Canterbury Bulldogs vs Manly Sea Eagles Verdict
Canterbury Bulldogs have won two of their last three games and have covered this number in all three. But their season remains on the line and I'm backing Manly Sea Eagles to win and maintain their strong record in his fixture.
- Road favourites are covering at a 58.3% rate this season almost 8% points more than the average over the past 7 seasons. Manly are 4-1 ATS in the last 5 head to head matchups.
- 6 of the last 10 regular season matchups between these teams have finished with a 13+ pt margin.
- Tom Trbojevic has scored 14 tries in 13 games against Canterbury, 4 of those games have been 2 or more tries.
- Canterbury have allowed a try to an opposing fullback in 2 of their last 4 games and allow 74% of opposition tries down their edges.
Head to Head
These teams have met in 11 regular season games and one finals matchup since the start of the 2019 season. Manly have won 10 of those games, including the finals game in 2024.
The lone meeting last year finished 42-4 in favour of Canterbury but Manly have won three straight at Accor Stadium. Three straight games have gone Over the Game Total and Manly are 4-1 ATS over the last 5.
Canterbury Bulldogs Form - Bulldogs Improving
The Bulldogs ground out a tight 14-12 win over Parramatta last weekend for just their second victory in their past eight games.
The Bulldogs have struggled in attack through that period, averaging just 16.5 pts per game and only exceeding 20 points once.
At the opposite end of the park, their once stellar defence has taken an enormous hit. They have allowed 20+ points in all but the Parramatta victory and have allowed opponents to score 30+ points on four occasions.
Canterbury currently only sit two wins out of the top 8 but there is a large gap in the consistency between teams that are in a position to compete in finals and the rest. If the Bulldogs are any chance at being in that top group, they need to fix things immediately.
Manly Sea Eagles Form - Rested Sea Eagles
Manly are coming off their second bye of the season, a much needed rest since their first back in Round 3. Prior to that they took a 28-14 win over South Sydney which was their fourth win in five games.
Over their last 10 matches where they are 8-2, the Sea Eagles have averaged 30.7 pts in attack and the majority of those games have been without captain Tom Trbojevic on the field.
He now slots back in at fullback in a defensive unit that has allowed 20+ points to an opponent just once in their last 10 games.
The Manly defence ranks second in opposition Linebreaks and opposition Completion rate while allowing the third fewest points across the season despite allowing 98 points across their first three games of the season.