TURNING Brookvale Oval into a fortress again is the prime motivation for the Sea Eagles’ round-three NRL clash with the Newcastle Knights on Sunday.



Statistics obtained by NRL Stats on Thursday reveal Manly has the second-best home record in the premiership over the past decade.
And as our table shows, only salary cap cheats Melbourne are ahead of the Sea Eagles.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
But last season Manly won only 50 per cent of their games at Brookvale Oval.
It’s a falling statistic that coach Des Hasler’s squad wants to turn around ahead of their encounter with the unbeaten Knights.
“We want to turn Brookvale into a fortress again,” prop Jason King said.
“Last year we had some losses there - it’s not something we want to do in front of our home crowd.”
Young centre William Hopoate said playing at Brookvale Oval was always “a real buzz”.
“Especially when there are a lot of people there,” he said. “Sometimes it helps you get that win. The boys are buzzing at the moment.”
Hasler said the Knights would be a challenge. “I’ve been very impressed with Newcastle,” he said.