Matchday Details
Saturday 7 March 2026 – 7:35pm (AEDT) – 4 Pines Park, Sydney
📺 Broadcast: Fox League / Kayo
Referee: Liam Kennedy | Bunker: Chris Butler
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
1. Tom Trbojevic (c), 2. Jason Saab, 3. Tolutau Koula, 4. Reuben Garrick, 5. Lehi Hopoate, 6. Luke Brooks, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Taniela Paseka, 9. Jake Simpkin, 10. Siosiua Taukeiaho, 11. Haumole Olakau’atu, 12. Ben Trbojevic, 13. Jake Trbojevic, 14. Joey Walsh, 15. Kobe Hetherington, 16. Ethan Bullemor, 17. Nathan Brown, 18. Clayton Faulalo, 19. Brandon Wakeham, 20. Corey Waddell, 21. Blake Wilson, 22. Paul Bryan
Canberra Raiders
1. Kaeo Weekes, 2. Savelio Tamale, 3. Simi Sasagi, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Ethan Strange, 7. Ethan Sanders, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Joseph Tapine (c), 11. Hudson Young, 12. Noah Martin, 13. Corey Horsburgh, 14. Jayden Brailey, 15. Zac Hosking, 16. Ata Mariota, 17. Morgan Smithies, 18. Daine Laurie, 19. Jed Stuart, 20. Matty Nicholson, 21. Matthew Timoko, 22. Owen Pattie
Match Preview
What a season opener we have between the Manly Sea Eagles and Canberra Raiders. The headline was written the moment the draw was released when we saw Jamal Fogarty was going to come up against his former club immediately.
The Raiders will be keen to show that they can maintain the form that saw them claim their first minor premiership in over thirty years, despite losing their key halfback. For Manly it was a year of the similar frustrations to previous campaigns, with injuries to key players and pressure on the coaching staff. The turnaround starts now they hope.
In team news, representative back rower Haumole Olakuatu will return after off-season rehab on a shoulder injury. This marks the first game of a new combination with halfback Jamal Fogarty on that potentially lethal right edge. The Trbojevic brothers were seen resting in the Pre-Season Challenge, which always sparks fitness rumour mills, but all three have been named in the run-on side. Manly fans will get to see their new signing Kobe Hetherington from the interchange bench.
For the Raiders the biggest question mark heading into the season was who’s going to get first crack at the vacant halfback role. The top two candidates were Ethan Sanders and Coby Black, with Sanders getting the nod first from Ricky Stuart. New recruit Jayden Brailey shares hooker duties with mainstay Tom Starling, meaning Owen Pattie is listed in the reserves. Young gun Noah Martin finds himself a first round promotion, being named in the starting second row unit with Hudson Young.
This fixture poses a lot of key positional battles as key spine players have history playing for both clubs. Kaeo Weekes was shipped to Canberra after not being able to get consistent football behind Tom Trbojevic at fullback. Every fixture going forward when they match-up is a chance to showcase to Manly what they are missing. When Tom Trbojevic is fully fit, he is arguably the best fullback in the game. When Weekes is fully fit, he is arguably the most exciting to watch.
The key match-up in the forwards sees Young line up against Olakuatu: two destructive players at club and representative levels when they are at the peak of their games. Being round 1 they might not be at their peak, but none the less this is without doubt the match-up to watch on Saturday night.
Finally, how is young Sanders going to handle this occasion? There is a lot of pressure slotting into a team that finished first after the regular season. The comparisons to Fogarty will be made immediately and more so now that he is literally lining up against him on the weekend. Sanders has huge wraps on him coming up through the grades, and we saw glimpses of what he can do in an away win against the Roosters when he started in place of Fogarty last season. Fogarty won’t want to get outdone by his young replacement, meaning we might see Jamal at his best immediately.
Prediction
RLZ Tip: Raiders by 4 points.
Bold call: Tolutau Koula first tryscorer, Weekes man of the match, Manly 20-18 last 10 mins. Weekes late try to seal it 24-20.
Related
- NRL Round 1 (Week 2) 2026 Predictions & Tips
- NRL Round 1 Team Lists – 2026 Season
- NRL 2026 Results Tracker
- 2026 NRL Match Review Results Tracker: Charges, Suspensions & Fines
