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
4. Jackson Topine
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.
Topine in preference to Simpkin for me. More to the point, the Dogs seem to always be on the lookout for someone new, and maybe they could be persuaded to let him go immediately just to get some more cap available.