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The 0-3 Manly Sea Eagles face their toughest test yet when they face the table-top Penrith Panthers tonight at Brookvale Oval.
Although the Manly-Penrith clash looks like a shift on paper, rugby league immortal Andrew Johns predicts that tonight’s game will be much closer than many predict.
The manly is still without the rear of superstar Tom Trbojevic and first-choice hooker Manase Fainu, which Johns says means it’s more on skipper Daly Cherry-Evans to use his kicking game to catch the Panthers off guard.
“If Manly is to win, Cherry-Evans has to kick his team to victory,” Johns wrote in his column for the Sydney Morning Herald.
“With their tough attack he has to roll the dice and try to score a few tries on kicks whenever Crichton is out of position.
“Manly guys need to be as unpredictable as possible because the structured set playing against such a hard-working defensive line as Penrith’s won’t.”
Johns has said he anticipates tonight’s game to be a “showdown” but for Manly to make sure that happens, forwards Marty Taupau and Jake Trbojevic will need their ball skills to be at their best.
“They have two great ball players in the forwards,” added Johns.
“Marty Taupau has that late left arm shedding, which borders on compulsive, while Jake Trbojevic has the vision and skill of a half-back.
“[Fullback] Dylan Walker can’t put himself in the right situations with his halves so they have to use these two guys more and play unstructured soccer. “
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