NRL PREVIEW ROUND 24: TIGERS V SEA EAGLES

Wests Tigers v Manly Sea Eagles
Thursday, August 23, 7:50pm
Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney

Recent form

The Tigers spurned a great opportunity to put pressure on the New Zealand Warriors in round 23, losing to the St. George Illawarra Dragons 20-10 at Leichhardt Oval. Despite a heap of early pressure, Wests just couldn’t get it together inside their red zone, unlike their opponents. Manly is one of the more perplexing sides in 2018 and produced a game of two-halves last Friday night. After leading the Gold Coast Titans 22-6 just before half-time, they conceded the next 34 points at a near-empty Lottoland, to lose 42-34 in a diabolical second half.

Stats That Matter

• The Tigers have won three of the past four matches between these two sides, including a big 38-12 win at Lottoland in round six this season.
• Manly won their only game played at Campbelltown Stadium in 2013, defeating the Tigers 36-18.
• The Tigers are 17-23 ATS at Campbelltown Stadium since 2008 and have covered in only two of their past 10 games at the venue.
• The under is 1-6 since 2014 and has saluted only five times in the sixteen meetings between these clubs during the past decade.
• Wests have won two of the three Thursday night games they have featured in, including earlier this season against North Queensland. 

Final thoughts

The Wests Tigers realistically needed to beat the Dragons to have a chance of playing finals. As it stands, they need a minor miracle and teams above them to falter. They should keep themselves in contention with a big win against a poor Manly outfit on Thursday night. The Wolf knows that there is plenty of unrest on the Northern Beaches, with coach Trent Barrett leaving the club at season’s end. The Tigers have enough weapons both in their pack and in their backline to cause Manly plenty of problems.

How It Shapes Up

Wests Tigers by 10.

Recommended Bets

Best: Wests Tigers -4.5 ($1.90)

Value: Wests 13+ ($3)

First Tryscorer: Mahe Fonua ($14)