It has been a whirlwind of emotions over the past two days for Manly Sea Eagles fans, as the club was handed their third loss in a row in their third straight home game at 4 Pines Park.
With the Sea Eagles leaking points, uninterested in attack and halves running more metres than bulk of the forward pack, the club needed to see change.
Along with some questionable signings along the way, Anthony Seibold's reign in the Northern Beaches won't be reflected on fondly.
Sea Eagles owner Scott Penn wasted no time announcing that Seibold will depart effective immediately, 24 hours after their capitulation against a DCE-charged Roosters side.
It has seen the Sea Eagles announce newly retired assistant Keiran Foran as interim head coach on Saturday morning.
Here are all the burning questions about the Sea Eagles moving forward.
Will this turn the Sea Eagles' season around?
Many have questioned Seibold's team selections to start the year, however, the main problem has been tactics. I spoke on Zero Tackle after the Knights' loss regarding how little runs some forwards are making. Luke Brooks made more runs than Taniela Paseka and Haumole Olakau'atu in that fixture.
With Foran's inclusion as head coach, many fans will be looking to get more out of the forward pack. Including big bodies such as Paseka and Simione Laifai getting more minutes to build a case towards dominating their oppositions forward pack, something we've yet to see this season.
It is going to be an uphill battle for Foran stepping into a head coach role three games after retirement. There will be challenges throughout the season, however, there will be improvement under his guidance. Zero Tackle understand the players have immense respect and appreciation for the club legend, and will show more inspiring performances on the paddock.
Will we see drastic changes to the side?
Keiran Foran confirmed in a press conference on Saturday morning that he was unhappy with the results in the opening games of the year, hinting that there will be changes soon.
The side looked disinterested at times, and Foran is looking at bringing mongrel and desperation into defence back into the lineup, competing for the entire contest.
"We need to look at putting together a complete 80-minute performance. We showed so far in the first three games of the season that we have been good in patches. We showed that on Thursday night against the Roosters. We were good for 40 minutes, and then faded away poorly in the second half. We did the same in Round 1 against the Raiders and were disappointing against the Knights.
"We have to put together a complete performance for 80 minutes. We have to work out why we aren't doing that and fix it quickly because we need to turn the results around fast."
Seibold's relatively unchanged lineups in the first three games were never really punished for underachieving. Foran needs to bring Joey Walsh into the starting side to freshen their stale attack. Along with reducing Jake Trbojevic's minutes, place Kobe Hetherington in the mainstay 13 role.
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Will Foran get top gig?
If the Sea Eagles go on to have a successful year, there is every chance Foran will be upgraded as main head coach moving forward. However, after only being retired for three games, it's best to assume he will need a bit of time and experience under his belt before being offered the role full-time.
Although the likely scenario is Manly will improve in key areas, but unfortunately the opening month of the season may cost them down the line. I'm tipping them to finish somewhere between 9th-12th on the ladder after Round 27.
It may be a case of getting to unearth some young talent such as Walsh, Laifai, Zaidas Muagututia and Onitoni Large this year to have them fast-tracked to start the 2027 season with moderate NRL experience.
Is Matt Ballin part of the future plans?
Speculation has mounted for quite some time that Ballin is nearing the end of his role assistant coach and is ready to step up for a head NRL gig. Broncos coach Michael Maguire revealed in his side's post-match press conference on Friday night that he has given his blessing to have Ballin explore his options if Manly pursue him as the long-term coach for the Sea Eagles.
He has experience as the Broncos' assistant for four and a half years now and Queensland Maroons' assistant for two. He would be an ideal candidate if the Sea Eagles want to go down the rookie coach route. Along with boasting Sea Eagles DNA with two premierships, the fans would get around him.
Instilling Manly DNA
In a perfect world, signing Ballin next year and having Foran back in the assistant coach role for 2027 would be the best outcome. It gives Foran a taste of real experience, which will only benefit his coaching career moving forward. Manly have always achieved greatness when a past-player has been at the helm, Geoff Toovey, Des Hasler, Bob Fulton and co.
With Ballin and Foran both on deck for next year, it will catapult the Sea Eagles back into being a heavyweight club on the Northern Beaches.
Leo. I remain to be convinced that Matt Ballin will be any better than Keiran Foran as a head coach. Neither has been a head coach. Both have been around long enough to know what an Assistant Coach and a Head Coach do. At this point there is nothing to think one will be better than the other.
What I certainly disagree with is your assertion that replacing Foran with Ballin will “only benefit his coaching career moving forward.” Being demoted back to Assistant will be seen as the Manly club losing confidence in him. He will be branded a “failed coach” and that will not be good for his prospects.
Finally, you suggest that they will finish somewhere between 9th and 12th. That is real optimism ! He has to sort out the defence, sort out the attack and train his squad in the tactics he wants them to follow. I think that 12th would be a good result – one good enough to warrant keeping Foran as head coach.
Manly is currently 15th. To get to 12th they will have to do better than the Raiders, the Cows and the Sharks. That is not going to be easy.