Manly coach Des Hasler will need to be alert to signs of complacency among his players in the lead-up to Friday night's preliminary final against the Broncos now that Darren Lockyer is a confirmed non-starter.The Sea Eagles could easily slip into a relaxed state knowing that Brisbane's match-winning champion will be watching from the grandstand and that could be fatal in a sudden-death final.
The Broncos have been in scintillating touch over the past two months and the return of Test forward Sam Thaiday from suspension will give the Queenslanders extra punch in attack, even without Lockyer calling the shots at number six. Lockyer's absence will significantly increase responsibility levels for halfback Peter Wallace but he has ample experience at representative level and in finals and should not be overawed.
It will be important for the Sea Eagles to start well but that may be difficult after a two-week lay-off. The Broncos will be primed to perform from the opening kick-off after the exhilarating performance against the Dragons last Saturday night and they will have added motivation to prove themselves without Lockyer.
The Broncos have won all three finals matches against Manly at the Sydney Football Stadium but in recent seasons, Manly have the record of five wins from their last seven games against the Broncos. One of those wins was at Suncorp Stadium in Round 12, when the Sea Eagles proved too strong for a Brisbane side missing both Lockyer and Thaiday.
Look for Brisbane to continue their run of tries as First Scoring Play but consider a Broncos/Manly outcome in the Half/Full Double.
For First Tryscorer look to Jharal Yow Yeh, Dale Copley and Alex Glenn from Brisbane or Michael Robertson or Brett Stewart for Manly.
Manly v Brisbane
Sydney Football Stadium
Friday night 7.45pm
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
1 Brett Stewart, 2 Michael Robertson, 3 Jamie Lyon [c], 4 Steve Matai, 5 Will Hopoate, 6 Kieran Foran, 7 Daly Cherry-Evans, 8 Joe Galuvao, 9 Matt Ballin, 10 Brent Kite, 11 Anthony Watmough, 12 Tony Williams, 13 Shane Rodney. Subs: 14 Tim Robinson, 15 Jamie Buhrer, 16 Vic Mauro, 17 George Rose, 18 Terence Seuseu (one to be omitted).
Brisbane Broncos
1 Gerard Beale, 2 Dale Copley, 3 Jack Reed, 4 Justin Hodges, 5 Jharal Yow Yeh, 6 Darren Lockyer [c], 7 Peter Wallace, 8 Josh McGuire, 9 Andrew McCullough, 10 Ben Hannant, 11 Alex Glenn, 12 Sam Thaiday, 13 Corey Parker. Subs: 14 Matt Gillett, 15 Ben Hunt, 16 Scott Anderson, 17 Ben Te'o, 18 David Hala (one to be omitted).
Main Referee: Shayne Hayne
Second Referee: Jarred Maxwell
Video Referees: Russell Smith, Steve Clark
Sideline Officials: Steve Carrall, Ricky MacFarlane
Prediction:
Matthew O'Neill: Sea Eagles by 16
OVERALL:
Total Games: 33
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles wins: 15. [Pts: 530]
Brisbane Broncos wins: 17. [Pts: 573]
Draws: 1
Biggest wins:
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles: 26 pts: 1991 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup - Round 16 - [View] Sun Jul 14: Sea Eagles 26 d. Broncos 0 [Crowd: 18689]
Brisbane Broncos: 34 pts: 1988 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup - Round 1 - [View] Sun Mar 6: Broncos 44 d. Sea Eagles 10 [Crowd: 17451]
Biggest Crowd: 2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 26 - [View] Sun: Brisbane Broncos 18 d. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 10 [Crowd: 50589]
Last 50 games against each other form line (most recent matches at end of line):
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles: LLLWLWLLWLLWLWLWWLWDWLLWLLWWWWLWL
Brisbane Broncos: WWWLWLWWLWWLWLWLLWLDLWWLWWLLLLWLW
Last 10 games:
2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 26 - [View] Sun: Brisbane Broncos 18 d. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 10 [Crowd: 50589]
2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 12 - [View] Fri: Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 34 d. Brisbane Broncos 10
2010 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 13 - [View] Sun: Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 6 l. Brisbane Broncos 22 [Crowd: 11316]
2009 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 9 - [View] Sun: Brisbane Broncos 20 l. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 22 [Crowd: 27527]
2008 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 9 - [View] Sun: Brisbane Broncos 12 l. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 30 [Crowd: 27469]
2007 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 21 - [View] Sun: Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 21 d. Brisbane Broncos 8 [Crowd: 35784]
2007 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 10 - [View] Mon: Brisbane Broncos 6 l. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 18 [Crowd: 13493]
2006 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 16 - [View] Sun: Sea Eagles 10 l. Broncos 16 [Crowd: 16084]
2006 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 10 - [View] Sat: Broncos 32 d. Sea Eagles 10 [Crowd: 24991]
2005 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 22 - [View] Sun: Sea Eagles 21 d. Broncos 20 [Crowd: 16198]
Overall record at Sydney Football Stadium, Driver Ave, Moore Park, Sydney (NSW) Stats:
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles: 48 games, won 28, drawn 0, lost 20.
