North Queensland Cowboys vs Manly Sea Eagles Preview
The Cowboys have turned their season around following two straights losses to start the campaign. North Queensland have won four straight and are backed to cover the line and end Manly's own winning run.
The game total of 53.5 points the highest of any game of the round is likely to go under. Tommy Trbojevic hasn’t missed in 2026 and is backed for more tries.
- North Queensland have won 4 consecutive matches.
- North Queensland have won both matches in 2026 at QCB Stadium and 4 of their last 5 at home.
- 3 of the last 4 matches between North Queensland and Manly have gone under the game total.
- Tom Trbojevic has scored 6 tries in 5 matches this season.
Head to Head
Manly won both matches against North Queensland last season making it three straight for the Sea Eagles.
Manly hold a 7-2 head to head lead since the 2019 season against North Queensland.
North Queensland Cowboys In Hot Form
The Cowboys broke a six-game losing streak to bigger brother Brisbane, beating the Broncos 35-31 with a late try from Heilum Luki breaking the deadlock.
North Queensland showed a lot of character in their win against Brisbane in a see-sawing match that could have gone either way, however, they forgot their mistakes and continued to pressure, resulting in victory.
Taking advantage of a Pat Carrigan the Cows put up two tries with the extra man and piled the pressure on Brisbane for the majority of the match, controlling the territory with 67% and 55% of the possession. 8 line breaks and 1923 run metres certainly helped the cause as they also completed 34 of 39 sets.
If there is a concern for North Queensland after their victory against Brisbane was that their line was also fragile with the Broncos putting up 31 points with very little ball, giving up six line breaks and five tries with just 15 tackles inside their defensive 20m.
Manly Sea Eagles Go Back-To-Back Under Foran
Manly continued where they left off against the Dolphins, putting up three tries in the opening 16 minutes against the Dragons before actually trailing by two points after a 44 minute try by Setu Tu.
However, the Sea Eagles showed grit and composure in an arm wrestle of a second half, holding out the Dragons and running away 28-18 victors.
The back five were once again work horses for their new coach Kieren Foran, especially Reuben Garrick who was in absolutely everything, finishing with two tries, 240 run metres and a line break.
Credit also has to be given to the edge of the Sea Eagles with both Ben Trbojevic and Haumole Olakau’atu combining for 32 runs and 282 run metres.
The Sea Eagles are a real wildcard at the moment. Will the Foz momentum fade or can Manly continue to build on what they have done over the last two weeks?
With the focus being on their attack, the Sea Eagles stood up against the Dragons for long stretches with their defence forcing St George into mistakes. This could be the real difference under Foran.