Penrith’s Isaah Yeo is expecting a fired-up Manly to do all they can to prove the NRL doubters wrong in front of a rabid Brookvale Oval crowd on Thursday.
The Panthers head to the Sea Eagles’ home ground top of the tree after their thrilling win in an epic grand-final rematch against Melbourne last weekend.
Manly on the other hand have slipped to the bottom of the competition ladder after a disastrous 0-3 start, leaking a massive 110 points in the process.
While it looks an absolute mismatch on paper, Yeo fears that’s exactly the scenario the Sea Eagles and wily coach Des Hasler would relish.
“We understand that we need to be really good against Manly,” Yeo said.
“It sort of just sets itself up perfectly for them.
“They love having their backs against the wall and particularly at Brookvale.”
The Panthers downed the Storm despite losing fullback Dylan Edwards (fractured hand) to injury.
While they welcome back Nathan Cleary from the concussion that ruled him out of the Storm game, Edwards’ absence has forced a backline shuffle with Stephen Crichton to make his first NRL start in the No.1 jersey.
Yeo is expecting a typically hostile reception from the home fans on Thursday, in stark contrast to the raucous Panthers crowd which cheered them to victory last weekend.
“They’ll be passionate. I’m sure they’ll be really riding home the team and obviously the players will really want to put on a good performance for the crowd,” Yeo said.
“We’re expecting their best.
“Expecting a loud crowd, lots of booing on our end, looking forward to it, it’ll be really good.”