All eyes on Arthur duo in Parramatta-Manly NRL clash

Family bragging rights are up for grabs for Manly's Jake Arthur against his old NRL club Parramatta. (Darren Pateman/AAP PHOTOS)

Brad and Jake Arthur will take their new-found family rivalry onto the public stage for the first time as Parramatta and Manly meet in an important NRL clash.

With Sea Eagles stars Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans missing because of State of Origin duties, 20-year-old Jake earns his first start since defecting from the Eels last month on a two-year deal.

The match on Saturday is a crucial one as both sides hope to keep pace with the top eight during the Origin period and the halfback's father and Eels coach Brad, with tongue-in-cheek, says he wants to earn family bragging rights.

"We're coming after him, we're going to bash him," he joked.

"We're both comfortable with the decision of him being somewhere else, he's very happy.

"I'm sure there will be a bit of banter throughout the game with the boys,

"Jake's got a couple of close mates in our team - but look I'm pretty relaxed and comfortable about the situation."

He said his son threw a few "cheeky" jabs at him at their family dinner on Tuesday, saying "Baldy's rattled".

But the Eels coach is eager for the match-up, which follows Manly's 58-18 win over the Dolphins last week and the Eels' 34-12 defeat of Canterbury.

"It's Parramatta versus Manly, it's a big occasion," Arthur said.

"Both teams really need the two points and both teams are coming off really good performances last week."

Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold is confident the occasion will not distract the younger Arthur.

"He's a really calm, collected young man," he said.

"He understands that there'll be a lot of speculation around or a lot of spotlight on him and his dad this weekend. It's unique when a dad's coaching a team coming up against his son.

"In 10, 12, 15 years time, both Brad and Jake will reflect on what an experience it was for the family."

Manly's Origin absentees will be sorely missed but Seibold said it was an ideal time to test their young guns.

"It's a good opportunity to look at some guys who have been waiting," he said.

The match will be the first since St George Illawarra announced Manly's assistant coach Shane Flanagan would take over the head coaching role next season.

"We've got a really big last 11 games coming up for us so he wants to do his job here and then he'll focus on the Dragons," Seibold said.

"He's a professional coach and he's been able to manage his schedule efficiently so far this year so we've got no concerns going forward.

"As a club and individually I'm really happy for him." 

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