NRL Round 4 Preview and Prediction - Manly Sea Eagles v Canterbury Bulldogs @ Lottoland

Manly Sea Eagles v Canterbury Bulldogs @ Lottoland

Preview - Manly and the Bulldogs get the chance to claim back-to-back victories for the first time in 2017 when they clash at Brookvale Oval on Saturday afternoon. The Sea Eagles were the team under most pressure coming into Round 3, after being comprehensively beaten at home twice, however they responded with a dominant 30-8 victory over the Cowboys up in Townsville. Whilst it might have been a good time to play the Cowboys who were missing four regular starters, the Sea Eagles showed great goal line defence and aggression for much of the contest. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, eased pressure on Des Hasler with their first victory of the season, with a gritty 22-12 win over the Warriors in Dunedin. The Bulldogs, despite only registering one win, have been one of the more consistent sides this year with their defence giving up less than 16 points per game through 3 rounds, and managing to score 9 tries in the last 2 games. 
 
History - It has been all one way traffic of late between these two Clubs with the Bulldogs winning the past 6 encounters. However, 2 of those games did go into Golden Point and another 3 were closely contested. Last year at Brookvale, way back in Round 1, the Bulldogs demolished the Sea Eagles 28-6 in Trent Barrett's debut as coach. 
 
Sea Eagles’ Scouting Report - The Sea Eagles welcome back big Martin Taupau and Adden Fonua-Blake after both of those players were suspended due to shoulder charges from their Round 1 game. Nate Myles played with far more aggression last week, while Daly Cherry-Evans finally stepped up with a couple of big moments against the Cowboys, with an outstanding 40/20 and try assist a couple of minutes later.
 
Canterbury Bulldogs’ Scouting Report - The Bulldogs have retained rookies Brad Abbey and Marcelo Montoya after they both made impressive debuts against the Warriors. Sam Kasiano had been quiet over the past couple of rounds, however he showed signs of getting back to form last week. Michael Lichaa still doesn't look the player that had all those massive wraps coming for him as a junior, however he is running the football more this year and making some good yards out of dummy half for his side. 
 
Verdict - Bulldogs 1-6 in a low scoring game
 
I'm going for the Bulldog here because I believe their form line is stronger over the opening 3 weeks. Narrow losses to the Storm and Roosters might have been good enough for victories over plenty of other sides including the Sea Eagles. I know Manly played really well last week, however I thought they caught the Cowboys at exactly the right time with a number of injuries and coming off two straight Golden Point games. With the never ending rain sticking around in Sydney, I think that might suit the Bulldogs as they have a clear advantage, for mine, over the Sea Eagles in their front and back row. The Sea Eagles do get Martin Taupau back which will help, however I just think he won't have enough around him to get this Manly pack down the field and into striking distance. The Bulldogs enjoyed playing at Brookvale last season winning 28-6 and, with the Sea Eagles’ home woes stretching out more than a year, I can see Canterbury coming in and grinding out another victory here to really get their season up and running.