Manly knocked over a heavyweight last week to stay in the finals picture and a fixture with the 16th-placed team should, in theory, provide a gilt-edged opportunity this Saturday – but there’s a couple of bogeys at play ahead of this WIN Stadium clash.

The Sea Eagles have a dreadful recent record against the Dragons, winning only two of the clubs’ last nine encounters.

The Saints won the sole 2022 meeting 20-6 at Kogarah on the back of a Ben Hunt double, meanwhile, Manly has not won at Wollongong since 2003.

Anthony Seibold’s charges powered to a 30-0 lead after 45 minutes at Cronulla last Sunday, before narrowly avoiding the biggest collapse in premiership history in a 30-26 win. The upshot was the Sea Eagles have closed to within a point of the Top 8.

St George Illawarra all but staved off the wooden spoon, kicking four points clear of last with an 18-14 win over fellow strugglers Wests Tigers inspired by some flashes of brilliance from maligned centre Zac Lomax.

It was just the Dragons’ fifth win of the season.

Connor Muhleisen will debut off the bench for the Saints in the place of Super League-bound Moses Mbye.

Manly’s forward stocks have been hit by injuries to Taniela Paseka and Josh Aloiai, but Toafofoa Sipley and Ethan Bullemor provide solid cover.

The Dragons are 2-3 at WIN Stadium this season, while last week’s win was just the Sea Eagles’ third in 10 games away from 4 Pines Park.

The desperation of Manly’s situation has to be a valuable motivator against the out-of-contention hosts, but it’s hard to see a blowout unfolding.

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