NRL Saturday: Sea Eagles v Rabbitohs betting tips, prediction & odds, round 2, 2021

Welcome to our Manly v South Sydney match preview, prediction and odds update for their NRL clash at Lottoland, Manly, on Saturday, March 20.

The is the second match of the three-match Super Saturday line-up, with the action kicking off with the Canterbury Bulldogs v Penrith Panthers from Bankwest Stadium at 3pm. The later match is North Queensland Cowboys v St George Illawarra Dragons from Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville, from 7.35pm.

Manly and Souths head into their match after both teams lost in sharply contrasting fashions in their opening-round matches.

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Des Hasler’s Sea Eagles were embarrassed 46-4 by a rampant Sydney Roosters, while the Rabbitohs were jumped early but fought back courageously before losing 26-18 against the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne.

While we can expect Manly to bounce back hard, bookmakers have quite rightly made the Rabbitohs hot favourites to get a first win for the season, even in hostile territory at Manly.

The Bunnies have won four of their past five matches against the Sea Eagles; in their only meeting in the 2020 season, the Rabbitohs won 56-16, though to be fair the Sea Eagles were ravaged by injuries.

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Sea Eagles v Rabbitohs team news for round 2

Manly are again with their star attacking weapon Tom Trbojevic (hamstring), and have made just one change to the starting line-up, with forward Andrew Davey coming into the 13 and Jack Gosiewski moving back to the bench. Young playmaker Cade Cust was brought on to the bench after an outstanding display in the NSW Cup, replacing Tevita Funa.

Souths have dropped Panthers recruit Josh Mansour after just one match, replacing him on the wing with Jaxson Paulo, while forward Jacob Host was also dropped to NSW Cup. Prop Thomas Burgess (neck/shoulder) was carried off against the Storm but has been cleared of injury and cleared to play in a huge boost for the Bunnies. Another prop in Patrick Mago was brough back into the 17.

Read on for our Sea Eagles v Rabbitohs tips and winner prediction for their NRL clash on Saturday, March 20.

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Sea Eagles v Rabbitohs

Kick-off: 5.30pm local time
Venue: Lottoland, Sydney
Head to head odds: Manly $3.90, South Sydney $1.25
Line betting: Manly (+10.5 points) $1.91, South Sydney (-10.5 points) $1.89
Match total: 41.5 points: over $1.90, under $1.90

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Sea Eagles v Rabbitohs free betting tips

Below our NRL betting expert has highlighted his free Sea Eagles-Rabbitohs betting tips for Saturday’s game.

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Manly Sea Eagles v South Sydney Rabbitohs prediction 20-3-2021

South Sydney were beaten in the first round but they came up against a Storm team pumped up after a big week in which club legend Cameron Smith finally announced his retirement. The Rabbitohs look a much better side with Latrell Mitchell adding spark to attack. Wayne Bennett’s side were right in the mix for the title last season even with Mitchell sitting on the sidelines and they should be even more dangerous this season. These are the sort of matches a contender should win comfortably, particularly while Manly are at a low ebb. But we don’t think it will be a one-sided affair as the Sea Eagles will certainly be chastened by their first-up thrashing. Our Sea Eagles v Rabbitohs prediction: Rabbitohs by 8 points.

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Sea Eagles v Rabbitohs lowdown

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