4 Pines Park will play host to Sunday's Round 18 NRL game between Manly Sea Eagles and Sydney Roosters. The game kicks off at 4:05 pm with Sydney Roosters heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Manly Sea Eagles vs. Sydney Roosters game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Sunday July 2, 2023 at 4:05 pm

Where: 4 Pines Park

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Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters Odds

Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters Preview

If Manly and Sydney Roosters have designs on staying in the finals race, this shapes as an absolute must-win for both sides.

The 13th-placed, 6-1-8 Sea Eagles have won just two of their last eight, sinking to heavy losses to the Eels (34-4) and Storm (24-6) on the road in the past fortnight, compounded by a season-ending injury to superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic.

Manly showed some grit in the first half at AAMI Park, but lacked punch and direction outside of Daly Cherry-Evans. Josh Schuster is struggling at five-eighth and how he responds to the Luke Brooks signing news this week is one of the more intriguing subplots in this one.

Jake Trbojevic’s return is a huge positive, however, while Jason Saab, Kelma Tuilagi, Ben Trbojevic and Brad Parker are also back on deck from the casualty ward.

The 12th-placed, 7-8 Roosters have eked out nail-biting wins over the Bulldogs and Knights (the latter without their Origin players and after Luke Keary exited early with injury), but their comeback from 18 points down fell just short in a 20-18 home loss to the Raiders last Sunday.

The Tricolours’ attack isn’t clicking, scoring comfortably the least points per game in the NRL despite the high-profile artillery in their line-up. James Tedesco is arguably in the biggest form slump of his career, but it’s not due to lack of effort.

The suspended Joseph Suaalii and Fletcher Baker return, while Siua Wong will debut off the bench for the Roosters. But Angus Crichton, Sitili Tupouniua and Egan Butcher have all been ruled out in a net negative – though Nat Butcher is a chance of returning after being named in the reserves.

The Roosters have won six of their last eight against the Sea Eagles, including a pair of wins last season at the SCG (26-12) and Brookvale (20-10) with Daniel Tupou crossing in both. Manly has not beaten the Tricolours at home since 2017.

The Roosters have won their last two on the road, while the Sea Eagles are 4-2 at 4 Pines Park this season but have lost two of their last three at their home base. Neither team’s form inspires a great deal of confidence and they can’t be split in the head-to-head market.

Lean towards the Roosters, who have at least been competitive in every match bar their two outings against Penrith. The Sea Eagles will be better for their returning contingent but their wildly fluctuating form makes them impossible to get behind.

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