NRL Round 3 action begin on Thursday night with a revival of the 1980’s rivalry between the Sea Eagles and Eels. The two rivals from vastly different demographics have no love lost between them. The Sea Eagles play their second game at home for the season and if Round 1 was anything to go by, ‘fortress Brookvale’ may be back on the cards.
There is no better way to get the weekend started with a winner and we are in form following positive results on the two previous Thursday nights.
Scooby brings you his preview and best bets for Thursday night’s NRL clash below!
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles vs Parramatta Eels Preview & Betting Tips
4 Pines Park, Thursday 16th March, 8pm (AEST)
The Sea Eagles got their season off to a perfect start in Round 1 with a comprehensive 31-6 victory over the Bulldogs. Once gaining control in the match, they were never troubled and dominated the second half. The impressive display had their big-name players leading the way. This will be key to their success this season; they also averaged 10.4m per carry, had 6 line breaks (to just 1) and missed just 24 tackles. While the performance of their opponent was poor, their Round 2 victory over the Storm adds some validity to the performance. The Sea Eagles had the Bye in Round 2 and will be ready to perform well here.
The Eels are still winless to start the year, after missing a golden opportunity to open their account last week against the Sharks. Missing key players, their opponents were vulnerable, but the Eels couldn’t capitalise on a strong start. A horror 67% completion rate, combined with 15 errors and 32 missed tackles gave their opponents too many opportunities to regain momentum in the contest. They were eventually defeated 30-26. The Grand Finalists from last year were always going to struggle with the departure of key players but they can ill afford to drop such matches. Now, there is a real chance that they could be winless after 3 games to start the season.
The Sea Eagles are boosted by the return of Josh Schuster at 5/8, after he missed Round 1 with injury. The Eels are unchanged from their loss last week and are desperate to build consistency. The Sea Eagles are strong favourites for this fixture ($1.67 vs $2.20) given their home ground advantage and performance of key players in their opening match. The form line should run through that game, with the Bulldogs subsequently defeating the Storm (on home turf), the team who beat the Eels in Round 1. If only rugby league was that simple?! What is evident from their opening matches is that the Eels stars are not performing to the same level that they were in previous seasons. Moses’ involvement has been unusually low and Hodgeson’s contribution out of hooker has been mixed. Gutherson also hasn’t had the same opportunities to perform well. Compare that to the Trbojevic brothers and DCE and you can see why the Sea Eagles are preferred. Confidence isn’t as high as it should be though; there is every chance that the Eels could turn around their opening two efforts and perform well. With that in mind, a smaller stake is advised.
Prop Bets
SGM – Sea Eagles/Sea Eagles -3.5/Over 40.5/Tom Trbojevic to score @ $5 – 0.5 units
Sea Eagles 1-12
$3.10 (1.5 Units)
