At various points in 2026, Manly have been one of the most exhilarating attacking sides in the NRL. The Dolphins still are, and are finals-bound for the first time in their history as a result.

So at half-time in Friday’s clash at 4 Pines Park, you could only ask, what on earth had happened?

The same questions remained at full-time too, along with how Selwyn Cobbo defied the laws of man and nature to ground a 57th-minute try in the corner while wearing heavy contact from Clayton Faulalo and Reuben Garrick.

From an 8-0 half-time lead, the Dolphins closed out the grittiest of grinding wins with 31 errors in total. But their 22-0 victory margin is really the only take-away in a contest that barely got out of first gear, and never threatened to find second or third.

Manly’s finals hopes, already circling the drain, slipped straight down it when Jamayne Isaako provided another rare highlight – latching onto an intercept and setting up an 85-metre try to NSW Origin flyer Jack Bostock.

The locals summed up Manly’s slide into ignominy best. When Lehi Hopoate was denied a late try for putting a hand into touch, fans made an early exit – neatly wrapping up a campaign under Kieran Foran that had once promised so much.

‘Fozball’ is officially done for the season, and Manly were held to zero on home soil for the first time since 1993.

Until the Dolphins’ backline stars shone brightly enough to seal a win that keeps them in touch with the top four, this Friday night affair was most notable for nothing much happening.

A pair of sin-bins for Manly speedster Tolu Koula (28th minute) and Dolphins back-rower Connelly Lemuelu (35th minute) for professional fouls hardly opened up a 12-on-12 shoot-out.

Instead, the visitors’ safety-first footy and home side’s shot confidence held firm. Manly spent much of the first 20 minutes camped on the Dolphins’ tryline. They never threatened to cross it though as passes went to ground and over the sideline.

After holding firm in defence, the Dolphins offered little in attack themselves before finally crossing the Brookvale Rubicon into Manly’s half in the 25th minute.

Even then, their first attacking crack at the Sea Eagles line amounted to only a penalty goal after a Jason Saab high tackle.

When they next came calling, Jeremy Marshall-King snuck out of dummy-half and caught Koula offside, with Kodi Nikorima finally skinning the shortened defence for the opening try.

Hopes of a brighter second half were put on ice when Manly’s Jake Simpkins fumbled a ball a metre into the air from dummy-half before regathering, and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow misjudged a kick take by roughly 10 metres.

And as much as anything, those two bemusing moments, from two of the game’s more enterprising attacking teams, said it all.