Leading Australian bookmaker Alan Eskander expects Manly to be well backed for next Sunday’s NRL Grand Final, despite the Sydney Roosters being installed as the $1.66 favourite.

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The Roosters were impressive in their 40-14 preliminary final victory over Newcastle last night, setting up a Grand Final showdown with Manly on Sunday.

“The Roosters deserve to be $1.66 favourite,” Betstar’s Alan Eskander said.

“They won the minor premiership and have beaten Manly three times this year, and they will be very tough to take down.

“But in saying that, Manly has been the best backed side this finals campaign, and I believe that trend will continue. Currently they’re $2.25 but I expect that to shorten with plenty of late money to come for the Sea Eagles.

“Manly has an incredible success rate when it comes to finals. They know how to perform on the big stage and I don’t expect punters to be writing them off.”

Meanwhile, Sydney’s Sonny Bill Williams has been installed as the $6.50 favourite to win the Clive Churchill medal, following his standout performance in Saturday night’s preliminary final.

Manly halfback Daly Cherry-Evans and Rooster James Maloney are equal second in betting at $7.50.

“Sonny Bill was superb on Saturday night, considering he had been battling a bout of food poisoning,” Eskander said.

“He is such an exciting player to watch and can turn a game so it’s no surprise he is the early favourite for the Clive Churchill medal and I expect he will be heavily backed by the punters.”