Amid the season-long Daly Cherry-Evans saga, a Sea Eagles succession plan around Anthony Seibold’s eventual shift from coaching, the Manly old boys agitating for his exit far sooner and a 2025 campaign down the gurgler, two numbers stand starkest.

The slew of sidelined forwards watching Sunday’s capitulation to Wests Tigers, which wouldn’t give much change from $4 million.

And the back-ended deals of the club’s heart and soul, Jake and Tom Trbojevic, which next year will combine for around $2.4 million on the salary cap.

Misery has company aplenty on the Northern Beaches after four-straight losses that have torpedoed their finals prospects, an ignominious early end to what had shaped as the most promising season of Seibold’s tenure.

Jake Trbojevic is unlikely to play again this season, not that Manly’s finals hopes would have dictated his availability. His well-being was always going to come before taking the field, regardless of the stakes.

Three concussions in the past four months have an extended rest and precautionary neurological testing on the cards before any thought turns to playing on in 2026, and a possible contract extension beyond........

© The Age