Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters Prediction: Cherry-Evans set for sweet return
All eyes will be on Daly Cherry-Evans when his Sydney Roosters side visit his former team Manly Sea Eagles as round four of the NRL season gets underway at Brookvale Oval on Thursday (09:00 KO).
Halfback Cherry-Evans departed the Sea Eagles at the end of 2025 after 15 seasons, but he surprised many by opting to make the move across Sydney to join the Roosters.
Cherry-Evans will now make his first return to Manly, with whom he won the NRL Grand Final in 2011, but neither his current team nor former side have started the season strongly, meaning there should be plenty of tension in the air.
Sea Eagles vs Roosters Betting Tips
*odds correct at time of publishing
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Despite boasting home advantage, the Sea Eagles are the 2/1 outsiders to pick up their first win of the season, with the Roosters available at 4/9 and the draw 16/1.
The three-way handicap has been set at eight points and Manly are 10/11 to triumph with that hypothetical head start, while the visitors are 11/10 to win and cover the handicap.
Team News
The Sea Eagles had a bye last week but coach Anthony Seibold has stuck with the same team that were beaten by the Newcastle Knights in week two, although teenage front-rower Simione Laiafi has been added to the squad and could be in line for his NRL debut.
Prop Siua Taukeiaho remains unavailable due to a calf injury he picked up in week one, while illness continues to sideline lock Nathan Brown.
As for the Roosters, Trent Robinson makes only one change from the heavy 40-4 defeat to the Penrith Panthers, with centre Billy Smith returning from concussion and replacing Junior Pauga.
Hugo Savala is also named among the replacements as he continues to work his way back to full fitness following an ankle injury.
Roosters -8 @ 11/10
Manly will be doing all they can to ensure Cherry-Evans' return to Brookvale Oval is a fruitless one, but it is difficult to see the Sea Eagles avoiding a third defeat in as many matches to start the new season.
What makes things worse for Seibold's team is that their two previous defeats, against the Canberra Raiders and the Knights, have both come on home soil, and the latter loss was an emphatic 36-16 setback.
The Roosters were also beaten heavily last time out, going down 40-4 on home soil against the Panthers, but they did beat the South Sydney Rabbitohs in week two and appear a bit further down the line in their development.
The visitors have also won six of their last eight meetings with Manly, including last season's 20-4 success at this venue, and with Cherry-Evans pulling the strings, they can triumph again and do so with something to spare.
I like the look of Newcastle here, and while they are 7/5 for the win, they shouldn’t have quite enough to clear the 12-point threshold so the 11/4 for a maximum two-score win offers extra value.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
Under 46.5 points @ 5/6
The Sea Eagles only scored 16 points in their last match, which looks a healthy number when compared to the Roosters, who put up just four points on the board against the Panthers and are averaging only 16 points-per-game overall.
Recent meetings between this pair at Brookvale Oval have also tended to be low scoring, with the points totals in the last four head-to-heads at the venue being 30, 34, 35 and just 24 when the teams last met in August.
With the pair having managed just one win between them this season from five matches, don't expect a classic encounter, and this one should comfortably go under the 47-point mark.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
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