Jake Trbojevic has revealed why Kieran Foran's appointment as coach had an immediate winning impact, and vowed to drive high standards to ensure it was not just a one-off.
Trbojevic had his best game of the season in the breakthrough 52-18 win over the Dolphins under coaching debutant Foran, less than a week after head coach Anthony Seibold was sacked following a 0-3 start to the year.
Jake, or "Jurbo" as he is affectionately known, gives his heart and soul to Manly every day of the week, but the legendary status at the club of the man they call "Foz" means he is a coach who inspires beyond the average.
"It's only been a week, right, but Kieran's competitiveness and passion for the game and this club has really rubbed off on us straight away" Trbojevic told AAP.
"That really showed in our performance."
Foran played direct, with skill and a competitive spirit second to none.
"We did play like that too, yeah," Trbojevic said.
"It was a really tough week and I'm sure it was for Kieran. He has worked for everything his whole life and confronted every challenge, and he's just done it again.
"We don't want to get too carried away, but it was very relieving to put in a complete performance like that.
"Obviously we have a lot to work on, but it was really nice."
Jake's younger brothers Tom and Ben were two of Manly's best, and as a "brotherhood" the trio fed off each other.
"As the older brother I am so proud of Tom captaining this great club and of Ben," Jake said.
"Ben has had two older brothers who have come through, which can make things hard. I was very proud to watch him this week ... very professional and he wants to be a successful player. He did a great job."
Jake, 32, has agreed to terms on an extension for 2027 and has until round 10 to activate it, although AAP understands Manly will be flexible if he needs more time.
The win over the Dolphins alongside his brothers clearly had him wanting more.
"We are very close and it probably keeps me really driven to keep going when you get feelings like tonight where we perform really well and get a win together. It is brilliant," Jake said.
Manly lost the first four games of 2021 and made the preliminary final. This year they were 0-3 before pumping the Dolphins.
"Look, 2021 was one of the most enjoyable years of my career," Jake said.
"I don't want to put pressure on us like that. To go from 0-4 to a prelim is very hard to do.
"From this win I just hope we can get some belief, because confidence has been lacking when you lose games. We have just got to build habits, build confidence and keep improving. That is what I am going to try and drive."
