IF the NRL’s halves carousel has finally stopped spinning, Manly stands alone as the biggest loser after taking a gamble that could cost them finals football in 2018.

Make no mistake, the Sea Eagles were extremely confident of landing Mitchell Pearce, which was a key trigger in the release of veteran half Blake Green.

One Manly insider told foxsports.com.au that the club had managed to scrape together a very competitive financial offer for Pearce — perhaps as much as $900,000-a-season.

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Round 20

While the offer was less than what Newcastle tabled, the Sea Eagles weren’t blown out of the water.

That made Pearce’s decision even more difficult to swallow, with Manly expecting the playmaker’s good relationship with coach Trent Barrett, childhood friend Curtis Sironen and others to be enough to sway him to make a fresh start on Sydney’s northern beaches.

Certainly, he gave it strong consideration.

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It has been reported that Pearce spoke to star halfback Daly Cherry-Evans about life at Manly and the skipper wasn’t the only player contacted.

Pearce formed a bond with lock Jake Trbojevic in NSW camp this year and the pair were in close contact throughout Pearce’s decision making process.

It’s understood Trbojevic was gutted when Pearce decided to go in another direction and privately believes the halfback has missed an opportunity to take his game to the next level under the tutelage of his former Blues halves partner Barrett.

The call leaves Manly in a very difficult position.

Daly Cherry-Evans (right) had a good foil in Blake Green in 2017. Source: Getty Images

Cherry-Evans had a disappointing 2016 season when he was left to run the side without a recognised half playing alongside him and Barrett will be desperate to avoid the same fate next season.

Former schoolboy rugby sensation Tom Wright is rated highly by the club but he has only played one full season since making the switch to league and, at just 20, he is considered to be too raw to throw into the deep end as an NRL half.

That leaves Jackson Hastings, a talented player who rubs teammates up the wrong way, and 24-year-old Cameron Cullen, who has been in the NRL system for several years without cracking it for a regular spot.

Neither are options that would fill the coaching staff with confidence.

Which means the emerging favourite for the No.6 jersey is Lachlan Croker, who has been on fire in pre-season since arriving from the Raiders.

The 20-year-old is so fit he is one of just two Manly players — Cherry-Evans is the other — to be put on Level Zero by the club’s Head of Physical Performance Dan Ferris.

That means that during Manly’s epic running sessions, Croker and Cherry-Evans are expected to get to each mark in a quicker time than the players, very fit in their own right, who Ferris has placed on Level One. Level Two and Level Three players have a more achievable mark to meet.

Lachlan Croker is the emerging favourite to be Manly’s five-eighth in 2018. Source: Supplied

Croker had big raps on him at the Raiders but his career was put back by an ACL injury in 2016 and the club let him go after he failed to push his way back into the best 17 this year.

Question marks hang over his ability to make the jump to NRL level after the serious injury curtailed a crucial time in his development, both physically and mentally.

If the young and untested halves in Barrett’s squad are unable to step up, the young coach may rue the day Manly bowed to the pressure applied by Green’s manager Isaac Moses and allowed the powerful agent to get his 31-year-old client the biggest payday of his career at the Warriors.

The wildcard is Todd Carney. The former Dally M Medallist is back in Australia and hoping to resurrect his NRL career via Queensland Cup side the Northern Pride.

He has a clause in his contract allowing him to walk if an NRL club comes knocking.

However, it’s understood that as of right now if any NRL club tries to sign Carney the contract would be blocked by the governing body.

Todd Carney has returned to Australia to play for the Northern Pride. Source: News Corp Australia

He is likely to be forced to do his penance, at least for a portion of 2018, in the feeder competition, just as Russell Packer and Matt Lodge did before him, to win back some goodwill before the governing body will let him earn big dollars again at club football’s top level.

The Sea Eagles’ last chance to put together a top-four contending halves combination therefore relies on the playmaker carousel to keep spinning.

Reports that Parramatta star Corey Norman and coach Brad Arthur aren’t seeing eye-to-eye would have Manly fans rubbing their hands together with glee but the playmaker’s release still appears to be a long shot.

Newcastle suddenly have a glut of halves, with Brock Lamb, Trent Hodkinson and Jack Cogger all set to spend plenty of time in the NSW Cup behind first-choice pairing Pearce and Connor Watson.

Lamb is an excellent prospect and both the Sea Eagles and Cronulla would jump at the chance to sign him if he decides he wants out of the Knights and the club comes to the party.

Hodkinson is literally on his last legs, with a chronic knee injury putting his market value well below his Knights salary of around $600,000. Still, if Manly could get him on the cheap, with Newcastle paying some freight they would be mad not to consider him.

Cogger is not likely to hold much appeal, given Manly already have Croker, Hastings, Cullen and Wright.

The final, and perhaps most likely scenario is that young Warriors half Ata Hingano engineers a way out of his deal now that Green has come across to block his NRL pathway.

Ata Hingano played a key role for Tonga at the recent World Cup. Source: AFP

Foxsports.com.au understands that Hingano’s current contract has a mechanism easing the way for a release if he is down the pecking order of halves at the club.

That could make it hard for the Warriors to put up a fight should he ask to cut short a deal not due to expire until 2020.

The 20-year-old Tongan international is a huge talent and might just prove to be Manly’s best chance of salvaging something out of a losing hand.

He’s no substitute for Pearce or even Green but, if they can get him, he might just have to do.