The Manly Sea Eagles will head to the November 1 deadline with significant questions, but not a whole lot of wiggle room within their salary cap.
More than 20 players have already been signed for 2025, and some of those - the Trbojevic brothers, Daly Cherry-Evans, Haumole Olakau'atu and Josh Schuster among them - on significant coin.
That leaves the club still needing to pick up a few pieces of their long-term puzzle as they look for a full blown rebuild and chase of a return to the finals under Anthony Seibold, but in a tricky balancing act.
2026 is likely to be the bigger moving year for Manly, particularly if Daly Cherry-Evans decides to hang up the boots, but for now, Zero Tackle will investigate what the club can reasonably expect and need for 2025 as we run the rule over every club ahead of November 1 in this series.
Current squad for 2025
Josh Aloiai, Jake Arthur, Luke Brooks, Ethan Bullemor, Daly Cherry-Evans, Ben Condon, Reuben Garrick, Aitasi James, Tolutau Koula, Dean Matterson, Haumole Olakau'atu, Brad Parker, Taniela Paseka, Jaxson Paulo, Jason Saab, Josh Schuster, Toafofoa Sipley, Tommy Talau, Jake Trbojevic, Tom Trbojevic, Christian Tuipulotu
Current best 17 for 2025
1. Tom Trbojevic
2. Reuben Garrick
3. Tolutau Koula
4. Brad Parker
5. Jason Saab
6. Luke Brooks
7. Daly Cherry-Evans
8. Taniela Paseka
9. No player signed.
10. Toafofoa Sipley
11. Haumole Olakau'atu
12. Josh Schuster
13. Jake Trbojevic
14. Jake Arthur
15. Ethan Bullemor
16. Josh Aloiai
17. Dean Matterson
Players not in 17: Ben Condon, Aitasi James, Jaxson Paulo, Tommy Talau, Christian Tuipulotu
Players off-contract at end of 2024
Gordon Chan Kum Tong, Lachlan Croker, Zac Fulton, Karl Lawton, Ben Trbojevic, Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega, Corey Waddell
Here are five players available to negotiate on November 1 from outside of the club the Sea Eagles could target for 2025 and beyond.
EVERY PLAYER OFF-CONTRACT AT THE END OF 2024
Manly are relatively well set in their backline, but it's undoubtedly hooker and the forwards where questions reign supreme.
At this stage, the club are yet to re-sign Lachlan Croker. That is likely to happen at some point, but there are questions remaining about whether he should be playing the full 80 minutes each week.
Realistically, the answer, as it is for most dummy halves in the competition, is going to be returned as a resounding no. Manly also has Gordon Chan Kum Tong, but like Croker, he is yet to be re-signed despite the internal noise that he is the future of the club.
With the pace of the game and the strain on the role of dummy half throughout those 80 minutes each week, playing 80 minutes week in and week out is simply not a feasible option for a majority anymore, and only very few players can pull it off consistently.
That's not to say Croker hasn't done a good job for Manly - and he will likely be targetted by other clubs in a market with few quality hookers - but Manly needs a two-pronged attack. If Croker and Chan Kum Tong are re-signed, then that's it. If not, they need to go outside the club, and a player like Jake Simpkin, who has proven his ability to play in other positions outside of hooker while backing up Apisai Koroisau, could be a good option on the Northern Beaches.
A more expensive option, Arrow is a middle who can play on the edge, and an edge who can play on the middle. Competent - and more than that - at both positions, he would bring a world of much-needed talent and experience to the Sea Eagles forward pack.
It's no secret that I like Arrow as a footy player. He is no-nonsense, hard-hitting, and can churn out big minutes with the same level of production and quality in the last as he did in the first.
The more he goes through his career, the more he adds to his abilities, and while it's difficult to say his best slot, he would serve as a very handy option in both the middle and second-row, particularly if Josh Schuster's move back there doesn't bring the results he had during his rookie 2021 season when Manly made a preliminary final.
As mentioned, he wouldn't come cheap, but he is one of those players who is worth the kitchen sink in a trade period like this one.
Saifiti is another player who could be forced out of his current home rather than actively looking for one.
He might love the Knights, but it's not clear if Newcastle have the cap room to be able to keep everyone, and their priorities, for the moment at least, are likely going to be very much centred around the future of State of Origin debutant Bradman Best.
That could leave Saifiti on the outer - and if reports are to be believed, Newcastle have already looked into moving him on early.
Manly is a club with some good prop talent - Taniela Paseka, Toafofoa Sipley and Josh Aloiai among them - but still in need of another big name.
Saifiti brings just that. Hard-hitting, hard-running and at his best, he is an Origin player. That is everything Manly need from both the talent and experience points of view.
While the last two players on this list won't come particularly cheaply for Manly, Topine is one who would and would bring more value than his price says he is worth.
While Manly are unlikely to be looking at starting options in the second row - that said, the jury is still very much out on Josh Schuster - they will be looking for re-enforcements there.
The advantage of Topine is that, if needed, he can also line up at dummy half, an area Manly clearly has work to do, and even in the middle of the park.
It means he is a complete bench-type player, able to slot in with ease across multiple positions and provide Seibold's side great coverage across the park.
The added benefit of Topine is that he will come cheap if Manly decides to pursue this path. The talent he has shown at Belmore hasn't added up to the number of first-grade games yet, and it wouldn't shock to see him look for a way out of the Kennel.
For all the same reasons that Simpkin is a good option at Manly, Mamouzelos is the same, and a few more.
Like Simpkin, he could play other positions in the forward pack at a pinch, and like Simpkin, he is creative and tackles strongly.
It again all hinges on what Manly does with their current dummy half options, but there is little doubt to me that Mamouzelos will be looking for a way out of Redfern.
He has been all but overlooked for first-grade honours, and his deal now expires a season before that of Damien Cook. It means he could spend an extra season in reserve grade at Redfern before being thrust into first-grade or change clubs and find increased responsibilities for 2025.
The additional benefit Mamouzelos will have on Simpkin is that he will come cheaper, something the Sea Eagles are likely to be looking for in this year's round of silly season.