It is a scary proposition for the Sydney northern beaches club who have not ‘won’ a wooden spoon since their inception in 1947. That’s 70 seasons. And if Saturday’s 38-18 loss to South Sydney is anything to gauge their 2017 aspirations by, Trent Barrett’s side could well be the first Manly team to sit at the bottom of the table at season’s end.

And with the side facing the Cowboys, Bulldogs and Roosters over the next three rounds, the Sea Eagles are likely to be none from five to start the season. 

And a lot if it comes down to desire. I know it can be a hard thing to for players to cop, but Manly don’t seem to have any hunger and are a far cry from the outfits which made the finals 10 seasons on the trot (2005-2014).

They have turned over 40 players in the past two seasons culminating with the retirements of stars Jamie Lyon, Steve Matai and Brett Stewart.

But on paper, the squad should be pushing for the top eight with names like Daly Cherry-Evans, Martin Taupau, Nate Myles, Dylan Walker and Jake and Tom Trbojevic on the books. But apart from the Trbojevic brothers, no other players have really stood up so far.

And a lot of that is because the forwards are going nowhere. If you can’t match it up the middle then guys like Cherry-Evans, Blake Green, Walker and Trbojevic are going to find it difficult to offer much in attack on a consistent basis.

Myles, by his own admission, has been disappointing since joining Manly at the end of 2015. New recruit Curtis Sironen has been ineffective – he carried the ball for just 40m against South Sydney despite spending 80 minutes on the field. But Sironen is not alone.

Sea Eagles patriarch Bob Fulton was brought in to rebuild the side at the end of 2015 and delivered signings including Taupau, Myles, Walker as well as the re-signing of Cherry-Evans. Bozo has also brought in Green, Sironen and Akuila Uate for 2017 but coach Trent Barrett is finding it hard to get his troops to play as a team.

Individually the side is no doubt stacked with talent. But, until Manly dig in for one another when the going gets tough, a maiden wooden spoon beckons.

And that’s a record no player or coach wants to be associated with.