With the 2015 season rapidly drawing towards its conclusion, Manly's star halves Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans are going to do everything they can to enjoy every last second of their fruitful partnership before it all comes to an end.
With Foran officially off to Parramatta at season's end, one of – if not the – most polished and dangerous halves partnerships in the NRL over the past four or five seasons will be more no more.
Cherry-Evans says he is looking forward to sharing a beer with his long-time partner in crime once the dust has settled, while Foran says he is looking forward to making every single minute on field count while he can.
A series of hamstring injuries to Foran has unfortunately limited the pair's chances to flourish in their final season on the northern beaches, but with those worries now seemingly behind him the future Eel knows the end is coming quickly.
"I guess I'm starting to think about it a little bit more now, it's gone pretty fast this season," Foran said.
"I definitely want to make sure I enjoy every game from here on in. It'd be great if we can notch up as many wins as we can as a team and really make a charge for the finals.
"We've been working really hard all year, I guess we deserve to be going better than what we've been showing. Hopefully things can click into gear and we can make a real go of it."
He described Cherry-Evans as an all-round quality footballer.
"I guess having come through the grades and played in the 20s with him and seeing his game grow to be one of the top halves of the game, he's just someone who works incredibly hard on his game and also got a helluva lot of natural talent as well," he said.
"He's just a competitor and someone that you love taking the field with because you know that he can come up with the right play at the right time like all good No.7s do. It's been a pleasure playing alongside him."
He said with a lot of water yet to pass under the bridge he isn't thinking about the pair's legacy just yet.
"As a side we just want to really focus on what we can do as a team and how many wins we can get and I guess at the end of it we can sit down and enjoy it. I guess our main focus at the moment is just finishing the year as strong as we can and making a charge for the finals."
Foran is starting to think about the end of his time on the northern beaches a little more as the time rapidly draws nearer.
"I've just got so many great mates here and had so many great times. I don't want to worry about that yet because as a team we're focusing on week to week and winning as many games as we can but I'm sure when it comes to the end of the year I'll reflect and I'll be happy with my memories over the years," he said.
With Manly's injury woes clearing up Cherry-Evans said it was nice to enjoy some consistent time on-field alongside his long-time halves partner in recent weeks.
"The fact that we've been able to string some games together I think has been great for our relationship and partnership and also for the team," Cherry-Evans said.
"We've been the starting halves for this side for the last four, five years now so hopefully we can continue to stay out on the field and drive this side home into the finals.
"I wouldn't say [I'll be] sad, I think it will be good to sit down and have a beer with Kieran when it's all said and done and look back what we've achieved as a pairing."
Foran also expressed relief to be able to get back on the field in his final season at Manly.
"It's nice to string a few games together, I really had an interrupted start to the year there, I just couldn't find my feet with, I think I had three hamstring tears all up, it just kept putting me back and back and back," he said.
"It's nice to get that problem sorted. I've been doing a lot of extra work with our physios and strength and conditioning trainers to sort of fix the problems. Fingers crossed it's fixed now and I can stay injury free for the back half of the year."
Foran said he hoped it wouldn't be a problem that continues to plague him in the future.
"Hopefully once I get on top of it I can stay on top of it. It has been a problem over the last six or seven seasons. My body's feeling good at the moment, hamstrings are feeling strong and hopefully they can stay that way," he said.
