12 years on from the ‘Battle of Brookvale’, the Sea Eagles and Storm renew pleasantries at Brookvale Oval. Whilst the rivalry isn’t quite what it was back in those days, these two teams still always fire up for one another. With these teams heading in separate directions over the past month, it’ll be interesting to see if the form lines of both sides hold up, or if we get a reversal of fortunes.
Check out our best bets for the game below, as well as our NRL Tips page for more Round 7 content!
NRL Round 7 Preview & Betting Tips
Manly Sea Eagles vs Melbourne Storm
4 Pines Park, Friday 14th April, 8:00pm (AEST)
The Sea Eagles headed to Penrith on the back of a poor draw against the Knights the week prior. But last week, they went to a whole new level of disappointing. After trailing 32-0 at halftime, the Sea Eagles showed some life in the second half, but it was surely more the Panthers taking their foot off the gas. The Sea Eagles need to snap out of this dip in form, and fast, otherwise the Storm could lap them this week.
As for the Storm, they looked incredibly good last week in a 28-8 win at home over the Roosters. They finally got their spine back together (minus Papenhuyzen), and it was the best they’ve looked all season. The question now is, can they kick on and push towards another Premiership run?
As mentioned above, the Storm finally got their full-strength spine back last week, however in a bitter blow have lost Nick Meaney this week. This pushes Munster to fullback, with rookie Jonah Pezet to five eighth.
The Sea Eagles, meanwhile, also have spine members in doubt. Josh Schuster missed out last week, and has only been named on an extended bench this week. It seems as though he won’t play. Tom Trbojevic is also in some doubt, however Manly are saying he will play. However, if their best player is carrying niggles against the Storm, it’s not a good sign.
The number in this game has shifted, with the Storm 1.5-point favourites before last weekend’s games. They’ve since opened up 4/4.5-point favourites across the board. If we have a look back only three weeks though, we can see how much the market has cooled on the Sea Eagles, and warmed to the Storm.
In round 4, the Sea Eagles closed 4.5-point underdogs at the Rabbitohs. One week later, the Storm were 5.5-point underdogs at the Rabbitohs. This suggests the market had the Sea Eagles a 1-point better team just 2 weeks ago. Fast forward to round 7, and the market is now suggesting the Storm would be 7-point favourites on a neutral site. That’s an 8-point jump in two weeks, which might just be a little too far in my opinion, despite the fact Cam Munster and Jahrome Hughes are back together.
As for the total, I’d lean towards the under in this clash. The Storm have based their game plan on defence, and for the most part it’s worked. Aside from the two weeks where they decided to play no defence (26-12 loss to Bulldogs, 38-34 loss to Titans), they haven’t conceded more than 12 points in a game. In their 6 games this season, 5 have hit the under, so I’ll side with it again here. Keen an eye on Trbojevic news, and if he’s confirmed in then I like the Sea Eagles to cover.
Other Bet
Under 43.5 Points - $1.90 @ TAB (1u)
Sea Eagles (+4.5)
$1.95 (1.5 Units)
