Manly Sea Eagles

Coach Craig Bellamy's biggest concern after the loss in Townsville was that the Cowboys had out-competed his men - something that rarely happens to the Storm and certainly won't happen again on Thursday.

Manly have also suffered consecutive losses and face the daunting prospect of being without superstar Tom Trbojevic for the remainder of the season after he dislocated his shoulder against the Eels.

The Daily Telegraph broke the news on Saturday afternoon, which comes after the superstar fullback inju

Trbojevic was in obvious pain after dislocating his left shoulder diving on a kick in the Sea Eagles in-goal midway through the second half and is in serious doubt to play for NSW in the June 8 Origin opener.

Manly led 20-16 at the time and defended bravely but were unable to hold on without Trbojevic and the sinbinning of forward Sean Keppie in the 73rd minute.

Moses was also sin-binned just before halftime for a professional foul and the Sea Eagles took advantage to race to a 20-10 lead but they were unable to withstand the sustained pressure from the Eels.

Both sides are coming off Magic Round defeats, a third in four weeks for Manly, so the stakes will be high and CommBank Stadium is sure to be buzzing.

Their previous meeting in round 22 last year resulted in a 56-10 cakewalk for the Sea Eagles as Reuben Garrick piled on 28 points, just two shy of Ron Rowles' record of 30 set way back in 1954.

A repeat of that sort of scoreline is unlikely but the Eels are sure to be on high alert as they confront a Manly backline packed with threats and desperate to make a statement after being held scoreless in Magic Round.

The Broncos No.7 laid on two tries for Selwyn Cobbo with pinpoint kicks and scored one of his own as Kevin Walters' men made it four wins on the trot.

Reynolds set the tone for the night when he clean bowled Tom Trbojevic with the kick-off to get the ball back for his team and two minutes later he set up Cobbo for the game's opening try.

The Sea Eagles launched an air raid of their own in the 14th minute when Tom Trbojevic flew high to bring down a Kieran Foran bomb and looked certain to score but desperation defence by Billy Walters denied the superstar fullback.

Manly are coming off an impressive win of their own against the Wests Tigers at 4 Pines Park with a dream starting debut for Ben Trbojevic alongside his brothers Tom and Jake. 

Both sides have only played each other once in the past three seasons for a 2-1 split in favour of the Sea Eagles. They pummelled the Broncos 50-6 in the corresponding clash last year with Tom Trbojevic scoring a double.

Manly were gallant in defeat to South Sydney last start given they played majority of the game with only 12 men, but their overall slide in the past fortnight has coincided with injuries in the backline, none more so than Tom Trbojevic.

The Wests Tigers will take plenty away from their six-point defeat to the Dragons, particularly around the key stats areas they were able to win during the match without being able to ice the moments when it mattered. 

Walker scored a try and laid on two others in his milestone match as the Rabbitohs overpowered a Manly side that battled bravely after Karl Lawton was sent off in the ninth minute.

Lawton lifted Souths skipper Cameron Murray above the horizonal and into a dangerous position and seemed resigned to his fate as he walked towards referee Grant Atkins to learn his fate.

The Rabbitohs opted to take the penalty goal for a 2-0 lead but it was the 12-man Sea Eagles who grabbed the game's opening try through Kieran Foran.

The last time they locked horns it was the Rabbitohs ending Manly's 2021 season with a comprehensive 36-16 preliminary final victory but much has changed at Redfern since late September.

The departures of supercoach Wayne Bennett, premiership-winning halfback Adam Reynolds and rep centre Dane Gagai have taken some adjustment and Latrell Mitchell's injury has left them without their most dangerous attacking weapon.

Talakai was virtually unstoppable as he scored two tries and laid on three others in arguably the best 40 minute display by any player this season as the Sharks raced to a 32-0 half-time lead.

The Sydney-born Talakai, who has pledged his World Cup allegiances to Tonga, also produced three line breaks, two line-break assists, seven tackle breaks and three off-loads while carrying the ball 202 metres in 13 runs at left centre.