Friday’s NRL 2018 Round 23 match is between Manly Sea Eagles and Gold Coast Titans. The opening kick is set to commence at 18:00 local time with the game to be played at Lottoland, Sydney. The home team Manly Sea Eagles are the favourites for the match.

View our preview and teams for the game between Manly Sea Eagles and Gold Coast Titans.

When: 18:00 | Friday 17/08/2018

Where: Lottoland, Sydney

Preview:

After last week’s performance, it’s hard to go past the Sea Eagles back at home against the Titans.

This however, is a nightmare to come up with a winner.

Both sides have been very inconsistent this year and sit well adrift.

KEY BATTLE: Daly Cherry-Evans v Ash Taylor

I’m looking forward to the matchup of the halfbacks.

Both were spoken about for the Origin arena and now we get to see them go head-to-head.

Very key players for their side’s performance.

The Verdict

I like the strike the Manly team have through the middle third with Jake and brother Tom Trbojevic teaming up.

Throw this on the back of the starting props laying a platform and it will make it difficult for the away team.

As I said earlier, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this totally flipped and the Titans won.

Manly has an 18-11 (62.1 percent) record in games played during August since 2012.

Unibet Odds:

Manly Sea Eagles at $1.49

Gold Coast Titans at $2.65

Odds:

Tip: Manly Sea Eagles at $1.45

Value Tip: First Try Scorer: Brad Parker at $13.00

More Info:

Teams:

Manly Sea Eagles:

1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Jorge Taufua 3. Moses Suli 4. Brian Kelly 5. Brad Parker 6. Dylan Walker 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Addin Fonua-blake 9. Manase Fainu 10. Martin Taupau 11. Joel Thompson 12. Shaun Lane 13. Jake Trbojevic 14. Trent Hodkinson 15. Kelepi Tanginoa 16. Frank Winterstein 17. Lloyd Perrett 18. Matthew Wright 19. Tom Wright 21. Toafofoa Sipley 22. Taniela Paseka.

Gold Coast Titans:

1. Aj Brimson 2. Anthony Don 3. Konrad Hurrell 4. Brenko Lee 5. Phillip Sami 6. Kane Elgey 7. Ashley Taylor 8. Jarrod Wallace 9. Nathan Peats 10. Ryan James 11. Kevin Proctor 12. Keegan Hipgrave 13. Jai Arrow 14. Mitch Rein 15. Moeaki Fotuaika 16. Jack Stockwell 17. Will Matthews 18. Brendan Elliott 19. Jai Whitbread 20. Leilani Latu 21. Bryce Cartwright.

NRL News:

Manly players say they expect coach Trent Barrett to stay and believe he’s trying to do the best for them by pushing for improvements at the NRL club.

Barrett addressed the players following a weekend report of a legal letter to the club outlining continued concern over deficiencies in the football department and a separate suggestion was set to leave at the end of the season.

Players said on Tuesday he gave them every indication he was on board at least until his contract expires at the end of 2020.

“He’s here for the next couple of years. Baz is a great coach, the players love him and we’d love to have him around,” said veteran Trent Hodkinson.

“I’m sure it will all work itself out.”

Dylan Walker repeatedly diverted questions about Barrett’s coaching future back to Friday’s clash with Gold Coast when the 12th-placed Sea Eagles will seek a third consecutive win for the first time this season

“I don’t know if that’s (that Barrett has told the club that he wants to leave) truly the case,” Walker said.

“There’s reports about it but, as far as I know, he’s as committed as I’ve ever seen him here.

“He just wants the best resources for us, and that’s just a coach that cares.”

Forward Frank Winterstein said the players had “full faith” that Barrett would stay.

“He’s always looking after the players first,” Winterstein said.

“There’s possibly a few things around here that could be improved, so hopefully we do get it done.”