Thursday night footy: Cowboys v Sea Eagles

34 min: Another mistake by the Cowboys, this time from Jaxon Purdue. That's eight errors from the home side already.

33 min: Haumole Olakau'atu runs behind his own player and throws a pass to his winger. Manly are penalised for an obstruction. They throw in a captain's challenge and come up empty.

27 min: The Cowboys are penalised for an escort by Zac Laybutt and the Sea Eagles make them pay when Jamal Fogarty grubbers and Ben Trbojevic chases to score. Fogarty converts. Sea Eagles 16-6

26 min: Jake Trbojevic leaves the field for a HIA.

22 min: Tom Dearden goes to the line and delivers a short ball for Coen Hess to surge between Ben and Jake Trbojevic and dot down for the home team's first try. Jake Clifford converts. Sea Eagles 10-6.

21 min: Jake Clifford goes to the boot, Jason Saab spills it but covers up well and is tackled in-goal. Line dropout.

17 min: Manly go left again and Luke Brooks goes to Clayton Faulalo who sends Lehi Hopoate over in the corner. The Cowboys' right side defence is again exposed as Hopoate goes over without a hand laid on him. Jamal Fogarty converts from touch. Sea Eagles 10-0

16 min: Manly make good metres on their set but Reuben Garrick comes up with a dropped ball on the last.

14 min: A poor error by Reuben Cotter on the Sea Eagles' 30-metre line takes the air out of the Cowboys' balloon.

13 min: A huge blow for Manly with superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic leaving the field with what appears to be a left hamstring injury.

11 min: Kobe Hetherington comes up with an error and the opportunity is lost for Manly.

10 min: More ball for Manly inside the red zone after an error by Tom Chester coming out of his own end. Lehi Hopoate goes close on the left wing but comes up millimetres short in Braidon Burns' cover tackle.

5 min: Reuben Garrick takes an intercept and picks up Jason Saab to put Manly on the attack and the set finishes with Lehi Hopoate crossing in the corner courtesy of a Luke Brooks pass. Jamal Fogarty fails to convert. Sea Eagles 4-0

3 min: Tolu Koula explodes into space on the left wing but slips as he comes to Scott Drinkwater and drops the ball.

Late Mail

Cowboys: No late changes for the Cowboys with Rob Derby the last man to make way 90 minutes before kick-off. Reed Mahoney's bid to recover from a head knock has fallen short, with Soni Luke to start at hooker. Braidon Burns is on track to return from an ankle injury that forced him to miss last week's win over Brisbane. The winger will replace Murray Taulagi, who also suffered a head knock in Round 6. 

Sea Eagles: Nathan Brown has dropped off the bench on game day with Clayton Faulalo and Jackson Shereb rounding out the 19. Jake Trbojevic will play despite suffering a nasty cut that forced him to lose vision in his right eye last week. Prop Siosiua Taukeiaho is also set to complete his comeback from a calf injury that has sidelined him since Round 1. 

Numbers Game

• The Cowboys are chasing five consecutive wins for the first time since 2023.
• The Sea Eagles have won their last three games against the Cowboys.
• Cowboys centre Jaxon Purdue has scored five tries in his last five games.
• Sea Eagles winger Jason Saab has scored six tries in his last three games against the Cowboys.
• Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater will play his 150th game for the club.