The Sea Eagles journeyed to Newcastle to take on the struggling Knights on Thursday night and despite losing fullback Lehi Hopoate early to concussion, they ran in three first half tries to go to the break leading 16-0, well on their way to a seventh victory for the season. They might as well have climbed straight onto the bus for the ride home, because they certainly didn't take any further part in the game, losing the second half 26-6. Fans and pundits alike, were once again left scratching their heads over Manly.
If you look up the word "inconsistent" in the rugby league dictionary you will see the 2025 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles cited as the absolute definition of the word. Never in my rugby league memory has a team been so agonisingly difficult to pick on a weekly basis. Something is desperately wrong at Brookvale, and being a Manly fan this year must be torturous.
From the very beginning of the season, even before Daly Cherry-Evans supposedly destabilised the club with his departure announcement, the Sea Eagles have been either sensational or diabolical with no discernible indication of which is coming next. Round 1 they win by 30 points over the Cowboys, Round 2 they lose by 20 points to the Warriors, Round 3 they win by 28 points over the Raiders, Round 4 they win by 14 points over the Eels, two wins in a row, here we go, but wait, Round 5 they lose by 34 points to the Storm and lose the next two games as well. And on and on it goes.
Here is their form line for the 2025 NRL season, starting with Round 1 and through to Round 14: W, L, W, W, L, L, L, W, B, L, W, L, W, L.
At the time of the three straight losses, the talk was that Cherry-Evans' leaving announcement had destroyed their season. They ended that run by thumping the Panthers, which was something no one saw coming at the time. They enjoyed the bye before locking into their current run of yo-yo results, culminating in their awful Thursday night effort in Newcastle.
If you think that playing at fortress Brookvale might hold the key, think again. Of their seven home games they have won four and lost three. Of their six away games, they have won two and lost four. If you seek any pattern to their progress this year, you could comfortably say that they can't beat the Sharks and that they completely own the Cowboys, everything else makes very little sense.
Sure they have suffered some injuries, none more debilitating than the loss again of Tom Trbojevic, but they have won without him and Hopoate has proven to be an exciting fullback prospect in his own right. Tom's brother Jake has been out with concussion, but he was there to take on the Knights.
Edge destroying forward Haumole Olakau'atu has been their best and most consistent, but even he has had his off games. Cherry-Evans has gone missing at times and his halves partner Luke Brooks has been the personification of the club's mixed form. Brooks made some defensive errors during the Knights fightback that would embarrass an Under 6 player. His cover tackle attempt in the lead up to the score-levelling Knights try was so awful, he ended up on his back spinning like RayGun.
Their next challenge is a trip to the Gold Coast on Friday night, where they face former coach Des Hasler and his Titans. They may or may not be missing players to Origin, including Cherry-Evans and Olakau'atu, and they will be missing Hopoate as he sits out a week with his concussion. According to their recent progress they are due for a win, after which they have a bye, followed by the Tigers and Rabbitohs.
So how do the Sea Eagles turn this inconsistency around? Coach Anthony Seibold needs to work on simplifying everything they do. Strip everything back to the ground and rebuild it step-by-step to make sure his players can replicate the basics week after week. When a team goes from brilliant to awful and back again on a weekly basis, there is something deeply wrong with the processes and more concerningly the mindset. If Seibold can't find the answers to both, calls for his head will soon ring out across the peninsular.