The Brisbane Broncos might be without Reece Walsh and Adam Reynolds, but they will be out to heap more pain on a Tom Trbojevic-less Manly Sea Eagles during Friday night's highlight at Magic Round.
The second game of the weekend, the contest between Manly and Brisbane is scheduled to kick-off at 8:05pm (AEST) on Friday, May 17 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
The contest, which is hosted by Manly but in Brisbane as has been the case for the last decade, well before Magic Round, will see two sides racked by injury come into the contest looking to make a statement.
Manly enter the game without Trbojevic, and also off the back of two poor losses in their last two starts, coming up short against the Dolphins and Canberra Raiders.
Poor defence has been somewhat the order of the day in both of those games, and inconsistency has been a hallmark of the season so far for Anthony Seibold's side, with Manly needing to find a way to turn things around.
Brisbane, on the other hand, are in the early stages of a long stint without their captain Adam Reynolds, but Ezra Mam has so far looked the goods with the potential of getting the side through the tough stretch of the season ahead.
Reece Walsh joins him on the sideline after pulling out with knee soreness.
Brisbane flogged the Parramatta Eels 30 points to 14 in their last start and have won each of their last two Magic Round clashes against the Sea Eagles heavily, 32-6 last year and 38-0 in 2022.
How to watch Manly Sea Eagles vs Brisbane Broncos NRL Round 11
To watch Friday night's prime time magic round clash, you'll have two options. The first of those is to tune in through Channel 9 on free to air TV, and the second is the pay TV broadcast on Foxtel through Fox Sports.
Fox Sports, who will broadcast the match on Fox League (Channel 502) will commence their coverage from the conclusion of the earlier game between the Raiders and Bulldogs, while Channel 9s coverage commences at 7:30pm (AEST).
To live stream the action, you'll need to have either the Foxtel App or Kayo Sports. Channel 9s coverage is available to stream on 9Now.
The audience in New Zealand can tune in through Sky Sports, while a global audience can use the Watch NRL app.
Manly Sea Eagles vs Brisbane Broncos teams
Manly Sea Eagles
1. Tolutau Koula 2. Raymond Tuiamalo Vaega 3. Tommy Talau 4. Reuben Garrick 5. Jaxson Paulo 6. Luke Brooks 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Taniela Paseka 9. Karl Lawton 10. Josh Aloiai 11. Haumole Olakau'atu 12. Ben Trbojevic 13. Jake Trbojevic
Interchange: 14. Gordon Chan Kum Tong 15. Corey Waddell 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Matthew Lodge 18. Aaron Woods 19. Jakob Arthur
Brisbane Broncos
4. Selwyn Cobbo 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 21. Josiah Karapani 5. Deine Mariner 6. Ezra Mam 7. Jock Madden 8. Corey Jensen 9. Tyson Smoothy 10. Payne Haas 11. Brendan Piakura 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan
Interchange: 14. Blake Mozer 15. Xavier Willison 16. Kobe Hetherington 17. Jack Gosiewski 18. Joshua Rogers 19. Martin Taupau
Click through to Zero Tackle's match centre for updated teams, live scores and stats from the game.
Key game information: Manly Sea Eagles vs Brisbane Broncos
Kick-off: 8:05pm (AEST), Friday May 17
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Overall record: Played 73, Bulldogs 37, Raiders 36
Last meeting: 2023, Round 1- Sea Eagles 6 defeated by Broncos 32 at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Referee: Todd Smith
Manly Sea Eagles vs Brisbane Broncos betting odds
The Broncos come into this game as the favourites, although maybe at shorter odds than you might have expected. They sit at $1.47 on Friday afternoon, with the Sea Eagles paying $2.70. Punters are still expecting a relatively close game with the line at 6.5, and the under/over for total points 48.5.
Deine Mariner, who has been something of a try-scoring freak this year, leads the market for first try at $7, while Corey Oates is next at $9.50. Jaxson Paulo at $12 is the shortest odds for Manly, with Selwyn Cobbo paying the same.
Odds taken from PointsBet, correct at 4pm, Friday, May 17.
Think. Is this a bet you really want to place?
Manly Sea Eagles vs Brisbane Broncos prediction
It might be a Manly home game, but that counts for nothing when it's being played in Brisbane.
The Sea Eagles have had a tough time of it in recent weeks and their track record without Tom Trbojevic is a horror show.
That makes it nigh on impossible to tip them, so we will take the Broncos in this one, although it might be a low-scoring scrap given the amount of talent on the sideline.
Broncos by 10.
