Not even Kieran Foran could have imagined his Manly tenure starting with a record-breaking four consecutive wins, capped by the Sea Eagles' 33-18 defeat of Parramatta.
Since the grand-final era began in 1954, no coach had ever taken over an NRL side mid-season and won their first four games - until Manly club legend Foran finished an unbeaten opening month on Sunday.
Returning to Brookvale Oval for the first time since Anthony Seibold's sacking, Manly struggled to execute in a 7-6 first half finished off by Jamal Fogarty's field goal.
But four tries in a 13-minute skirmish after the break helped Manly take a winning record for the first time in 2026 and finish the weekend sixth on the ladder.
It marks quite the turnaround for the Sea Eagles, whose latest win came exactly a month after they slumped to 0-3 with a dreadful home loss to the Sydney Roosters.
The chants of "Seibold out'' from the Brookvale crowd that night now seem a lifetime ago, with even happy-go-lucky Foran unable to have foreseen such a quick turnaround.
"Probably not, I just jumped into it, just gone full steam ahead," he said.
"I'm just so proud of the effort the boys have been putting in. They've just been playing to their potential, and that's all we can ask of them.
"They've done a phenomenal job."
Upcoming games against ladder-leading Penrith, reigning premiers Brisbane and the improved Wests Tigers will prove sterner tests for Foran and his resurgent playing group.
"They deserve to enjoy it ... but we're realistic, we've achieved nothing yet. We've got a long way to go in this competition," Foran said.
Encouragingly, the latest win came without captain and talisman Tom Trbojevic, who went down in last week's victory over North Queensland.
Veteran halfback Fogarty left the contest in the final minutes with an apparent groin injury, but initial signs are that the injury is not serious.
Manly forward Corey Waddell suffered a pectoral injury in the first half and is in for a stint on the sidelines.
The Eels' own injury crisis intensified, with an arm issue meaning reliable Dylan Walker could not return after halftime.
Walker appeared in significant pain after wearing a brutal shot from Manly enforcer Haumole Olakau'atu just before the break.
"They're pretty sure that there's not a fracture, but it's hit the nerve and his hand's a bit wonky," said coach Jason Ryles.
"Not sure (whether he'll play next week), we'll get the scans and see."
The depleted Eels expect to have Jordan Samrani back from a knee injury next week, but could lose hooker Tallyn Da Silva, who was sin-binned for a dangerous throw on Jake Simpkin midway through Sunday's second half.
The sin-binning crushed the Eels' fading hopes of a comeback.Â
Two minutes later, Lehi Hopoate's offload put Jason Saab on to a 50-metre tear that made it a four-score game.
Olakau'atu was the Sea Eagles' best in a clunky opening 50 minutes, but Manly finally found their rhythm shifting left to put Hopoate over in the second half.
When Fogarty forced a dropout on the back of a 35-metre Olakau'atu tear, Manly crossed again down the right through Reuben Garrick.
Fogarty grabbed Ben Trbojevic's offload and sprinted 55 metres through the middle to extend the lead in the set after points, before Saab kept the party going.