One of Rugby League’s deep-seeded rivalries gets dug up on Sunday arvo, when the Manly Sea Eagles host the Parramatta Eels at Brookvale Oval.
The early signs are already looking ominous for Parramatta. They are yet to win in 2025, they’ve lost each of their last five matches on a seven-day turnaround, and Manly have won six of their last seven games by a margin of greater than 13 points. Yikes.
Can the Eels defy form, history and the odds to get one over their Sydney rivals? Or will it be all one-way traffic of the Manly variety?
Let’s find out. Here’s how these two teams will line up this weekend along with some betting tips for the H2H, first try scorer and over/under markets. Manly vs Parramatta prediction.
Sea Eagles vs Eels Teams
Manly Sea Eagles
1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Jason Saab 3. Tolu Koula 4. Reuben Garrick 5. Lehi Hopoate 6. Luke Brooks 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Josh Aloiai 9. Jazz Tevaga 10. Siosiua Taukeiaho 11. Haumole Olakau’atu 12. Ben Trbojevic 13. Jake Trbojevic 14. Jake Simpkin 15. Corey Waddell 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Nathan Brown
Parramatta Eels
1. Isaiah Iongi 2. Sean Russell 3. Will Penisini 4. Zac Lomax 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Dylan Brown 7. Dean Hawkins 8. Jack Williams 9. Joey Lussick 10. Junior Paulo 11. Shaun Lane 12. Kitione Kautoga 13. J'maine Hopgood 14. Ryley Smith 15. Matt Doorey 16. Joe Ofahengaue 17. Dan Keir
Manly vs Parramatta Prediction and Betting Tips
Head-to-Head Prediction
Parramatta must be shaking in their boots after seeing what Manly did to Canberra last week.
No Tommy Turbo? No problem. Usually the fill-in fullback in Trbojevic’s absence, Reuben Garrick ran riot from his usual position of centre, while youngster Lehi Hopoate took care of the duties at the back
Canberra could only look on in horror as he ran in four tries on his own and kicked 6/7 conversions.
The Eels are up next on the chopping block and Garrick and co must be licking their lips after looking at Parra’s defensive record so far this season. This could get ugly.
Betting tip: Manly Sea Eagles.
First Try Scorer Prediction
After he bagged four tries last week, including the first of the contest, only one man crossed our mind when picking who to back for this market.
That man is of course Rueben Garrick. The dynamic winger couldn’t be stopped last week against Canberra and the Eels defence is definitely a tier below the Green Machine’s.
We’ll be looking to Garrick to once again get the try scoring party for Manly, and who knows, maybe we could see him run in multiple four pointers yet again this week, with only a flimsy Blue and Gold defensive line in his way.
Betting tip: Rueben Garrick.
Over/Under Prediction
Given Manly’s tendency to score points and Parramatta’s to concede them, the total match points line of 54.5 could be vulnerable here.
We’re pretty confident Manly will be able to score 30+ on their own if they lock in, but will Parra keep up their end of the bargain and cross for a few meat pies of their own?
Based on what we saw against the Bulldogs last week, we think so. Particularly with the likes of Zac Lomax and Josh Ado Carr showing signs that they are returning to top form.
Betting tip: Over total match points.
Sea Eagles vs Eels Match Details
Date: Sunday, March 30, 2025.
Kick-off: 4:05pm AEDT.
Location: Brookvale Oval, Sydney.