Parker prepared to fight for his spot if Foran returns

Manly centre Brad Parker is up for the challenge if Kieran Foran does make a return to the Sea Eagles pushing Dylan Walker to the centres once more.

Walker has played the majority of the past two years at five-eighth but bringing Foran back to the northern beaches would reunite the halves combination with Daly Cherry-Evans that won Manly a grand final in 2011.

Walker's primary role at Manly, and also for the NSW Blues and the Kangaroos previously, was at centre.

Moses Suli needs to come back into the side next year once his foot injury has healed. Parker has only missed one game for the Sea Eagles in 2020, so that's three quality centres battling for two spots.

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"Definitely up for that challenge. Competition is always good for you to earn your spot, earn your right to play there," Parker said.

"I haven't heard if he's coming to the club or not, but I was a big fan of his watching him play at the club previously. We could have a bit more experience and leadership around here if he comes.

"We're losing a lot of forwards at the end of the year so I think it's up to the club to try and land some quality players – guys that can really help our forwards out."

The Sea Eagles will farewell Addin Fonua-Blake (Warriors), Joel Thompson (St Helens), and Corey Waddell (Bulldogs) and hooker Danny Levi.

One still remaining is Jack Gosiewski, who has shown his versatility since returning from off-season back surgery, to play on both edges and in the centres.

Gosiewski has come off the bench in 33 of his 46 NRL games but Thompson's departure can see him secure a back-row spot alongside Curtis Sironen and Jake Trbojevic.

"Obviously that's my preferred position for the team but the way some of the games have been going we've seen centres going down," Gosiewski said.

"So that's been my role to cover different spots but with Joel leaving it is a big opportunity for me to cement that spot."

Meantime, Manly will have a lot of soul-searching after this weekend's final game against the Warriors in Gosford.

Last week's 42-24 loss to Gold Coast was the fourth time in 2020 they've conceded 40 or more. In 2019 the most points they gave up in any game was 36 points.

The Sea Eagles have amassed just seven wins from 19, compared with 14 wins last year – albeit the season is four games shorter. They currently sit in 11th spot but could improve to ninth if they defeat the Warriors and other results falling their way.

It's a fair plunge from last year when the Sea Eagles made the second week of finals.

"I don’t know if you can blame it on injuries but it definitely doesn't help having a lot of key players out," Parker said.

"It's kind of a mental thing at the moment.

"We train well all week and go into a game thinking we're well prepared and then we put in a performance like we did on the weekend.

"I can't speak for all 17 blokes but I think we've got to really look at ourselves this week and try to find that something. We know we can play footy – it's just that mental battle."