Manly Sea Eagles vs. Parramatta Eels Preview by Dean McHugh

The Manly Sea Eagles return home after avoiding defeat in their two road games. Awaiting them at the Brookvale Oval are the Parramatta Eels. Reuben Garrick has been exceptional on the wing for the Sea Eagles of late and will be looking to break into the Eels defensive line throughout the 80. The Eel’s passing game has been good, with top performers like Bryce Cartwright and Junior Paulo moving the ball around; the problem is that the rest of the team needs to take their chances.

One of the most exciting selections is to back the Eels to score at least 20 points. While they’ve come up short in this feat twice, they played well against the Sea Eagles earlier this season and have usually had enough to get 20+ points. Those looking for another selection could couple this with a 20+ point haul for the Eels, but the Eagles will win.

What the 2025 Form Guide Tells Us

Anyone leaning on NRL betting tips for this rivalry should look hard at what happened when these two sides met in Round 12 this year. Parramatta put 30 past Manly and barely broke a sweat doing it. Isaiah Iongi sliced through like the defensive line wasn’t there, and Dean Hawkins found gaps that simply shouldn’t exist at this level. Manly, for their part, never really recovered after losing Jake Arthur early to an HIA.

That said, the Round 4 result still matters. Manly won comfortably at Brookvale, and home games there genuinely do play differently. The crowd gets behind them in a way you don’t always see at other grounds.

For NRL tips, the Eels’ ability to put up 20+ is the angle worth watching. They’ve got Junior Paulo carrying hard through the middle and their halves are sharp enough to capitalise when tired defenders make poor decisions late in sets. Manly’s edges can leak if they’re not organized.

If you’re hunting NRL expert tips on this fixture, the split between the two home and away results says a lot. Neither side has been consistent enough to back blindly — this one genuinely could go either way.