NRL live updates: Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs vs Manly Sea Eagles, Penrith Panthers vs South Sydney Rabbitohs

The Sea Eagles can’t get through a set!

Taniela Paseka made a powerful run but failed to stick the ball and lost the ball.

This time, however, the Bulldogs are unable to take advantage, as Connor Tracey passes the ball.

AND WHAT A COSTLY MISTAKE THAT WAS!

Kick off after the penalty, the Bulldogs move the ball to the left and Josh Addo-Carr, he breaks a couple of tackles and feeds Reed Mahoney who goes over!

Wham, bam! The Bulldogs are over!

Burton makes it the extra points and Manly go behind without even touching the ball!

We are on our way in Homebush.

The Sea Eagles kick off and the Bulldogs, cheered on by their supporters, get the ball first.

AND A PENALTY ON THE LAST TACKLE!

That’s a bad mistake of Taniela Paseka.

The Bulldogs had gotten nowhere in that set.

An important evening for both clubs.

An important evening for both coaches.

Some final stats from the NRL before kick-off.

The Bulldogs have won their last seven games at the Olympic Stadium.

The Sea Eagles have won nine of their last ten games against the Bulldogs.

Bulldogs center Jacob Kiraz has scored seven times in his last seven games as Sea Eagles fullback Tom Trbojevic has scored 12 times in his last six games against the Bulldogs, and Bulldogs winger Josh Addo-Carr has scored 22 times in 25 games for Homebush.

Raise the bat, Tom Trbojevic.

Nice to hear some French in the comments, Natty.

When I was in Paris I actually saw the NRL on TV in a pub while I was looking around…

A truly global sport.

A couple of late changes for the Sea Eagles, with Mat Lodge And Karl Lawton promoted to the starting team.

Nathan Brown will move to the bank, while Ben Trbojevic drops to the 18th man.

Tommy Talau returns to centre after missing last week’s surprise defeat to Wests Tigers with a pectoral muscle injury.

Tolu Koula also goes back to the bank, while Corey Waddell is serving a two-match suspension.

There has also been some drama at Brookvale in the past week, with Anthony Seibold angry at rumours that the Sea Eagles had asked Tom Trbojevic to take a pay cut.

Seibold insisted on Thursday that it was Trbojevic who approached him and offered to pay back part of his salary over the next two years, given his difficulties in staying fit.

“It’s very disappointing to hear that some people are questioning the integrity of Turbo or the integrity of the club,” he said.

“Turbo came to me and said he wanted to take a pay cut because he felt he had missed a lot of football.

“It was a very difficult conversation for him to go to the coach and say that. That’s all buried, the NRL have said he can’t do that.

“I think it says a lot about his character (that he makes the offer).

“I think the integrity of people who question whether it was the club that had the conversation with Turbo is just not right.”

The 27-year-old has played just 35 games since the end of his Dally M-winning 2021 season.

You can read more about it here.

This is the Bulldogs’ lineup: 1-17, as announced earlier this week.

No Stephen Crichton resources Jacob Kiraz shifts to the center and Jeral Skelton enters at the side of the wing.

Josh Curran will play off the bench as he returns from a shoulder injury.

The Bulldogs enter this game with five straight wins.

But all is not well yet for the Doggies, who are missing two key players for tonight’s game.

Castle Kurt Mann suffered a broken collarbone in the Bulldogs’ win over the Warriors last game.

The injury means the 31-year-old will be out of action until the 2025 season.

The Bulldogs will also play without their captain Stephen Crichtonafter accepting a one-match suspension for attempting to chop off his opponent’s head Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.

Crichton was not reprimanded for that blow during last weekend’s match, with the NRL admitting that bunker official Liam Kennedy made a “serious error of judgement” in not sending him to the bin.

It also raised a lot of questions about whether anyone even knows what a ‘high shot’ is anymore, which you can read more about below.

Hello everyone and welcome to ABC Sport’s coverage of tonight’s NRL action!

My name is Simon Smale and I look forward to presenting you a double bill on Friday evening that will have major implications for the composition of the top four.

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First we head to the Olympic Stadium for the Bulldogs, who will most likely get a second chance as they host the Sea Eagles.

The match is fifth against seventh and both teams want to win at all costs.

Then we head to the home stadium of top-flight club Penrith, who have lost two games in a row for the first time since early last year.

They will be up against a Rabbitohs team who, to be honest, don’t have much going for them, having lost six of their last seven games.

But stranger things have happened…

As always, I’m looking forward to seeing how the action unfolds over the next few hours.