PRE-GAME Round 10 - Sea Eagles vs Broncos

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Still stinging from last year's grand final defeat, Broncos five-eighth Anthony Milford has vowed to use the atmosphere created by a full house at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night to deliver yet another scintillating performance for his team.

In the second game of the double-header that also features the Storm playing the Cowboys, the Broncos meet a Manly team sitting just outside the top eight but with six wins from their past nine visits to Suncorp Stadium and an overall record of 18 wins from 28 appearances.

Dodging questions about being unavailable for Samoa last weekend as well as he does defenders – "I'll just leave that up to Wayne" – Milford was eager to turn his attention to a sold out stadium on Saturday night and another step on Brisbane's way to grand final redemption.

Considered by many as the best player on the park in the decider last October, Milford said the one-point defeat in extra time is a major motivator for he and his teammates this season and hopes to produce something special against the Sea Eagles.

"When you really want to turn it on it's at Suncorp at a packed stadium," Milford said.

"Everyone wants to turn up and play their best against whoever we are playing at Suncorp Stadium so we're going to go out there and do our best on Saturday.

"That bye was good timing for us. It just so happened that we lost against the Sharkies the week before as well so that week gave us a week to remind ourselves and bring us back down."

At the start of the season Milford vowed to enjoy his football this season and it has translated into a highlights reel through nine rounds that many players would be happy to claim for a career's work.

He has eight try assists, eight tries of his own, nine line-break assists and an NRL-high four field goals and admitted that behind the cheeky grin is a deep-seated fear of failure and of letting his teammates down.

"Probably just the way we missed out last year is what's driving me," said the 21-year-old.

"Just the fear of failure and the boys are working too hard for us to let them down, that's what keeps me driven.

"It took me a while [to get over the grand final], just with the circumstances around the way we lost and things like that.

"Obviously [that burden] is pretty heavy. The boys work really hard, especially our 'fronties'. They work really hard for us to just pull up short so that's what drives me and I think it drives a lot of the boys."

Broncos prop Sam Thaiday said with the Origin period now just three weeks away getting a win against Manly on home soil – albeit from the opposition's sheds – is crucial to their top four aspirations at the end of the season.

"We've got a tough three-week block of some games that can set us up and almost lock us into a top eight and maybe keep us up in that top four towards the end of the year," Thaiday said.

"It's going to be quite awkward. We're actually in the away under-20s sheds this week but we still get to play at home so our match-day routine shouldn't change too much.

"We love playing at Suncorp Stadium and we've probably got a few wrongs that need to be righted after that game we played against the Sharks."

Milford promises to 'turn it on' against Manly - NRL.com
 
[Tweet]730661372279676928[/Tweet]
 
Can't open this link, but does it have anything to do with Matai and Stewart being ruled out ?

It's a Tweet, not a link, it should be showing up for you.

And yes, it's regarding Stewart & Matai.
 
Can't open this link, but does it have anything to do with Matai and Stewart being ruled out ?

Are you on the mobile theme jarro?

It's crystal clear on my desktop.
 
Tom Trbojevic travelled and will have a fitness test tomorrow. Could be dangerous if he plays fullback
 
I can see it on my phone, using mobile theme.
 
I think Jarro's on tapatalk, his username has the little icon next to it when I'm using the app too.

I can't see the tweets either, they show up as a link with what I assume is the status ID for text. The links don't go anywhere either. This is a tapatalk issue though, probably to do with how it handles TWEET forum tags.
 
On a side note. How much fun is it scrolling thru the greenhouse game day forum when they lose a game like that. Hilarious ☺
#greenhousetears
 
Stoked I snapped up decent tickets way back. Going to be a fantastic afternoon/evening. The three top teams, some of the best players in the game, and an ocean of tears from Manly fans.

Tommy Turbo is probably a more threatening proposition than Stewart in his current incarnation. Matai isn't a huge loss for them, but we should be able to expose his replacement in Symonds. Underrated player but I'd expect the synergy in defence on that edge will be lacking. Marking up on Hunt/Roberts. Screams points.

Big game from Milf I reckon. Provided the pack pulls their weight we should tear through them.
 
Last year they bashed Milf out of the game, New coach for them, and a more experienced Milf. Will be interesting to see how that pans out. If I was Symonds I would be shitting myself marking Roberts.
 
Schick Hydro Preview: Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles vs. Brisbane Broncos
Suncorp Stadium
Saturday, 7:55pm

Game two of Saturday night's Suncorp Stadium double-header will see the Broncos travel to Brisbane to play Manly-Warringah away from home.

And no, that's not a typo - the Sea Eagles have sacrificed a chance to play Brisbane at Brookvale Oval, instead shifting their home game to Brisbane's home ground…

The sold out clash will have lucrative financial benefits for the Sea Eagles and the 50,000+ crowd will be something a lot of their players have never experienced before.

It gives Brisbane a great opportunity to secure a vital two points 'away' from home after being beaten by Cronulla-Sutherland 30-28 two weeks ago.

The Sea Eagles were well beaten in their last start against North Queensland - a side that is very similar to the Broncos.