Last 5 games:
2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Finals Week 1 - [View] Sat: Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 42 d. North Queensland Cowboys 8
2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 2 - [View] Sun: Sydney Roosters 16 l. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 27
2010 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 25 - [View] Sun: Sydney Roosters 30 d. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 14
2010 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 1 - [View] Mon: Wests Tigers 26 d. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 22
2009 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 23 - [View] Sat: Sydney Roosters 12 l. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 44
Brisbane Broncos: 49 games, won 34, drawn 1, lost 14.
Last 5 games:
2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 7 - [View] Fri: Wests Tigers 18 l. Brisbane Broncos 31
2010 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 4 - [View] Fri: Sydney Roosters 25 d. Brisbane Broncos 6
2009 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 5 - [View] Fri: Sydney Roosters 24 l. Brisbane Broncos 28
2008 NRL Telstra Premiership - Finals Week 1 - [View] Fri: Sydney Roosters 16 l. Brisbane Broncos 24
2008 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 2 - [View] Fri: Sydney Roosters 14 l. Brisbane Broncos 20
Head to Head at Sydney Football Stadium, Driver Ave, Moore Park, Sydney (NSW) Stats:
Total Games: 3
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles wins: 0. [Pts: 18]
Brisbane Broncos wins: 3. [Pts: 64]
Draws: 0
Last 3 games:
1994 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup - Preliminary Semi-Finals - [View] Sun Sep 4: Broncos 16 d. Sea Eagles 4 [Crowd: 34891]
1993 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup - Preliminary Semi-Finals - [View] Sun Sep 5: Broncos 36 d. Sea Eagles 10 [Crowd: 38432]
1990 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup - Semi-finals - [View] Sat Sep 8: Broncos 12 d. Sea Eagles 4 [Crowd: 31424]
Overall record with Shayne Hayne Stats:
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles: 39 games, won 26, drawn 0, lost 13.
Last 5 games:
2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 25 - [View] Fri: Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 18 d. Melbourne Storm 4
2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 20 - [View] Sun: Penrith Panthers 8 l. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 12
2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 16 - [View] Mon: St George Illawarra Dragons 24 d. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 6
2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 13 - [View] Sat: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 4 l. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 38
2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 8 - [View] Sat: North Queensland Cowboys 22 d. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 20
Brisbane Broncos: 38 games, won 24, drawn 0, lost 14.
Last 5 games:
2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 24 - [View] Mon: Newcastle Knights 6 l. Brisbane Broncos 26
2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 9 - [View] Sat: Brisbane Broncos 22 l. Melbourne Storm 29
2011 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 1 - [View] Fri: Brisbane Broncos 14 l. North Queensland Cowboys 16
2010 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 10 - [View] Fri: Brisbane Broncos 28 d. Gold Coast Titans 6
2009 NRL Telstra Premiership - Finals Week 3 - [View] Sat: Melbourne Storm 40 d. Brisbane Broncos 10
Head to Head with Shayne Hayne Stats:
Total Games: 2
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles wins: 1.
Brisbane Broncos wins: 1.
Draws: 0
Last 2 games:
2008 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 9 - [View] Sun: Brisbane Broncos 12 l. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 30 [Crowd: 27469]
2006 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 16 - [View] Sun: Sea Eagles 10 l. Broncos 16 [Crowd: 16084]
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