Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 2020 draw snapshot
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Here is all you need to know about the Manly Sea Eagles' 2020 Telstra Premiership draw.
The Lowdown
Teams they play twice
Roosters, Warriors, Raiders, Knights, Titans, Sharks, Eels, Bulldogs, Panthers.
Teams they play once
Storm, Broncos, Tigers, Dragons, Rabbitohs, Cowboys.
Day-by-day breakdown
Thursday - 2, Friday - 7, Saturday - 8, Sunday - 7.
Five-day turnarounds
1 (Round 10).
Kick-off
Facing the two grand finalists and the minor premiers in the opening four games is daunting. But it will generate a lot of excitement, especially kicking the season off with old sparring partners Melbourne Storm at Lottoland.
Five key match-ups
Storm (Round 1, Lottoland): These two clubs shared the spoils in 2019 - Manly winning away at AAMI Park in round 19 but losing at home at Lottoland five weeks later. The personnel may be different from the fiery 2011 clash known as "The Battle of Brookvale", where 10 players were charged, but add in the 2007 and 2008 grand finals between these clubs and you see why feelings run deep between the two. Chambers, of course, has now left the building for Japanese rugby.
Sharks (Round 7, Netstrata Jubilee Stadium; Round 18, Lottoland): This rivalry hearkens back to the two 1970s grand final wins over Cronulla but is refreshed every year. Last season, Manly beat the Sharks (24-14) before their home crowd in round 10. But they also ended Paul Gallen's career with a 28-16 qualifying final win at Lottoland, which few in the Shire are likely to forget.
Dragons (Round 12, Netstrata Jubilee Stadium): Manly players won't forget the escort rule penalty they felt they deserved in the round six loss (12-10) at WIN Stadium. Winger Reuben Garrick was hustled off the ball by Tim Lafai with skipper Daly Cherry-Evans arguing emphatically with referee Dave Munro for a penalty. That could have locked up scores and sent the match to golden point. Manly were searching for their first win in Wollongong since 2003. But they got another loss instead.
Rabbitohs (Round 13, ANZ Stadium): One point decided the result in 2019 in both competition games - Manly won 13-12 in round four and then lost 21-20 in round 13. The kicker came in the finals when South Sydney ended Manly's season in the semi-finals by scoring two tries (John Sutton, Cameron Murray) while Jake Trbojevic was sin-binned with 14 minutes left to play. Des Hasler's men will be looking for a little revenge in 2020.
Panthers (Round 15, Panthers Stadium; Round 24, Lottoland): The round 12 game last season was their only meeting and resulted in Manly being one of Penrith's victims in their seven-game winning streak. The close match was decided by a penalty and then a field goal to James Maloney after the teams had scored two converted tries each. The Sea Eagles, who were coming home with a wet sail after being down 9-0 at half-time, took the 15-13 loss to heart as they were sitting sixth on the ladder and trying to consolidate a finals spot after missing out the previous year.
Toughest stretch
Round 12-17. Four of these five games are on the road and it is right in the middle of State of Origin. So being on the road is hard but Manly is most likely to be also missing Daly Cherry-Evans and the Trbojevic brothers to the rep scene.
And another thing
Only one of their last four games (round 24) is at home, and round 23 is in Auckland, which means a bit of travel fatigue to round-off the season.