Manly have made a number of changes leading into Saturday's clash. Brett Stewart returns from injury to start at fullback and that means Dylan Walker will shift back to five-eighth. Tom Symonds has been moved back to an extended bench, accompanying Blake Leary and Pita Godinet.

The suspension of Adam Blair and injury to Alex Glenn means that Brisbane has been forced to reshuffle their forward pack. Jarrod Wallace will start in the front row and Sam Thaiday will shift to the back row. Young lock Jai Arrow is set to make his debut, slotting onto the Broncos' bench.

Watch out Sea Eagles: Corey Oates sent out a warning to the rest of the competition at the start of the week, stating how hungry he is to play State of Origin. Oates feels like he has something to prove after missing Australian selection and the Sea Eagles are looking like the unlucky recipients of Oates's frustrations. The hulking winger is equal second in the competition for tries scored with eight to his name. Expect this tally to grow on Saturday night as he sets his sights on cementing an Origin berth for Queensland. Oates's 10 line breaks for the season are the second most in the competition and if he and Anthony Milford continue to build their combination then the Sea Eagles' right-side defence will be in for a long night.

Watch out Broncos: Manly young gun Jake Trbojevic has been a bright spark for the Sea Eagles at lock in 2016. This week he will get to battle it out with the game's best number 13 in Broncos captain Corey Parker. You can expect Trbojevic to take it to Brisbane's most experienced forward as he attempts to make a name for himself. A future New South Wales Origin representative, Trbojevic is at his best in defence. He averages 42 tackles per game and he will be the Sea Eagles' rock in the middle of the park come Saturday night. Brisbane's best bet will be to run at the Sea Eagles' edges - away from Trbojevic.

Key match-up: Daly Cherry-Evans vs. Ben Hunt. The two Queensland halfbacks are set to battle it out for the Maroons' number seven jersey in the coming years and Saturday looms as a chance for early bragging rights. The two halves have had very different seasons so far. Cherry-Evans has struggled with injury and form. The 27-year-old has missed three games this season with an ankle injury and even when he has played, he hasn't dominated for the maroon and white. Cherry-Evans has only managed three try assists in six games this season – struggling to adapt to life without Kieran Foran. Hunt on the other hand has played every game this season and has been one of Brisbane's best. He is second in the NRL for try assists with 10 to his name. Hunt also has four tries of his own for 2016 and his 13 offloads ranks him in the top 20 of the competition. This battle looms as the key match-up of the night and Cherry-Evans will need to play out of his skin if he is to outplay Hunt and get Manly-Warringah over the line.

The history: Played 41; Sea Eagles 21, Broncos 19, Drawn 1. The Sea Eagles are one of very few teams who have a positive record against the Broncos. Manly-Warringah's dominance over the last 10 years has taken its toll on Brisbane, with the Sea Eagles winning 11 of the past 15 matches between the two sides. But in what is a rather telling statistic, the Broncos have won the last two meetings between the two sides at Suncorp Stadium by an average of 30 points. Brisbane centre Jack Reed has a superb record against the Sea Eagles, scoring five tries in his last four matches against the side from Sydney's northern beaches. Matt Parcell will start at hooker for the Sea Eagles, in what will be his first game against his old club.

What are the odds: Sea Eagles $4.85, Broncos $1.20. Money is coming in at a rate of 3:1 in favour of Brisbane as far as head to head betting is concerned. Sportsbet customers consider the Broncos a lock in their multis and 75% of money wagered on winning margin is for Brisbane to get home 13+. Brisbane winger Corey Oates continues to shorten in the first try scorer market – paying $5.50 to cross the line first.

Match officials: Referee: Jared Maxwell. Assistant Referee: Gavin Reynolds. Touch Judges: Nick Beashel & Clayton Sharpe. Standby: Adam Devcich. Review Officials: Bryan Norrie & Jason Robinson. Senior RO: Ashley Klein.

Televised: Fox Sports 1 – Live coverage from 7:30pm.

The way we see it: Brisbane will be keen to hit back after a disappointing loss to the Sharks. That performance was well below that of what coach Wayne Bennett expects from his troops and the Broncos will be a different team this week. The Sea Eagles are brave bringing a home game up to Brisbane and it looks set to be something the club will regret. The absence of Blair, Glenn and Andrew McCullough will no doubt weaken the Broncos' middle, but Brisbane will still have too much class for Manly. Broncos by 14.

Sea Eagles v Broncos: Schick Preview - NRL.com
 
Is Roberts being moved to left centre? Or perhaps Lyon is moving to left centre.

I saw this on the courier mail a minute ago.

9.55am: The Broncos could have a major advantage in the centres against Manly with James Roberts opposite veteran Jamie Lyon. Expect Brisbane to target Lyon by using Roberts' speed. Grubbers behind the line early in the tackle count will be featured.

No Cookies | The Courier Mail
 
You would think they'd want to keep Lyon on the right to mark up against Reed ??
 
Manly have won 11 of the last 15 against Brisbane? I knew they had a good record but didn't realise it was THAT good. Yuck.
 
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