6:10pm: AAMI Park, Melbourne, Monday 7.30pm (AEST)
Last meeting: Preliminary Final 2012 - Storm 40 bt Sea Eagles 12 at AAMI Park
Head-to-head: Storm 13 Sea Eagles 10
Referees: Shayne Hayne, Matt Cecchin
TV: Live FosxSports 1
TAB Sportsbet: Storm $1.40 Sea Eagles $3.00 Draw $26.00
FootyTab: Sea Eagles +6.5
Phil Mitchell writes: In the early 1980s the Manly and Parramatta rivalry was so fierce it was the subject of a television commercial. Now it’s Melbourne who have superseded Parramatta as the team Manly love to hate more than any other. The Sea Eagles and the Storm have been the NRL’s most dominant teams of the past seven years, and their rivalry reached flashpoint in 2011 during the infamous “Donnybrookvale” clash. Manly have won only two of their past 10 matches in Melbourne and on their most recent visit to AAMI Park produced their worst performance in a decade when thrashed 40-12 in the qualifying final last season.
It’s difficult to go past another Storm victory, even though they’ve suffered successive losses to Penrith and Canberra.
Phil's tip: Storm by 10
AAP writes: Melbourne were on the wrong end of one of Craig Bellamy’s infamous sprays last week after going down to lowly Penrith. The Storm have lost their last two and looked tired against the Panthers after racking up the air miles in the first two months of the season. Manly also struggled against the Sydney Roosters last week and looked lost in attack without the injured Brett Stewart.
Key: Part of the Storm’s greatness is their ability to get themselves out of a rut - they will need their big-three to be in top form to win this one.
STORM: Billy Slater, Sisa Waqa, Will Chambers, Justin O’Neill, Mahe Fonua, Gareth Widdop, Cooper Cronk, Jesse Bromwich, Cameron Smith (capt), Bryan Norrie, Kevin Proctor, Ryan Hoffman, Tohu Harris. Interchange: Jason Ryles, Junior Moors, Maurice Blair, Slade Griffin, Lagi Setu (one to be omitted).
SEA EAGLES: Peta Hiku, Jorge Taufua, Jamie Lyon (capt), Steve Matai, David Williams, Kieran Foran, Daly Cherry-Evans, Brenton Lawrence, Matt Ballin, Brent Kite, Anthony Watmough, Justin Horo, Glenn Stewart. Interchange: David Gower, Tom Symonds, Jamie Buhrer, George Rose, James Hasson (one to be omitted).
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