The home locker room at the northern end of 4 Pines Park is a world away from the Brookvale of old. It’s fresh, expansive, and smells of ambition. But just a few hundred meters away, the away sheds remain a relic of a harder era—pokey, cramped, with that famous padding on the low ceilings to keep even the short players from knocking themselves out before they hit the field.
The ‘Manly Way’ has evolved in these spaces, but this year, there’s something hauntingly missing in the corner of the home shed. Daly Cherry-Evans is gone. For fifteen years, the first thing you saw at Narrabeen was that elegant neck and whipcord-lean frame standing tall over the chaos. Watching him trade the Sea Eagles maroon and white for the red, white, and blue of the Roosters is a sight most at Brookvale never thought they’d have to stomach. The “Chez Master” isn’t there to move the pieces anymore, and the Northern Beaches are bracing for the unknown.
The New Leadership: Fogarty Steps Up
Into the leadership vacuum steps Jamal Fogarty. If DCE was the ‘King,’ Jamal is the ‘Jester’—shorter, packed with explosive muscle, and possessed by a motor that never quits. He breathes a different kind of life into the sheds; Jamal could talk underwater with a mouth full of marbles. Beside him is Luke Brooks, now a 255-game veteran. For a decade at the Tigers, he was the scapegoat; at Manly, he found a sanctuary.
With a vocal ‘on ball’ partner like Fogarty to steer the ship, Brooks finally has the license to be the running threat he was always meant to be. This is no longer a ‘prospect’ season for Brooks— it’s ‘do it now’. Because later can become never.
Seibold’s Scientific Approach
Upstairs, Anthony Seibold is neck-deep in the data. He’s wearing the ‘Harvard’ tag that drives old-school types up the wall, but he knows that in the NRL, ‘intriguing start’ is just a polite media term for ‘coach under pressure.’
To Seibold, footy is a science, but 2025 was a lesson in pure chaos. The Sea Eagles were the ultimate Jekyll and Hyde—tactical geniuses toppling the Storm one week, then leaking points in a defensive collapse that defied every spreadsheet Seibs owns. With CEO Tony Mestrov departing over the break, Seibold has lost his primary administrative shield. He must now prove his ‘Ivy League’ methods can survive a street fight, because without DCE, that’s exactly what 2026 will be.
The Trbojevic Factor
Finally, there is the DNA. Tom and Jake remain the pillars, but Ben Trbojevic has emerged as a 50-game hardened edge weapon. With Haumole Olakau’atu and Taniela Paseka returning from the injury ward, the three brothers represent the ‘scramble’ that will make the difference—the desperate, ugly, beautiful effort that can stop the unstoppable try.
Seibold has the plan, and the Trbojevic’s have the heart. But as the 4 Pines faithful pack the hill on Saturday night, they won’t care about the spreadsheets or the ‘Ivy League’ theories. They’ll be looking at the No. 7 jersey, hoping the ‘Ghost’ is finally at rest and that Manly Football is ready to return to its roots and play tough.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Backline Depth
Anthony Seibold identified depth as a key issue when he took over and has gone about improving competition for spots in the backline. Now Manly have genuine contenders for every position in the backline with Tom Trbojevic and Lehi Hopoate options in the No.1. Reuben Garrick and Tolu Koula are the centres, with Jason Saab and Hopoate on the wings, while Blake Wilson, Clayton Faulalo and Navren Willett provide excellent depth in the outside backs.
Despite Daly Cherry-Evans’ departure, new recruit Jamal Fogarty and Luke Brooks will start in the halves, with young guns Joey Walsh and Onitoni Large pushing hard as back-ups.
Forward Concerns
Manly struggled for depth in the forwards last year and have lost prop Josh Aloiai and Lachlan Croker to medical retirements over the off-season and Matt Lodge has moved to the Cowboys. Jake Simpkin needs to step up at hooker, while Jake Trbojevic will likely switch to prop to partner Taniela Paseka, with Haumole Olaka’atu, Ben Trbojevic and new recruit Kobe Hetherington in the back row.
An ACL injury to Caleb Navale is a devastating blow to their forward depth, with Ethan Bullemor, Nathan Brown and veteran Siosiua Taukeiaho needing to step up in his absence.
Key Players to Watch
Tom Trbojevic
There is no better player on his day at the Manly Sea Eagles than Tom Trbojevic. A former Dally M winner, Trbojevic, has struggled to find consistency over the past few seasons but will look to reignite his form after inking a one-year extension, which will keep him at the club until the end of 2027. In what could be a make-or-break year for the superstar fullback, he will be relied upon heavily at the back of the field and will need to get back to his best if the Sea Eagles are a chance to make a case for the 2026 NRL premiership.
Jamal Fogarty
Brought in to replace Daly Cherry-Evans, Jamal Fogarty arguably has the biggest role to fill of anyone else in the competition. Entering the Sea Eagles under a mountain of pressure, he will need to adjust to their playing system quickly if he is able to form a solid combination with the Trbojevic brothers and Luke Brooks. While he helped the Raiders secure the Minor Premiership in 2025, he struggled in key moments of the finals, which saw the Green Machine go out in straight sets.
Joey Walsh
Regarded as the long-term heir apparent of Daly Cherry-Evans, Walsh is set to receive a ton more game time this season after making his debut in the final regular-season match of the 2025 season. Born and bred in the Northern Beaches, Walsh was a dual-code standout and found himself captaining the Under-18s Australian Wallabies team before making the permanent move to rugby league. Set to start from the interchange bench, don’t be surprised if he knocks on the door of a role in the starting halves at the back end of 2026.
Looking Ahead
The script for Round 1 Saturday night is pure theatre. Fogarty looks across the ruck and sees two Ethans—Strange and Sanders. These aren’t just opponents; they are his students. Jamal spent hours in Canberra teaching these two how to manipulate a line. He’s one of the reasons Strange was on that Kangaroos flight to the UK.
But Jamal knows exactly what happens next. He knows Ricky Stuart. He knows that in those cramped, away sheds, the order will be given to ‘Pig him.’ Sticky loves nothing more than hunting down an ex-player and humiliating him, and Jamal has the red dot squarely on his chest. He’ll need every bit of that muscular frame and cunning to survive the heat the ‘Green Machine’ is about to bring.
As the Sea Eagles embark on this new chapter, the challenges are immense, but so are the opportunities. With a blend of seasoned veterans and emerging talent, the team has the potential to redefine itself in the post-Cherry-Evans era. The 4 Pines faithful will be watching closely, hoping for a return to the gritty, determined brand of football that has long been the hallmark of Manly’s success.
