The Sea Eagles made a winning start to Tom Trbojevic's injury lay-off last week while the Titans suffered their second narrow defeat of the season to the Eels in round five.

Stand-in fullback Reuben Garrick got the job done for a Manly side that easily accounted for a disappointing Knights outfit.

The Titans had a more eventful evening, luckily dodging a couple of sin-bins as well as a now-infamous pitch invader, eventually going down 26-20 at home to the Eels after a high-scoring four-point loss to the same side in round one. 

Sportsbet Betting preview: Sea Eagles v Titans

The Rundown

Team news

Sea Eagles: Prop Martin Taupau and centre Morgan Harper are both out due to COVID. Toafofoa Sipley is the new front-rower and Tolutau Koula returns from a calf injury to fill in for Harper. Ben Trbojevic was named as 18th man when the final line-ups were named 60 minutes before kick-off, with no late changes.

Titans: With no Jayden Campbell, Brian Kelly returns at centre with Phil Sami shifting to the wing and Corey Thompson dropping out. No changes to the line-up listed 1-17 when the teams were finalised 60 minutes before kick-off. Paul Turner is 18th man.

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Key match-up

Andrew Davey v David Fifita: an intriguing clash looms out wide on Saturday afternoon. For Davey, the laconic lad from Emerald who debuted at 28 then had to come back from a knee reconstruction, every chance is to be cherished and so far every post is a winner, with a try last week in just his sixth ever run-on start. You can guarantee he won't be overawed by the prospect of marking up on Titans' right-side wrecking ball David Fifita, who scored a try of his own last week - one neither Davey nor almost anyone else could have scored. He's been quiet this year though, and how he gets into the game and how Davey handles that will have a big say on the outcome. 

Stat attack

Titans powerhouse Greg Marzhew currently tops the NRL for tackle busts with 29, so Manly's kick-chase off the back of Daly Cherry-Evans NRL-high 2482 kick metres will need to be spot on.