The Sea Eagles return to 4 Pines Park for a third consecutive match on Saturday night looking to get back into the top eight when they host arch-rivals Newcastle.
With a four-way logjam around eighth spot on the Telstra Premiership ladder, Manly have proven there's still life without Tom Trbojevic, stringing together three wins in their past month to remain in finals contention.
The Knights are coming off a high-scoring 40-28 loss in round 17 and look like a team who aren't completely on the same page despite several stars in their line-up.
Manly got the victory in the corresponding match in round five, a 30-6 win in Newcastle, and will be looking to make it two from two in 2022 on Saturday.
The Rundown
Team news
Sea Eagles: Des Hasler has named the same 17 that got the job done against Melbourne, with Origin stars Daly Cherry-Evans and Jake Trbojevic set to back up after Wednesday's decider. Josh Aloiai is listed as 18th Man after he missed Round 16 due to a concussion.
Knights: Kalyn Ponga, Jacob Saifiti and Dane Gagai have been named to back up after Origin III. Ponga hasn't featured for the Knights since Round 15 after back-to-back head knocks.
Centre Bradman Best is out after suffering a new injury to his thumb in the loss to the Rabbitohs.
Hooker Jayden Brailey returns to the starting side in his second game back from injury and Chris Randall drops to the reserves. Leo Thompson was named in place of Pasami Saulo on the interchange when the squad was cut to 19 players on Friday.
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Source: NRL.com