Manly coach Geoff Toovey has challenged his players to "rise to the occasion" as they look to put one hand on the JJ Giltinan Shield as they eye the team's first minor premiership since 1997.
Toovey backed his players to perform big plays at the right time as they develop a better understanding of what they needed to do to improve on their grand final finish last year. "What you learn is that you need to be consistent but at the right time in a game or any contest you need to be able to rise to the occasion," Toovey said. "We had that in certain times last year but we also let ourselves down a couple of times particularly in the big one.
"Players and people don't like too much change but you have to tweak things here and there. We've done that with bringing in different players. A different roster in certain areas adds some spark and variety."
The Sea Eagles are primed to make a tilt at this year's premiership as they sit on top of the ladder. While Toovey said the minor premiership wasn't a major goal, securing a top four finish was.
"We're in a comfortable position," Toovey said. "To finish in the top four is a big deal. We haven't set any goals or spoken about [the minor premiership]. We need to complete our sets better. We've been very poor at that in the last two weeks."
Twelve players from last year's grand final loss will turn out for Manly against Penrith at Brookvale Oval on Sunday. By contrast, the Roosters have lost just two players from their premiership-winning team.
The changing of the guard will continue for the Sea Eagles with Jason King to play his last game at Brookvale on Sunday after announcing his retirement while Glenn Stewart – who will link with South Sydney next year – has played his final match for the club because of an ankle injury.
"[Veterans leaving] has happened over the last couple of years," Toovey said. "It happens at every club. [King] is another experienced, tough forward leaving. We've lost Brent Kite, George Rose, Richard Fa'aoso and Joe Galuvao. We've got some good young props coming through but you miss that experience. It's been a long year for [some of our younger forwards] but they just need to take note of that and rise again in the finals. You don't want them all hitting that same [low] period at one time. They are mindful of our position and their opportunity and they've been doing a good job."
Toovey said the ongoing speculation surrounding the future of his senior players was not a distraction. "We've all dealt with plenty of these issues in the past and I'm sure we'll deal with them in the future," Toovey said. "Each situation has it's own personality, problems and issues. It's not a distraction, it's just part of the job."
Manly will be looking to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time this year when they host Penrith after a shock loss to Parramatta last week. They play a Panthers side – which has been decimated by injury – trying to cling on to a top-four spot.
"They have lots of injuries but have been able to replace them with quality players," Toovey said. "They've been consistent all year. I would like to see us be consistent and hold the ball. We're a great side when we do that. If we manage to at least hold onto the ball better in the next few weeks we'll come up with wins."
