherry-Evans starts his finals career up against the best No.7 in the game. But nothing fazes this kid and he'll handle the lift in intensity. James Segeyaro has been a revelation off the bench for Cowboys. Hard as granite with a hit to match, the PNG-born rake is the ideal foil for Aaron Payne. He makes plenty of metres from dummy half and is a handful close to the line. Johnathan Thurston reckons he owes his team a big game so Manly will be on red alert each and every time he touches the ball.
WE THINK:
It's been another week of drama at Brookvale (is there any other kind down there?), with the focus on anything but football. But Des Hasler is a genius at bonding his team at times like these. Nobody uses the old siege mentality tactic better than the mulleted one. He will have spent the week convincing his players the world is against them. But it's not the big, bad world they have to worry about this week but Johnathan Thurston and his underdog Cowboys. No-one expects North Queensland to win and they probably won't. But you can never write off a team that features quality players the likes of Thurston, Bowen, Scott, Tate and Tonga. This will be a lot closer than a lot of people think but we will back Manly with a fair bit of confidence.Sea Eagles by 4
TEAMS
Sea Eagles:1 Brett Stewart, 2 Michael Robertson, 3 Jamie Lyon [c], 4 Steve Matai, 5 Will Hopoate, 6