If Manly can’t defeat Penrith and hold onto what’s left of a once-dominant reputation at Fortress Brookvale, their horrifying 2018 season is set to set new, unwelcome records.
The Sea Eagles, who now have a 5-12 record, might win their first wooden spoon in the illustrious 71-year history of the team, but a loss to the Panthers on Saturday would mean they have the lowest record after 19 games since the team’s founding in 1947.
Only four seasons prior, 1947, 1948, 1964, and 2004 saw Manly win five games or fewer out of eighteen games.
Despite playing eighteen games in a normal season for the first three of those years, the 2004 Sea Eagles team won four of their final six games to avoid finishing last.
Manly is now reeling after last Sunday’s 56-24 hammering by the Roosters and has lost five straight games at home, barely falling short of the club’s all-time record eight-game skid in 2003 and 2004.
After Brookvale Oval was renamed Lottoland at the beginning of 2017, Manly suffered four consecutive losses on the Northern Beaches before winning seven games in a row and defeating Canberra in the round of four.
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