Raiders vs Sea Eagles Prediction: 2/1 Canberra to edge nearer Premiership

After slipping to a first NRL Premiership defeat in 10 last week, the table-topping Canberra Raiders need to get back on the bike on Friday. They welcome to the GIO Stadium a Manly-Waringah Sea Eagles side who need to get a shift on if they are to be a part of the finals picture come mid-September (20:00 local, 11:00 BST).

Ricky Stuart’s men are aiming to maintain their lead with just four games remaining, while Manly need tom turn around the poor form which has seen them fall to 10th spot. Here are my Raiders vs Sea Eagles predictions, with full team news and match odds from Betfred.

Raiders vs Sea Eagles Odds

Despite their surprise loss to the St George-Illawarra Dragons just six days back, the Raiders are heavy favourites to bounce back on Friday.

Betfred are quoting them at 4/9 for the win in 80 minutes, with Manly 19/10 to defy the standings. The draw is available at 20/1.

The standard handicap marker is set at 8.5 points in favour of the Sea Eagles, with Manly’s price narrowing to 5/6 in return. The Raiders are 20/21 to overcome the disadvantage.

Team News

It’s an unchanged 17 for the Raiders as Stuart backs his main men to recover from last week’s setback.

That means Hudson Young, Zac Hosking and Corey Horsburgh again form the back row, with former Wigan Warriors loose forward Morgan Smithies among the options off the bench.

There’s a little more for Manly coach Anthony Seibold to consider, with Lehi Hopoate out with a shoulder injury in the biggest change to the side which lost 20-4 to the Sydney Roosters last Saturday.

That absence moves Tom Trbojevic back to full-back, with Tommy Talau stepping up to replace ‘Tommy Turbo’ in the centres. Another change involving the Trbojevic brothers sees Ben miss out due to concussion protocols, with Michael Chee-Kam set to play for the first time this season in his stead.

Rugby League Odds

Raiders by 1-12 @ 2/1

I’m normally pretty positive on the Sea Eagles but they’re just not delivering the sort of form I’d need to see at this point.

There’s a very real fear they could miss the eight, with their first three-game win streak of the year – including a fantastic win over the Melbourne Storm – having been followed by back-to-back losses.

They’re now up against a Raiders outfit who have been superb for much of the season. While the ‘Green Machine’ don’t batter many sides, thanks mainly to having a defence which has conceded double-figure scores in 18 successive matches, they can win any old ding-dong.

Indeed, of their 16 wins this season, 10 have been achieved by a margin of 12 points or fewer. And at 2/1 to achieve the same again, I’m ready to get behind that as the Raiders move ever closer to claiming a first Minor Premiership since Mal Meninga was at his very best back in 1990.

Raiders to win both halves - Yes @ 6/4

While we’re playing with fine margins here, I think the home side will be able to build on a narrow half-time lead after the interval.

The Raiders can be very streaky within games. When they’re on top, they get the points to prove it. Yet when the momentum slips away from them they can often allow opponents back into the match.

And that’s how I expect this one to go. There should be enough ebbs and flows in the capital for the Raiders to assert enough dominance in either half whatever their drawbacks.

The 6/4 on offer implies a 40% probability, and that’s a little on the low side for me given the tendencies of the two sides on show.

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