Dragons v Sea Eagles: Big four return; Sipley bolsters pack
Both coming off Round 3 losses, the Dragons and Sea Eagles will be looking to get their 2024 campaigns back on track when they meet at WIN Stadium on Easter Saturday.
Letting go of an early 18-4 lead before the Cowboys ran riot and piled on four tries in the second half, the Dragons will need to ensure they can maintain an 80-minute performance and ice their opportunities with the ball if they want to mix it with an in-form Manly side.
Not only will the Dragons be opening the gates to WIN Stadium for 2024 but there will also be plenty of extra motivation with coach Shane Flanagan coming up against Anthony Seibold for the first time since stepping out of Manly's assistant coach role.
Meanwhile, the Sea-Eagles are proving to be the sleeping giant of the competition this year and despite falling to their first loss, will still take plenty of positives from their 28-24 clash with the Eels on Sunday.
Having been tested against several of the competition's heavyweights, Manly will fancy their chances against the Dragons if they can hold onto the football and rue the errors which creeped into their game last week.
Sportsbet Betting Preview - Dragons v Sea Eagles
Team News
Dragons: A switch on game day with Raymond Faitala-Mariner coming into the starting side and Tom Eisenhuth going to the bench. Francis Molo (suspension), Jacob Liddle (concussion), Hame Sele (hamstring) and Jaydn Su'A (quad) are all back on deck in a boost for Shane Flanagan's side. Jesse Marschke remains on the bench and will likely split time with Liddle in the hooking rotation after playing 57 minutes there last week.
Sea Eagles: Winger Tommy Talau has come into the side an hour before kick-off having recovered from an ankle injury. Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega drops out. Coach Anthony Siebold confirmed on Friday that Tof Sipley would come into the 17 having been named among the reserves on Tuesday. Ethan Bullemor drops to 18th man.
Match: Dragons v Sea Eagles
Round 4 -
home Team
Dragons
away Team
Sea Eagles
Team Lists
Backs
-
Fullback for Dragons is number 1 Tyrell SloanFullback for Sea Eagles is number 1 Tom Trbojevic
-
Winger for Dragons is number 2 Zac LomaxWinger for Sea Eagles is number 5 Jaxson Paulo
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Centre for Dragons is number 3 Mosese SuliCentre for Sea Eagles is number 3 Tolutau Koula
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Centre for Dragons is number 4 Jack BirdCentre for Sea Eagles is number 4 Reuben Garrick
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Winger for Dragons is number 5 Mikaele RavalawaWinger for Sea Eagles is number 19 Tommy Talau
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Five-Eighth for Dragons is number 6 Kyle FlanaganFive-Eighth for Sea Eagles is number 6 Luke Brooks
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Halfback for Dragons is number 7 Ben HuntHalfback for Sea Eagles is number 7 Daly Cherry-Evans
Forwards
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Prop for Dragons is number 8 Francis MoloProp for Sea Eagles is number 8 Taniela Paseka
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Hooker for Dragons is number 9 Jacob LiddleHooker for Sea Eagles is number 9 Lachlan Croker
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Prop for Dragons is number 10 Blake LawrieProp for Sea Eagles is number 10 Josh Aloiai
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2nd Row for Dragons is number 11 Luciano Leilua2nd Row for Sea Eagles is number 11 Haumole Olakau'atu
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2nd Row for Dragons is number 12 Jaydn Su'a2nd Row for Sea Eagles is number 12 Ben Trbojevic
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Lock for Dragons is number 17 Raymond Faitala-MarinerLock for Sea Eagles is number 13 Jake Trbojevic
Interchange
-
Interchange for Dragons is number 13 Tom EisenhuthInterchange for Sea Eagles is number 14 Karl Lawton
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Interchange for Dragons is number 14 Jesse MarschkeInterchange for Sea Eagles is number 15 Corey Waddell
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Interchange for Dragons is number 15 Jack De BelinInterchange for Sea Eagles is number 17 Nathan Brown
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Interchange for Dragons is number 16 Hame SeleInterchange for Sea Eagles is number 22 Toafofoa Sipley
Reserves
-
Replacement for Dragons is number 19 Michael MoloReplacement for Sea Eagles is number 16 Ethan Bullemor
Match Officials
- Referee: Ashley Klein
- Touch Judge: Dave Munro
- Senior Review Official: Kasey Badger
Last updated:
Stat Attack
- The Dragons have won only one of their past six games at WIN Stadium.
- Sea Eagles halfback Daly Cherry-Evans will equal Cliff Lyons’ record of 309 appearances for Manly.
- Dragons winger Mikaele Ravalawa has scored nine tries in his past eight games at WIN Stadium.
- Manly centre Reuben Garrick requires two points for 1,000 NRL points.
- The Dragons have conceded 84 points in their past two games.
Stats supplied by David Middleton, League Information Services, author of the official annual of the NRL.
Match: Dragons v Sea Eagles
Round 4 -
home Team
Dragons
12th Position
away Team
Sea Eagles
10th Position
Venue: WIN Stadium, Wollongong
