to come easily. Any would still be able to look back with plenty of pride and satisfaction at another brilliant season in which they proved they are one of the NRL's real power clubs. 2014 season Most of the headlines for Manly throughout the year came more due to off-field reasons following news popular back-rower Glenn Stewart would be joining Souths in 2015 with the club's salary cap constraints preventing them from making him an offer. It is a measure of the Northern Beaches club's decade of excellence that to bow out in the second week of the finals will be deemed a comparative failure by both players and fans. This is what happened after a late-season stutter saw them relinquish their grip on the minor premiership, lose several key players at just the wrong time, and get bundled out of the 2014 Finals Series in straight sets despite their top-two finish. Even though they achieved a top-two finish, bowing out second week of the finals resulted in an unsatisfactory result for the Sea Eagles for a side that was running first from rounds 18–25. They had their fair share of luck throughout the season but it deserted them at the wrong time and ended Manly's season and encapsulated their late downturn in fortunes. There were huge questions over which senior players would stick around until the end of, or beyond, their current contracts. It was questioned if this could be very much a new-look Manly side in the next year or two but as long as the club can lock down its two star halves past their current 2015 deals the future should remain bright. 2015 season Manly struggled to maintain the previous consistency they produced over the past decade. They had made the finals every year for a decade, anything short of a top eight finish would have been seen a failure. With success comes high expectations and Manly certainly didn't hit their own lofty standards in 2015. The club endured one of its toughest seasons of the modern era with highly publicised contract sagas involving their biggest players, the sacking of their coach and club legend Geoff Toovey and a shocking run of injuries. The team had a late, but ultimately helpless last throw from a champion side to make the finals. 2015 will be forever remembered as the changing of the guard at the northern beaches