Not often does a team sitting 13th make so many headlines at this point of the season.

When sides find themselves four points out of the top eight with a ghastly for-and-against of -50 and less than a third of the season to run, their year is usually doomed for failure.

But such is the aurora around the Manly club and the confidence and fight in its players, they're still very much a chance at playing finals football despite the immensely difficult road ahead, featuring the Cowboys, Warriors, Broncos, Rabbitohs and Roosters.