League Freak spin on WCC

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Berkeley_Eagle

Current Status: 24/7 Manly Fan
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Covering Rugby League World Wide
In what is sure to be one of the coldest World Club Challenge's ever played the Leeds Rhinos will host the Manly Sea Eagles for the right to be called the Heinz Big Soup World Club Challenge Champions!

After winning last seasons NRL title the Sea Eagles proceeded to self destruct at just about every level. With issues at board level, coach Des Hasler being sacked, talk of players leaving and talk of a number of different lawsuits being filed, you could say that the Sea Eagles have had the off season from hell!

In truth, the last thing the club needed right now was to have to pack everyone up and send them over to England for a couple of weeks. Still, new coach Geoff Toovey now has a great opportunity to get his side away from all of the problems the club is going through and just have them concentrate on football.

The Sea Eagles will go into the game at full strength with the added bonus of having David Williams return from an neck injury that ended his 2011 season.

They take on the Leeds Rhinos who are two weeks into their Super League campaign. The Rhinos have been one of the more dominant teams in Super League over the last decade but their run towards last years Super League Grand Final was a surprised to just about everyone.

A number of the favorites failed to deliver when it mattered most, and even Leeds fans will tell you that their 2011 Grand Final winning side was not as good as some of their teams of the past.

Having watched their loss last week to Wigan, Leeds looked terrible. While their go forward was not too bad, defensively they were all over the place, especially on the edges. In watching the game I couldn't help but think that Leeds were the perfect side for Manly to play. Anthony Watmough and Glenn Stewart should have a field day.

These games are always a bit strange to watch. The NRL team is always underdone, having played little to no football since the end of the previous season. Meanwhile the Super League club always comes in with a number of full competition games under their belt.

In the past these games were played on "neutral" grounds in northern England that were a stones throw away from the home sides home ground anyway. It seems that in 2012 the RFL decided the appearance of neutrality was not needed, so this match will be played at Leeds home ground, Headingley Carnegie Stadium.

Leeds only have two injury concerns with Kallum Watkins recovering from a wrist injury while Lee Smith is listed as doubtful to recover from a possible rib cartilage damage.

You can expect Leeds to come out breathing fire. You can expect Manly to look pretty awful early on. However, as Manly gets into the game I think you'll see them pull away and win this one. Generally WCC games are low scoring affairs with the defense of the NRL team and their lack of football being a contributing factor. Thats why I think we will see Manly defeat the Rhinos by a scoreline of 18-8.

I will be live blogging during the World Club Challenge on Roar Sports. If you are up early and watching the game, come an join me and get my thoughts and opinions on the match LIVE!

League Freak
 
Has a neutral referee been announced yet?

Manly look ready to go cherry picking for points. They all seem so happy on all the videos posted on the Club site.

Should be a GEM of a game for Manly Supporters :D
 
Team P W L PD Pts
3 3 0 48 6
4 3 1 28 6
3 2 1 10 6
4 2 2 39 4
3 2 1 28 4
3 2 1 15 4
3 2 1 14 4
2 1 1 13 4
2 1 1 6 4
3 2 1 -3 4
3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
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