Dolphins vs Manly Sea Eagles NRL Round 5 Tips - Get up for Foz

Jeremy Darke

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Last updated: Tue 31 Mar 2026 18:07

Jeremy Darke 31 Mar 2026

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Kick off is at 8:00 PM (AEDT) on Thursday, 2nd April at Kayo Stadium
Manly to cover 10.5 points as underdog.
Dolphins strong Thursday record; Manly poor.
Trbojevic in strong scoring form.

Dolphins vs Manly Sea Eagles NRL Round 5 Tips

Dolphins vs Manly Sea Eagles, Round 5 2026 - Expert Prediction

Kieren Foran will inspire Manly when they take on the Dolphins at Kayo Stadium on Thursday night, covering the 10.5 points as the away underdog.

Dolphins vs Manly Sea Eagles, Round 5 2026 - Expert Prediction
Head to Head
Dolphins Form Analysis
Manly Sea Eagles Form Analysis
Dolphins vs Manly Sea Eagles Team List & Team News
Dolphins vs Manly Sea Eagles NRL 2026 Round 5 FAQ’s

These matches can go either-way but you have to take sides and we are jumping on the wagon of ‘getting up for Foz’. The Sea Eagles could pinch this one but they should at least do a good enough job to keep them in the fight for their new interim coach as many teams before them have done when moving on a coach.

If I’m honest, the trends aren’t in the favour of Manly, losing 7 straight Thursday night games, while the Dolphins have won 8 of their 10 games on Thursday. The Phins are also good at Kayo winning 5 of 8 including their two matches played at their spiritual home on Thursdays. BUT it is FOZ and he is a players coach and the effort will be there from Manly which will hopefully match the class they have in their lineup.

If the effort is there then it will need to be there in defence more than anything and as of yet we have not seen any consistency out of the Dolphins attack this season. Yes, they can go big but it can also go missing in long patches and Jamal Fogarty’s kicking game should pin the Phins.

If there is one positive from the start of the Manly season then it is the try scoring form of Tom Trbojevic and you bet it can also go to another level under Foran. Trbo also has a clinical 5 from 3 try scoring record against the Dolphins scoring 2 doubles.

Manly have won 2 of 3 matches against the Dolphins, losing by 6 in the only game played in QLD.
The last 3 Dolphins games have gone under the game total.
Tom Trbojevic has 5 tries in 3 appearances against the Dolphins
Tom Trbojevic has 4 tries in the opening 3 games of the season.

Head to Head

Manly have won 2 of the three matches played between the Sea Eagles and the Dolphins. The latest was a 58-30 victory at Brookvale in Round 25 last season.

All three matches have had a very large score line with the least amount of points scored being 54 in a 30-24 victory for the Dolphins at Suncorp in 2024.

Dolphins Atk Rank	Sea Eagles Def Rank	Stat	Sea Eagles Atk Rank	Dolphins Def Rank
8	16	Points	12	7
2	14	Run Mts	15	10
13	10	Linebreaks	12	8
16	17	Compl %	15	13

Dolphins Form Analysis

The Phins held onto the Broncos for the first half of the Queensland Derby, going into the sheds 10-6 down. The game stayed in the balance on the scoreboard until the final 10 minutes, but the 2 late tries by Brisbane did the game justice with a final 26-12 scoreline.

The biggest improvement the Dolphins needed this season was in defence and they have shown that in the last 3 weeks, despite the late tries by the Broncs. All of a sudden though they have not been able to produce the electricity in attack.

Considering the weapons, the Phins have made an average of just 3.8 line breaks per game (ranked 11th in NRL) and scored and have been held under 20 points in their two matches against their QLD counterparts the Titans and Broncos. There was plenty of big talk around Isaiya Katoa at the start of 2026 but we are yet to see the best of the young half.

Manly Sea Eagles Form Analysis

Wild week at Brookvale with Anthony Seibold getting the axe and Sea Eagles legend Kieren Foran taking over in the interim with an opportunity to take over the role fulltime.

The decision to fire Seibold came after the Sea Eagles fell for the third straight time to start the season going down heavy to the Chooks 33-16 in Daly Cherry-Evans return to 4 Pines Park. Manly were there 10-8 at half time but relentless perfect footy from the Roosters, who completed 50-52 set in the wet eventually wore down the defence resulting in 3 tries in 10 minutes which ended any hope of a first win of the season.

With Seibold gone, so has the pressure on Manly to perform which makes them dangerous with the appointment of Foran the perfect fit in the short-term to get the boys fighting for a victory.

Dolphins vs Manly Sea Eagles Team List & Team News

Team News and Lists are in our dedicated Round 5 Team List Article.

Dolphins vs Manly Sea Eagles NRL 2026 Round 5 FAQ’s

How to livestream Dolphins vs Manly Sea Eagles NRL 2026 Round 5?

You can livestream the Dolphins vs Manly Sea Eagles NRL 2026 Round 5 game via Fox Sports or Kayo Sports. If you are watching from outside of Australia the WatchNRL app is the perfect solution.

How to buy tickets to Dolphins vs Manly Sea Eagles NRL 2026 Round 5?

To buy tickets to the Dolphins vs Manly Sea Eagles NRL 2026 Round 5 game check the NRL website or the official Dolphins site.

Verdict

Dolphins v Manly Sea Eagles

Manly will do enough to cover the 10.5 points as the underdog by keeping the match under the game total. Tom Trbojevic will score in his fourth consecutive game against the Dolphins.