The Sea Eagles head out to ANZ Stadium on Friday night to take on the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs looking to get their season back to winning ways.
The last time these two sides met was only a month ago at Brookvale over, in what was a narrow 16-12 victory for the boys from Belmore.
Tim Lafai was instrumental for the Bulldogs notching up two tries in the first half while Manly had one thanks to a hard runnning and fully fit Feleti Mateo. The second half was a much more improved performance with Steve Matai and Peta Hiku both getting their names on the board for the home side while Sam Perrett was on hand to deliver for the Canterbury-Bankstown side.
Whilst Manly enjoyed the majority of possession during the clash (54%-46%), it was the conversions, or lack thereof, that let down the home side, striking out with 0/3 from the tee.
The Sea Eagles and Bulldogs were without their influential five-eighth's for that clash but will be back this time around. Kieran Foran and Josh Reynolds are two of the game’s leading players in their position and the battle between the two on Friday night will go a long way to determine the winner.
Foran will be looking to inspire his side to winning ways and produce the form that has made him one of the games deadliest five-eighths. Last week against the Panthers, the kiwi played the entire game against the Panthers while Reynolds could only manage 49 minutes of the Bulldogs crushing loss to the Dragons on Sunday. Thier defence has been tested and questioned in recent weeks, but Foran only missed the one tackle against Penrith while Reynolds doubled that tally.
Overall Foran has a better winning percentage with 62.60%, while Reynolds although very similar is 60.49%. The Bulldog player has one over the Sea Eagle when it comes to head to head matches between the two sides. The NSW five-eighth comes out as a victor on 4/9 occasions while the New Zealand international manages 4/10 triumphs against the Canterbury-Bankstown side.
They are dangerous ball runners and have the ability to cause opposing sides havoc. Whether it is a clinical bullet-like-pass or exploiting their opposites with strong runs at the defensive line.
On their day, either player can swing a game to their favour, and with both clubs not living up to their expectations this season you can be sure that both players will be looking to inspire their sides in what is a crucial game for the two underachieving sides.
Kick off at ANZ Stadium is 7:35pm this Friday 17th of April.
