NRL Round 10 Preview and Prediction - Manly Sea Eagles v Brisbane Broncos @ Suncorp Stadium

Manly Sea Eagles v Brisbane Broncos @ Suncorp Stadium
 
Preview - Two surging and in form sides lock horns here as the Sea Eagles take a home ground to Brisbane to take on the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium in the second game of the double header at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night. After starting the season with two easy losses, Manly have won 5 of their past 7 games to surge up to 5th spot on the competition table. The side showed the attacking force it is becoming under Trent Barrett last week, with a sizzling 46-8 victory over Souths in which they displayed an open and adventures brand of football, full of ball movement and speed. The Broncos have quietly put together a 4-game winning streak to lift themselves into the Top 4 for the first time this season, on the eve of the dreaded Origin period, which is always a stone test of their depth. They blew away the Panthers in their last victory before taking their foot off the gas in a comprehensive 32-18 victory. 
 
History - Manly have a good record over the Broncos over the past 5 seasons having won 6 from the past 9 encounters. Things have been more even of late however, with both sides having won 3 from the last 6 games. However, the most alarming stat for Manly is their recent record at Suncorp Stadium where they have lost their last 3 encounters by an average margin of 28 points. 
 
Manly Sea Eagles’ Scouting Report - Trent Barrett has named an unchanged line up from the side that demolished Souths in their last clash. Dylan Walker has been in sparkling form the past few weeks with his combination with Aku Uate proving one of the highlights of the season to date.
 
Brisbane Broncos’ Scouting Report - The Broncos lose strike centre James Roberts to injury meaning David Mead goes on to the wing and Jordan Kahn moves to centre. They also give a debut to George Fai who will come off the interchange bench. 
 
Verdict - Brisbane 1-6 in a thriller
 
I think this has the potential to be the game of the round in front of a massive crowd. Both sides are in outstanding form and the winner will claim a spot in the Top 4 after 10 rounds. With Johnathan Thurston likely out of Origin 1, the battle between Anthony Milford and Daly Cherry-Evans in the halves could go a long way to determining who will partner Cooper Cronk in the halves for Queensland in Origin 1. Despite Manly’s best being outstanding and potentially as good as anyone, I still think their worst is far worse than the Broncos, and for that reason I just trust the Broncos to want the game a little bit more. The Sea Eagles have the best away record in the competition alongside the Sharks, however playing in front of 40,000 screaming Broncos’ fans will be their biggest road test of the season. I expect this game to be more points than people expect with both sides capable of scoring 4-5 tries. I just think the Broncos being "at home" can pull off another win given their good record in close games of late.