NRL Round 3 Preview and Prediction - North Queensland Cowboys v Manly Sea Eagles @ 1300 Smiles Stadium
North Queensland Cowboys v Manly Sea Eagles @ 1300 Smiles Stadium
Preview - The Cowboys will be shooting for 3 straight wins to start 2017 when they take on the struggling Sea Eagles at 1300 Stadium in Townsville on Saturday night. The Cowboys have remarkably started the season with two straight Golden Point victories against both the Raiders and Broncos and might become the new cardiac kids of 2017 under Paul Green. Last week they matched the Broncos in another epic 21-20 victory, before an eerily similar Johnathan Thurston field goal to the one he hit in the 2015 Grand Final got the Cowboys the chocolates.The Sea Eagles slumped to a second straight defeat at Brookvale Oval as they were embarrassed by South Sydney 38-18. While the hallmark of Manly's effort in Week 1 had been their goal line defence, they were really poor defensively on a number of occasions in the second half as Souths ran riot. Pressure is already mounting on Head Coach, Trent Barrett, and Captain Daly Cherry-Evans as the rumblings at Manly grow louder.
History - The Cowboys have dominated recent meetings between these two teams winning the last 5 encounters dating back to 2014. Last year, when the sides met at 1300 Smiles Stadium, it was an entertaining game with the Cowboys running out 30-26 winners.
North Queensland Cowboys' Scouting Report - The Cowboys have lost a whopping four senior players for this match with Jason Taumololo, Matt Scott, Antonio Winterstein and Lachlan Coote all out. The Cowboys however have a couple of exciting youngsters coming into the backline with Kayln Ponga set to play fullback and Javid Bowen coming on to the wing. I wouldn't be surprised if Ponga puts some genuine pressure on Coote this year for the fullback's role and he can start doing that by having a blinder here. Patrick Kaufusi and Scott Bolton will start in the front row and might still fancy their chances of getting on top of a Manly pack that has really struggled and has issues of their own.
Manly Sea Eagles' Scouting Report - The Sea Eagles need some performances from some of their senior players who have started the season in patchy form. Daly Cherry-Evans has failed to take command of their opening two games, drifting in and out of games and not getting his hands on the ball enough. Also, their pack leaders in Nate Myes and Brendon Lawrence really need to have more impact here against a similarly depleted Cowboys' pack.
Verdict - I don't think North Queensland are the nailed on certainties to win this game as comfortably as many are predicting. Without their two best forwards in Matt Scott and Jason Taumololo, they lose a huge amount in their engine room, and I think Johnathan Thurston and their backline will not have anywhere near the same time and room to operate in. Having said that, it is awfully difficult to tip Manly based on what they have produced in the opening two rounds of 2017. There is already some pressure on their Coach and Captain so I am at least expecting a competitive performance from the Sea Eagles here and somewhat of a response. However, given they have already lost two games at home, I will stick with the Cowboys in this game but I think it might prove a pretty close game. I'm expecting a pretty open game of football here with lots of ball movement as both sides look light on for forwards.