Manly Sea Eagles

Maika Sivo scored twice inside the opening eight minutes to get Parramatta, who were without injured halfback Mitchell Moses, off to a flying start at 4 Pines Park, but it soon became a contest where the lead changed on numerous occasions as both side's enjoyed periods of dominance. 

Trailing 20-14 with 28 minutes to go, the Eels powered back with tries to Waqa Blake, Gutherson, Will Penisini and Dylan Brown, to put the result beyond doubt. 

The blue and golds are walking a little taller after upsetting the Panthers on Friday while Manly endured a tough night against the Roosters with seven key players missing the game for personal reasons.

When these sides met at CommBank Stadium in round 11 it was the Eels squeaking home 22-20, with Manly losing Tom Trbojevic for the season to a shoulder injury.

Des Hasler's men will be hoping for better luck on home soil as they look to avenge that defeat and get on a roll towards the finals.

The Roosters' flyers were at their best with Joey Manu chalking up a try and 188 run metres on his return from injury and Daniel Tupou also crossing the line and carrying the ball for 203 metres.

An early dangerous tackle by Alfred Smalley on debut proved costly for the hosts as the Roosters opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a penalty goal.

Four minutes later the Roosters extended their lead when winger Daniel Tupou finished off some slick hands from Victor Radley, Luke Keary and Sam Walker to extend the lead to 8-0.

The Sea Eagles (9th) and Roosters (8th) are two of those sides along with the Raiders (10th) and Dragons (11th), so this showdown between the boys from Sydney's northern beaches and the Bondi brigade has massive ramifications.

It feels like an eternity since the Roosters downed Manly 26-12 in round two at the SCG, both sides battling injuries to star players and bouts of inconsistency since then but remaining well and truly in the hunt for September.

In the 37 meetings between the two sides in the NRL era, the Sea Eagles hold a slight 20-17 advantage.

The former Cowboy, Panther, Shark and Bronco will run onto the field on Thursday for the first time since 2019, when he received a 20-month suspension after testing positive for a prohibited substance. The positive test allegedly came after using a housemate’s blender.

The Dragons have slipped from eighth to 11th in the past two weeks but with back-to-back games at their spiritual home ground they get an ideal opportunity to put themselves back in the mix.

Manly have won four of their past five games and will look to shore up their place in the eight by taking care of the Dragons (11th) and Roosters (9th) in the next two weeks.

Having conceded 86 points in their past two games the Dragons need to put some steel back in their defence if they hope to subdue a potent Sea Eagles side averaging 35 points per game in the past five matches.

Three days after helping Queensland win the Origin decider, Cherry-Evans was in fine touch at 4 Pines Park, helping Manly to score five unanswered tries in the final half hour and win for the sixth time in seven games at home this season. 

The two sides traded converted tries through the opening 20 minutes, but Manly pulled away in the final 10 minutes of the half thanks to a Saab try and Cherry-Evans penalty. 

Anthony Milford was sent to the bin just before the break for taking Reuben Garrick out off the ball. 

Trailing 26-12 just seven minutes from fulltime, the Cowboys mounted a remarkable comeback as Reece Robson, Murray Taulagi and Valentine Holmes crossed in succession to shock the Sea Eagles.

The Cowboys did so after losing Queensland forward Reuben Cotter in the warm-up with a hamstring injury that has him in doubt for next weekend's Origin in Perth and they never really looked like winning until the dying stages.

Todd Payten's men have won five from seven away games in 2022 so a trip to Manly's spiritual home shouldn't faze them, although the loss of young gun Heilum Luki for the season presents a significant challenge after a relatively injury-free run to date.

The Sea Eagles have had their own setbacks with superstar Tom Trbojevic and workhorse Karl Lawton gone for the season but Des Hasler won't be making any excuses if his team misses out on finals for the second time in three years.

Munster will be a key man for Queensland on June 8 and his form in the opening game of Indigenous Round will have had Maroons coach and Storm legend Billy Slater licking his lips.

The Storm entered round 12 under pressure after two straight losses but they found their groove to run in five tries after an early one went begging when Felise Kaufusi's foot went into touch as he attempted to ground the ball.