Friday 7th September 2011, ANZ Stadium.
Despite claiming this year’s Minor Premiership and having lost only one of their past fourteen matches, Canterbury find themselves $2.15 outsiders in the first finals match of 2012. This is due to the combination of Manly ($1.75) having won their past six games and in doing so demonstrating the form that saw them claim last year’s Premiership and, Canterbury’s shock defeat (34-6) against the Canberra Raiders a fortnight ago. Even though he left the field earlier last week, Manly second-rower Anthony Watmough will take his place in a full strength Manly outfit. The Bulldogs have also named their best team and are injury free.
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The two sides have met twice this year with the Round 8 encounter (played at ANZ) going narrowly to the Sea Eagles 12-10 whilst more recently in Round 20, it was the Bulldogs winning 20-12 at Brookvale. On both occasions it was the Bulldogs who got the better of the starts but this is an area of the game Manly have remedied in the past month. Over the past three weeks they have scored 72 of their 82 points in the first half with star fullback Brett Stewart scoring four tries. It appears that Manly are hitting their straps at the right time of year and are producing their best form. They’ve been here before and will not be daunted by the semi-final atmosphere. The Bulldogs missed out on the finals in the past few years and whilst there are some players amongst their list (Ennis, Pritchard, Inu and Morris) who have competed in finals previously, a number of the Bulldogs will be experiencing finals footy for the first time. This game, as was the case with the two previous clashes this year will go right down to the wire. The team that starts well and keeps their cool in the final stages will prevail and Manly may be slightly better place to do both.
SPORTSBET MANLY 1-12 @ $2.90
