Sunday afternoon football in NRL Round 2 brings an intriguing betting matchup at 4 Pines Park, as the Manly Sea Eagles host the Newcastle Knights. The Sea Eagles will be looking to bounce back after going down at home last week, with a second successive loss at home to start the season making life exceedingly difficult moving forward.
Both of these sides enter this clash off encouraging but vastly different opening performances. Manly suffered a heartbreaking one-point loss at home despite showing attacking improvement in their first outing without long time halfback Daly Cherry-Evans, while Newcastle produced a composed win in Las Vegas that highlighted sharper execution under new head coach Justin Holbrook.
Below, we preview the upcoming game and bring you our best bets!
Sea Eagles vs Knights Prediction & Tips: 2026 NRL Round 2
Is There Life After DCE?
Manly’s first outing of the post Daly Cherry-Evans era ended in frustration, falling 29–28 to the Raiders at home in a contest that showed both promise and lingering growing pains. The Sea Eagles were competitive throughout and generated enough attacking opportunities to win the match but lapses in defensive concentration and a handful of costly errors ultimately proved decisive. From the 20th minute to the 70th minute, the Sea Eagles conceded 6 consecutive tries, in a period that made the transition away from DCE look exceedingly difficult.
The biggest talking point was how Manly functioned structurally without their former playmaker. New halfback Jamal Fogarty showed glimpses of his organisational strengths, particularly with his long kicking game and ability to guide the side around the park in general play. However, timing in attacking shapes wasn’t always clean, and the Sea Eagles struggled at times to build sustained pressure when momentum was on their side.
Positively, Manly’s back five laid a solid platform, winning key yardage exchanges and allowing their halves to play with some freedom. The Sea Eagles also showed resilience to remain in the contest after conceding 28 consecutive points, nearly stealing the game in the final minutes.
With one match under their belt in the new look spine, Manly should be far more cohesive this week. Fogarty’s familiarity with game management situations will be crucial as the Sea Eagles look to settle into a new attacking identity and right the ship in Round 2.
Can Ponga Push the Knights Back Into the Finals?
Newcastle began their season with an impressive 28–18 victory over the Cowboys in Las Vegas, producing a performance built on composure, discipline, and clinical finishing. The underlying statistics from the match were relatively tight, both sides shared similar yardage and possession numbers, but the Knights proved more efficient in converting opportunities into points.
A major positive was the attacking structure already visible under new head coach Justin Holbrook. Newcastle looked far more organised with the football compared to last season, particularly through their spine, where Kalyn Ponga’s involvement around the ruck and sweeping plays out the back created repeated defensive headaches for North Queensland.
The Knights also benefited from strong middle third effort, allowing them to maintain field position and dictate the tempo when the game tightened. While the Cowboys threatened to close the gap late, Newcastle’s composure with the ball ensured they were able to control territory and protect their lead.
Defensively, the Knights showed improvement in line speed and edge communication, areas that were inconsistent in 2025. If Holbrook can continue to refine the attacking systems while maintaining that defensive commitment, Newcastle appear capable of pushing back into finals contention this season.
Sea Eagles vs Knights Recent History
These sides met most recently in Round 14 last season, where the Knights produced an upset 26–22 win at home as 7.5-point underdogs, capitalising on the missing Tom Trbojevic and the inability of Manly to capitalise on their chances in a tightly contested match.
The last five meetings between the teams have been competitive:
2025 Round 14: Knights def Sea Eagles 26–22
2024 Round 19: Sea Eagles def Knights 44–6
2023 Round 13: Knights def Sea Eagles 28–18
2023 Round 5: Sea Eagles draw Knights 32–32
2022 Round 18: Sea Eagles def Knights 42-12
Sea Eagles Should Have Just Enough to Get Win
From a betting perspective, this matchup profiles as one where Manly deserve to be slightly stronger favourites than the current market suggests. Playing at Brookvale remains a significant advantage, particularly for a side looking to respond after a narrow defeat.
The Sea Eagles should benefit from improved cohesion in their spine after Round 1, with Jamal Fogarty likely to have greater control of attacking tempo and kicking strategy. Their forward pack showed enough last week to suggest they can compete physically with Newcastle, and if they generate early field position, Tom Trbojevic and Fogarty should be able to create scoring opportunities on the edges for the numerous strike weapons Manly have out wide.
Newcastle will again be competitive, but they face a key disruption with five-eighth Fletcher Sharpe unavailable, removing some attacking spark from their spine rotation. The Knights’ ability to stay clinical kept them ahead in Las Vegas yet replicating that level of composure away from home can be difficult.
On ratings, Manly profile closer to an 8-point favourite, indicating some value remains with the home side at the current -4.5 line. However, given the Knights’ defensive improvement and the Sea Eagles’ ongoing attacking adjustment without Cherry-Evans, this does not shape as a blowout scenario.
Game tempo and territory should play major roles, which also points toward a lean to the under on the 48.5 total. Expect a physical contest where Manly control enough of the key moments to edge out a narrow victory.
Sea Eagles By 1-12
$3.20 (1 Unit)
Sea Eagles vs Knights Player Prop Bet
Dom Young has looked right at home back on the right flank for the Knights, and I expect him to score at least one try this weekend against a Sea Eagles’ left edge that gave up five tries last week.
Dom Young 1+ Try
$2.15 (1.5 Units)
Sea Eagles vs Knights Same Game Multi
Leg 1: Sea Eagles (-3.5) – Under a try, I can take this as a Multi leg.
Leg 2: D Young (2+ tries) – Lets back the big guy in for two.
Leg 3: T Koula (1+ try) – Koula has been on fire; scoring tries in five consecutive matchups. With his speed and Trbojevic linking up on the left, Koula is primed for another try this week.
SGM Odds: $21.00 at Dabble
Sea Eagles vs Knights Better Odds & Match Info
Date: Sunday, 15th March
Location: 4 Pines Park - Brookvale
Time: 4:05pm AEDT
Weather: Fine, 25 degrees
Odds: Sea Eagles ($1.57) vs Knights ($2.45)
Line: Sea Eagles (-4.5)
Points: 48.5
Odds and lines provided with thanks to Ladbrokes. Note that odds and lines can fluctuate throughout the week and are correct at the time of writing.
Where to Watch Sea Eagles vs Knights
Watch the Sea Eagles vs Knights match live on Channel 9 and ad free on Kayo Sports.
Tail our Sea Eagles vs Knights Tips at Ladbrokes!
Not familiar with Ladbrokes? Check out our full Ladbrokes review here, or by clicking the banner below.
