Manly's exit from the NRL finals has left Daly Cherry-Evans feeling "really hollow" but the captain nevertheless rates the Sea Eagles' second season under Anthony Seibold as a success.
The Sydney Roosters thoroughly outplayed Manly in Saturday night's semi-final, parlaying a physical start and some James Tedesco brilliance into a 40-16 win at Allianz Stadium.
It marked a disappointing end to 2024 for Manly, who had beaten six of the other seven finalists throughout the regular season but were unable to truly deliver on their potential as a finals threat.
"It's always a really hollow feeling when you know you've played your last game for the season," Cherry-Evans said at full-time.
"That just doesn't go away, it does feel disappointing."
But Cherry-Evans felt there were positives to take from 2024.
The Sea Eagles returned to the finals for the first time since the infamous "Everyone In League" jersey saga divided their playing group in 2022, transforming into one of the NRL's most potent attacking sides.
Lehi Hopoate emerged as a player of the future in the backline, while Tommy Talau was close to the league's most improved player while joining Luke Brooks as one of the buys of the year from Wests Tigers.
Cherry-Evans continued to defy his age in the halves, the club re-signed key forwards Taniela Paseka and Haumole Olakau'atu to long-term deals and injury-plagued fullback Tom Trbojevic made it through 20 games - his most for any season since 2018.
"If I do take a step back and look at our season, we've made huge strides," Cherry-Evans said.
"We should be proud of a lot of things that we've done this year. Getting to week two of the finals is something to be proud of, for sure."
The Sea Eagles are set to announce an official contract extension for Seibold imminently, earmarking him as the coach to restore Manly's status as a fixture of the finals.
But after Saturday night's game, the 49-year-old was not keen to think on how Manly may improve in 2025.
"That's not one for now," he said.
"I think it's important to reflect on that (later). We've made enormous strides this year. We're down to the last six, right?
"There's a whole heap of other teams that would love to be in our position. We've made some good steps forward and we'll have a good look at that.
"But it's been a really positive year."
