The second of Sunday afternoon’s NRL Round 13 matches is between New Zealand Warriors and Manly Sea Eagles. The opening kick is set to commence at 4:00pm local time with the game to be played at Mt Smart Stadium. The away team Manly Sea Eagles are the current favourites in the market. View our preview and teams for the game between New Zealand Warriors and Manly Sea Eagles.

Mt Smart Stadium

Featured Bookmakers:

New Zealand Warriors $2.25 vs Manly Sea Eagles $1.65 at Sportsbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

New Zealand Warriors $2.25 vs Manly Sea Eagles $1.70 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison by NRL Odds:

New Zealand Warriors	2.25	2.20	2.25	2.20	2.25	2.22
Manly Sea Eagles	1.65	1.70	1.70	1.70	1.65	1.63

Preview:

The Warriors made it three wins from four games at Mount Smart Stadium with a come-from-behind win over the Newcastle Knights in round 11.

The Warriors consolidated that win with a dominant victory last week over a depleted Brisbane side that was without several key players due to Origin.

It was a display of what the Warriors are capable and their poor performance against Penrith (62-6) three weeks ago, had overshadowed some good performances against Melbourne and Sydney Roosters earlier in the year.

Manly have had a loss, a draw and a win in their past three games and sit fourth on the ladder.

The Sea Eagles surprisingly, have been largely unaffected by Origin but will need to be at full strength and in form as after this game, they face the Bulldogs and Sydney Roosters so a win here is a must if they are to stay inside the top four.

Manly have won the past six encounters between the two sides but this stat doesn’t do justice to the quality of the contests. In five of those clashes, the winning margin has been 10 points or less with only 6 and 2 points proving the difference when the two sides met in the Round 1 and 22 clashes last year.

Expect another very close encounter here that should go down to the wire.

Teams:

New Zealand Warriors:
Kevin Locke, Glen Fisiiahi, Dane Nielsen, Konrad Hurrell, Manu Vatuvei, Thomas Leuluai, Shaun Johnson, Sam Rapria, Nathan Friend, Russell Packer, Feleti Mateo, Simon Mannering (c), Elijah Taylor. Interchange: Ben Matulino, Jacob Lillyman, Sebastine Ikahihifo, Dominique Peyroux, Suaia Matagi

Manly Sea Eagles:
Peta Hiku, Jorge Taufua, Jamie Lyon (c), Steve Matai, David Williams, Kieran Foran, Daly Cherry-Evans, Brenton Lawrence, Matt Ballin, Brent Kite, Anthony Watmough, Justin Horo, Glenn Stewart. Interchange: Tom Symonds, James Hasson, Jamie Buhrer, George Rose, David Gower

Warriors need to be even better: NRL coach

Warriors NRL coach Matthew Elliott isn’t buying into talk of the team’s record defeat three games ago being a positive as they prepare to take on Manly on Sunday.

Since the team’s embarrassing 62-6 loss to Penrith, the Warriors have beaten Newcastle at home and Brisbane 56-18 away, the latter being a record home defeat for the Broncos.

But Elliott says it won’t be clear if the Penrith defeat is an unintentional positive for a few games.

“It certainly got our attention, didn’t it?” Elliott said.

“But we will really know the answer to that question in four weeks time. I don’t think it’s a matter of arcing up for two weeks and then saying that’s turned our season around. Let’s be honest, we’ve got some more turning to do.”

The victories should give the Warriors more confidence, but Elliott is wary of reading too much into that.

“Confidence is a scary word to use, because confidence tends to fluctuate. We want to be relying less on confidence and more on the attitude that depicts our team,” he said.

“Obviously, you’ve heard me use words like process and evolving. I think part of where we’re at as a team is developing the right mindset and understanding what that is for our team to play well.”

The fourth-placed Sea Eagles will be a much greater litmus test for the Warriors than the under-strength Broncos were, and Elliott says they are a team the Warriors should aspire to be like.

“You have to come with the right mentality to start with – don’t worry about your strategic approach,” he said.

“I really admire the way they play and they do it consistently, so that’s our challenge.”

Elliott is sceptical about theories that Manly will be better for coming off a bye, saying teams can be flat after a bye. But he has no doubt they will be formidable despite the continued absence of fullback Brett Stewart with a back injury.

Among the improved parts of the Warriors game is more consistency from halfback Shaun Johnson and five-eighth Thomas Leuluai, but the improvement will need to continue to contain Manly’s duo of Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans.

“It’s a good test for me and Shauney. They’re playing really well at the moment and they’re two of the best in the comp at the moment,” Leuluai said.

“Manly are a very complete team, I reckon. It’s going to be a tough challenge for us, but we’re looking forward to it.”