Taufua & Morris betting tips: Bulldogs vs Sea Eagles NRL Thursday

Bulldogs vs. Sea Eagles. Thursday, August 11 from 7.50pm at ANZ Stadium

Ladder position:
Bulldogs: 4th
Sea Eagles: 11th

Season record:
Bulldogs: 13-7
Sea Eagles: 8-12

Head-to-head odds:
Bulldogs – $1.48
Sea Eagles – $2.65

Points spread odds:

THE Sea Eagles were riding a wave of momentum with three consecutive wins since the bye in round 18, but those good times came to an end last week with a loss to the Eels.

It won’t get any easier for the Sea Eagles, who this week come up against a strong Bulldogs outfit on Thursday night.

The Bulldogs have rebounded after losing 36-0 to the Cowboys with back-to-back wins. Granted those wins came against only the Dragons (13-10) and the Knights (28-14), but punters would have been happy with the results.

There are many in the NRL media that believe the Bulldogs don’t belong in the top four, despite winning six of their last seven games, but Bulldogs hooker Michael Lichaa isn’t buying into that line of thinking.

“I think we deserve to be where we’re at currently,” Lichaa said.

“Obviously when you’re in the top four, you need to win the games to get there. The good teams find a way to win.

“We’re probably not where the benchmark – Melbourne – is at the moment, but we have beaten them this year too, so we know we’re up there with the top teams.”

The Bulldogs will call upon NSW origin player David Klemmer to give them a boost ahead of the game against the Sea Eagles and he too believes that the lack of respect won’t worry them going forward.

“Whatever happens outside of this club, we don’t really care. We’re winning football games and we’re trying to build confidence at the same time,” Klemmer said.

“It’s starting to get exciting now because semi-final time is coming and we’re really trying to enjoy the moment.”

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Bulldogs vs. Sea Eagles first tryscorer market and tips

The Bulldogs have named a full-strength outfit for this Thursday’s clash against the Sea Eagles and there are plenty of try-scoring threats.

Brett Morris is the game favourite at $7.50 following another strong game last week. The winger has now scored seven tries from only six games and he has a knack of crossing the line for the first try of the game.

His brother Josh Morris is more of a strong defensive type, but having scored six tries this season, he remains a threat in this betting option. Josh Morris leads the team with 24 offloads so the likes of Curtis Rona and Moses Mbye could capitalise from that.

Bulldogs updated team list and odds:

1. Will Hopoate – $11
2. Brett Morris – $7.50
3. Josh Morris – $13
4. Curtis Rona – $13
5. Sam Perrett – $10
6. Josh Reynolds – $26
7. Moses Mbye – $17
8. Aidan Tolman – $51
9. Michael Lichaa – $34
10. James Graham – $34
11. Josh Jackson – $26
12. Raymond Faitala-Mariner – $26
13. David Klemmer – $34

The Sea Eagles are reliant on the play of Daly Cherry-Evans, but he’s simply not performing well enough for the Sea Eagles to be respected.

Cherry-Evans is consistently getting tackled with the ball in key situations and fullback Tom Trbojevic has the same amount of try assists as Cherry-Evans, which is not a good statistic.

Trbojevic has been the shining light for the Sea Eagles and he looks destined to receive a big contract down the track. The Manly fullback has scored seven tries this season with 13 line breaks and the $13 for first tryscorer could be the way to go for Sea Eagles’ punters.

Jorge Taufua is the current favourite for Manly at $9.50. The winger has scored 10 tries this season from 15 games and although his error count is high with 16 errors, Taufua is hard to stop when he’s close to the line.

Sea Eagles updated team and tryscorer odds:

1. Tom Trbojevic – $13
2. Jorge Taufua – $9.50
3. Dylan Walker – $26
4. Brayden Wiliame – not yet priced
5. Matthew Wright – $12
6. Jamie Lyon – $18
7. Daly Cherry-Evans – $34
8. Darcy Lussick – $61
9. Apisai Koroisau – $31
10. Addin Fonua-Blake – $46
11. Martin Taupau – $31
12. Jamie Buhrer – $34
13. Jake Trbojevic – $34

Bulldogs vs. Sea Eagles game prediction

There are a few shining lights for the Sea Eagles, namely Tom Trbojevic, but he won’t be enough to stop the Bulldogs on Thursday night at home.

The Bulldogs are flying under the radar a touch and that’s represented in the head-to-head market. Bookmakers are giving punters $1.48 for the Bulldogs to win the game, but we like the alternate spread option of -3.5 ($1.64 at Sportsbet).

This option gives punters more value and the match result shouldn’t come into question. We’re predicting a solid 10-point victory to the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.

Our tip: Bulldogs 24 – Sea Eagles – 10