The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles enter the 2026 NRL season looking for a top eight spot after finishing 10th in 2025. With Jamal Fogarty driving their campaign, the club will be aiming to improve on 2025 in spite of some key personnel turnover in the off-season.
Season Preview
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles head into 2026 with another tilt at the playoffs, this time without their 352-game veteran Daly Cherry-Evans at the helm following his move to the Sydney Roosters.
Last season saw the club achieve a 50% win rate with a 12-12 record, comprising a positive 8-4 home record and a 4-8 split elsewhere. Their 2025 season was characterized by patchy form, which was their downfall at the end of the season when they lost four straight from Round 21-24 after a hat-trick of wins, before finishing with another three wins on the bounce.
With new signing Jamal Fogarty bringing recent playoff experience—following a successful, career-best season marshalling the youthful Minor Premiers Canberra Raiders—and additional NRL experience for the likes of Lehi Hopoate and Tolu Koula last year, expectations are that the side has the potential to improve on 2025. This, in conjunction with forwards Haumole Olakau’atu, Jake Trbojevic, Taniela Paseka, Kobe Hetherington and Ethan Bullemor all in and around their peak, is the light at the end of the tunnel for the Manly Sea Eagles, along with the promise of youth such as Joey Walsh on the fringes of the matchday squad. It does come, however, with the caveat that they must keep the majority of their best side fit through the season, which has been a recurring problem in the past.
Best Signing
Jamal Fogarty
A smart addition by necessity, given the loss of DCE. He should be a perfect plug-and-play option that brings great structure and a disciplined kicking game to a side that will benefit from good direction given some of the flair in their roster. He will need to shoulder a huge workload, however, all the while providing important developmental lessons to young star halfback Joey Walsh. He can set a great marker down in the season opener against his old side.
Key Player
Tom Trbojevic
One of the NRL’s elite, he is the game-changer in the group and there is a marked difference apparent when he is not on the pitch. Providing the top-end class boost to an exciting squad, should he stay fit he will be the key force in their push to gain a top eight berth at the least. He is both the game-breaker and season-maker.
Player to Watch
Joey Walsh
19-year-old Walsh showed NRL-quality playmaking traits in his season debut with a stat line of: two try assists, a line break assist, a field goal and 408 kicking metres (and a win). He has a great general in Jamal Fogarty to learn from this year and will hopefully develop into the successful long-term replacement for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.
Draw Analysis
The early rounds offer a mixed start, with Minor Premiers Canberra Raiders, Wooden Spoon holders Newcastle Knights, and Sydney Roosters travelling to 4 Pines Park for their opening three games. A stint on the road at Dolphins, St. George Illawarra Dragons, and North Queensland Cowboys follows.
The State of Origin period may have a major influence, with Cronulla Sharks, Canterbury Bulldogs and Parramatta Eels fixtures all potentially affected.
The run home features the Sharks (H), Storm (A), Dolphins (H), Knights (A), Dragons (H), and Warriors (A).
Manly have an edge over the majority of the competition in terms of travel, with the Sea Eagles travelling just 19,091km this season—well under the league average of 24,776km.
They also have an advantage in terms of their strength of schedule; the group of eight teams they play just once (Raiders, Roosters, Broncos, Panthers, Rabbitohs, Warriors, Tigers, and Bulldogs) features six of the 2025 top eight.
On the other hand, their double-ups (Cowboys, Dolphins, Dragons, Eels, Knights, Sharks, Storm, and Titans) feature four of the 2025 bottom six and just two of the 2025 top eight.
They have no five-day turnarounds this year and a reduction to six games (from ten in 2025) with a short turnaround of six days or less. A marked improvement.
Big Questions
- Can Antony Seibold unlock the full potential of the roster? (KPI: a top eight finish)
- Is the squad as a whole deep enough to withstand injuries?
- Can Jamal Fogarty fill the void left by DCE with success?
Predicted Finish
Outside Chance
Related Items
- 🔁 2025 Season Review: https://rugbyleaguezone.com/manly-sea-eagles-2025-season-review-and-statistical-breakdown/
- 📅 2026 Draw & Fixtures: https://rugbyleaguezone.com/manly-sea-eagles-2026-nrl-fixtures-squad-list-and-player-signings/
