Manly Sea Eagles NRL 2024 Team Previews, Predictions & Player Movement

With the roster the Sea Eagles have they should be fighting for top 6. But their coaching stinks, their direction stinks, their defence stinks. They haven’t improved their weak points with quality players and I see them taking a step back before they are able to go forward again.

What’s to like

 

If you were to just look at the Sea Eagles roster you wouldn’t be wrong in thinking this is a top 6 team. Multiple Origin stars, Dally M Players of the Year coming out the wahzoo and some of the fastest Rugby League players on the planet. This team hangs on the health of Tom Trbojevic and it is about time he played a full season. The Sea Eagles have a 62% win rate over the past 5 seasons when Tommy Turbo is on the field. 

From a statistical standpoint Manly were a pretty average team in 2023 sitting midtable in metrics such as points scored, linebreaks and tackles inside opposition 20. The hope of the fans this year is that a more dynamic playmaking duo of Daly Cherry-Evans and Wests recruit Luke Brooks will open up the attack on both sides of the field, allowing the bolstering backrowers and Turbo to create in space. 

Well there is more material for this section of the preview than the part above. This team just cannot stay healthy and they have a coach that has arguably made teams worse wherever he has been. The squad is good but the off-season player movements would rate a D in my books, losing young talent and attracting players no longer wanted at their clubs. 

Manly were 6th worst in the league in 2023 for opposition run metres (1462m/gm) which is a great metric to predict whether an opponent will score a lot of points or not. It was widely known that the team had trouble defending out wide which contributed to these numbers. Teams will continue to test that theory early in the 2024 season and it remains to be seen if it was the players or the structure. 

Ins: Luke Brooks (Wests Tigers), Jaxson Paulo (Roosters), Aitasi James (Wests Tigers)

Outs: Kelma Tuilagi (Eels), Morgan Harper (Eels), Kaeo Weekes (Raiders), Sean Keppie (Rabbitohs)

1. Tom Trbojevic

2. Jaxson Paulo

3. Reuben Garrick

4. Tolutau Koula

5. Jason Saab

6. Luke Brooks

7. Daly Cherry-Evans

8. Josh Aloiai

9. Lachlan Croker

10. Taniela Paseka

11. Haumole Olakau’atu

12. Josh Schuster

13. Jake Trbojevic

14. Gordon Chan Kum Tong

15. Toafofoa Sipley

16. Ben Trbojevic

17. Ethan Bullemor