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Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters NRL Round 4 Tips - Roosters Tipped to Win with Cherry on Top

Ryan Tucker

Editor

Last updated: Tue 24 Mar 2026 12:24

Ryan Tucker 24 Mar 2026

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Sydney Roosters favored to win against Manly Sea Eagles due to stronger form.
Manly's defense is a concern, having allowed 65 points in two games.
Roosters to cover the -6.5 line; watch for Daly Cherry-Evans and Tolu Koula's impact.
Kick off is at 8:00 PM (AEST) on Thursday, 26th March at 4 Pines Park

Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters NRL Round 4 Tips

Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters, Round 4 2026 - Expert Prediction

The Roosters are tipped to win and cover at Brookie on Thursday night in DCE’s return to the Northern Beaches. Manly’s defence being the problem, again.

Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters, Round 4 2026 - Expert Prediction
Head to Head
Manly Sea Eagles Form Analysis
Sydney Roosters Form Analysis
Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters Team List & Team News
Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters NRL 2026 Round 4 FAQ’s

The Sydney Roosters are as close to full strength as they have been for the past few seasons with only Victor Radley and Spencer Leniu missing from the forward pack. The return of Billy Smith to the centres helps strengthen the defence that was leaky against the Panthers last week but there are still problems on the other wing.

It will be an emotional occasion with Daly Cherry-Evans returning to Brookvale for the first time in different colours and there is likely to be both cheers and boos for the former club captain.

Manly looked the goods in their first hitout against Canberra but were left stranded attacking the goalline multiple times in their loss to the Knights before the bye. It won’t get easier trying to score points on a team that has one of the best goal line defences.

The Roosters weakness though is their edge defence about 15-20 metres out from their line. They will likely allow some points through the wing of Mark Nawaqanitawase but they are also one of the teams that can put on 3 tries in 5 minutes given the chance.

Manly’s defence is not good and they have given up 65 pts across two games so expect the Roosters to penetrate and get on the board early.

As always we have checked all the top NRL bookmakers and are picking Sydney to cover the -6.5 line as the road favourite. Need to back DCE for a try at Brookie but also Tolu Koula on the left side up against a poor Roosters right edge defence.

Sydney have dominated this matchup in recent years winning 3 straight and 7 of the last 10.
Manly allowed tries to halves in both of their games this season. It would be a fairytale for Cherry-Evans to cross against his former club on their home turf.
Tolu Koula has had 1 Try, 2 Linebreaks and 7 tackle breaks in 2 games this season.
In 2025 Koula scored 17 tries in 22 games for the Sea Eagles and lines up against a Roosters right edge that allowed 4 tries last weekend.

Head to Head

The Roosters have won 3 straight against Manly including a 2024 finals matchup. 7 of the last 10 regular season meetings have gone the Roosters way including 2 of 4 at 4 Pines Park.

Manly are 4-4 ATS as the Underdog since 2019 in this matchup. The last 4 games straight played at Brookvale have gone Under the Game Total.

Manly Sea Eagles Form Analysis

Manly have had a rough start to the season, they were done by 1 pt in Golden Point in Round 1 then touched up by the Knights in Round 2. Last week was their first bye of the year and a chance for them to recalibrate.

There are already rumblings around coach Anthony Seibold being in the firing line if results can’t turn around quickly and they have the lineup to do it.

The defence has given up over 1600 Run Metres in both games and while they were good at completing their sets in Round 1, they were abysmal in Round 2, leading to a heavy loss.

Sydney Roosters Form Analysis

The Roosters were absolutely caned by the Panthers last weekend, losing 40-4 at Allianz on Friday night. Sydney scored first but it was all uphill from there as Penrith scored 7 unanswered tries to take victory.

Sydney completed at just 67% on the night and despite being able to make 1716 Run Metres on the best defensive team in the comp, they were unable to turn that into points on the line. 16 Errors, 7 Penalties and 4 Ruck Infringements didn’t help their cause.

The Roosters had just 31 missed tackles compared to the Panthers 44 but their individual misses led directly to tries, especially on Mark Nawaqanitawase’s wing and through the centres of Junior Pauga.

Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters Team List & Team News

Team News and Lists are in our dedicated Round 4 Team List Article.

Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters NRL 2026 Round 4 FAQ’s

How to livestream Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters NRL 2026 Round 4?

You can livestream the Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters NRL 2026 Round 4 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 Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters NRL 2026 Round 4?

To buy tickets to the Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters NRL 2026 Round 4 game check the NRL website or the official Manly Sea Eagles site.

Verdict

Manly Sea Eagles v Sydney Roosters

Sydney to cover the -6.5 line as the road favourite. Need to back DCE for a try at Brookie but also Tolu Koula on the left side up against a poor Roosters right edge defence.

Sydney -6.5

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