Is Jennings a good bet in NRL Thursday Sea Eagles vs. Eels?

Thursday, April 14 from 7.50pm at Brookvale Oval, Sydney. Watch Fox Sports 1 – Live coverage from 7:30pm

Ladder position
Manly-Warringah: 10th
Parramatta: 3rd

Head-to-head
Manly-Warringah: $2.10 with WilliamHill.com.au
Parramatta: $1.80 with Sportsbet.com.au

Line betting
Manly-Warringah: +2 at $1.91
Parramatta: -2 at $1.91 with WilliamHill.com.au

IT is a pivotal matchup between two bitter NRL rivals on Thursday night as defensive powerhouse the Parramatta Eels look to keep their terrific season on track against the Manly Sea Eagles at Brookvale.

The Eels have conceded just 65 points across the opening six weeks of the season and put the Canberra Raiders to the sword last week, crushing them by 30 points whilst restricting them to just one try for the match.

Manly picked up a much needed win across the Tasman in New Zealand, defeating the Warriors 34-18 on the back of a superb kicking performance from Jamie Lyon – who scored 14 points off his own boot to ensure the home side were always at arm’s length.

Are both teams coming off arguably their best wins of the season and have no fresh injury or suspension worries.

This has allowed both coaches to name an unchanged line-up for a match that has a five-day turnaround for both clubs.

Let’s take a look at the side’s best options for the try scorer markets for this important round 7 clash.

First and anytime try-scorer markets

Paramatta Eels – Michael Jennings

First try scorer odds: $12.00
Anytime try scorer odds: $2.50 with Sportsbet.com.au

The former Rooster and current Australian test centre, Michael Jennings, is the best option for the Eels to cross the line first on Thursday night.

Coming off the back of his best game of the year last week where he crossed the try line first against a team that has already conceded 130 points in 2016.

Twice this season Jennings has scored the opening try of the match, and in both of those matches he has gone on to cross the try line again.

Michael Jennings is at $10.00 to score two or more tries in the 80 minutes on Thursday night with Sportsbet.com.au.

We are anticipating that the 27-year-old superstar can repeat the dose again for punters on Thursday night.

Manly Sea Eagles – Martin Taupau

First try scorer odds: $26.00 with WilliamHill.com.au
Anytime try scorer odds: $6.00

The Sea Eagles have failed to find a player to consistently cross the line for them with regularity this campaign, so we are going for a man who represents fantastic value in Martin Taupau.

Taupau scored the first try against the Warriors last week, and the New Zealand international believes he has what it takes to harness his aggression to complement his incredible athletic capabilities .

“I’ve got to find that balance between being the aggressive, dominant person and being the calm player you need to be in tough situations,” he said.

“I think I’ve managed that really well over the last couple of years. Being tagged as the enforcer or whatever back at the Tigers, I don’t know where that came from.

“I’ve learned to understand when it’s needed and how to manage it.”

Taupau scored the first try in the Sea Eagles’ upset win over the Warriors last week and we think he has the ability to do so again against the Parramatta Eels on Thursday night.