Following a sustained period of dominance in which the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles made the finals every year for a decade since 2006, the silvertails have endured a prolonged lull only making the finals once in the past four seasons.
While on the whole, the past four seasons have been painful for the Brookvale faithful, seeing many favourite sons walk out the door, this changing of the guard was typified in 2015 in which they lost club legends Anthony Watmough, Glenn Stewart, Kieran Foran, and eventually coach Geoff Toovey.
While the release of such players has allowed the Sea Eagles to rebuild their squad to be much more competitive, this change in trajectory, as well as the consistent squad that came prior, has resulted in more than a few future stars walking out the door.
Here are the top 10 players the Sea Eagles have let go, not re-signed or released since 2010.
The players have been listed in accordance with the contribution they made whilst at the Sea Eagles as well as considering the influence they have had at the clubs they have left for.
3. Trent Hodkinson
One of the most respected players in the game due to his tireless work amongst the community, Trent Hodkinson forged a reputation for himself as a natural half and a player of promise in his rookie season with the Sea Eagles in 2010.
During his rookie season with the Sea Eagles, Hodkinson featured 25 times at halfback, forging a dynamic combination with the already established Kieran Foran. Impressive early season form attracted the attention of representative selectors and opposition clubs, with Hodkinson going onto be selected for NSW City in the annual City vs. Country Origin trial. Only a month later Hodkinson went onto sign a bumper three-year deal to join the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
The following three seasons would prove to be rocks and diamonds for Hodkinson, with the former Junior Kangaroos representative missing the majority of the 2012 season with injury but going onto lead the Bulldogs to a top-eight finish in 2013.
After biding his time in the NSW Cup in early 2013, Hodkinson impressed the Bulldogs coaching staff with his excellent goal kicking and was swiftly reinstated to the first-grade team. This return coincided with a spike in form for the Doggies and resulted in a new two-year deal keeping him in Belmore until the end of 2015.
The following season would prove to be Hodkinsonโs finest of his career, after leading the Bulldogs to seven consecutive victories early in the 2014 season, he and his halves partner Josh Reynolds were chosen for Game I of State of Origin. After eight wretched consecutive series losses, not much was expected of the Blues, but we now know that Hodkinson would go onto play a starring role in the Blues 2-1 victory, scoring the series-clinching try in the 71st minute of Game II to bring the shield back to NSW for the first time in eight years. Hodkinson would also go onto lead the Bulldogs to the 2014 Grand Final, which they would, unfortunately, lose to the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Hodkinson would go onto feature three more times for NSW in the following Origin series, before being poached by Nathan Brown to help spearhead the Newcastle Knights rebuild. Since joining the Knights, Hodkinson has been weighed down by a spate of debilitating knee injuries as well as being temporarily demoted to the NSW Cup.
He has since returned to the Sea Eagles via a short stint with the Sharks in a more sporadic role. While he is no longer the player he once was due to injuries, on his day Hodkinson was one of the finest pure halfbacks in the game with his game management and kicking game being almost second to none, and the significance of helping bring the Origin shield back to NSW can never be understated.
At best manlys only let go of average or aging players apart from Gutho perhaps
For mine it was Glenn Stewart…his departure started a sequence of events that drove a stake through the heart of Manly. It’s hard to overlook the significance of this impact on the club.
That only brought forward the inevitable of an aging roster