A ninth-place finish and no finals footy is most certainly not a position Manly have been accustomed to in recent years. So a return to the upper rungs of the Charter Hall Shute Shield ladder in 2021 is the minimum of requirements for second-year head coach Matt McGoldrick and his proud Marlins…

Given the high turnover of players before the season began, Eastwood’s run to a grand final where they pushed Gordon all the way has to mark 2020 down as a year of notable achievement. No extra motivation required for 2021 then, with the task at hand for head coach Ben Batger and his charges to simply go one step further and get their hands on the big prize.

Northern Suburbs fell one game short of a grand final last season after an agonising extra-time loss to Eastwood. With a pretty consistent roster and last year’s disappointment fuelling their ambitions, expect the Red and Blacks to feature heavily again in 2021 under new head coach Zak Beer…