Manly coach Anthony Seibold has reflected on how the 300th game of South Sydney legend John Sutton in 2018 provides a key lesson as his Sea Eagles face a similar scenario.
Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans will bring up his triple-century for the club on Saturday night in Wollongong against St George Illawarra, while hooker Lachlan Croker marks his 100th NRL match.
"If you think that because someone has a milestone game you deserve to win, or you've just got to turn up, it is just not the case," Seibold said.
"We know we have got to work really hard when we go down to Wollongong against a team on their day that can score a lot of points."
Seibold was coach of the Rabbitohs in 2018 when Sutton prepared for his 300th game for the club against Wests Tigers. The Rabbitohs lost 22-6.
"We'd won nine straight and were playing Wests Tigers on a Friday night," Seibold reflected.
"It was almost like we'd all cried and remembered Sutto's journey three or four times over that week.
"I just felt Sutto was drained, and we were drained as a group.
"I am doing things a little bit differently. We want to be energetic on Saturday at 5.30pm and ... we are going to celebrate (the milestones) with a lunch on Sunday after the event."
Cherry-Evans is the consummate professional and Seibold said the halfback would not play the game in his head before the match.
"He's had a narrow focus ... this week, so we expect the best out of Chez," Seibold said.
"With that longevity and consistency (Cherry-Evans) has had one of the great careers.
"He's been No.7 for 300 games at the same club, and you could almost argue that this is one of his best-ever seasons."
Croker, who played a single game for Canberra before joining Manly, has endured multiple anterior cruciate ligament injuries and Seibold described the 26-year-old hooker as a shining light.
"Crokes is a really good story of perseverance," Seibold said.
"He is a good role model for young footy players who don't get everything their own way in the early part of their career.
"He is a well-deserved 100-game player."
The Sea Eagles are right in the mix to play finals football. They are in 11th position on 23 points - one off the top-eight - and a late-season surge will give them a red-hot crack at playing September football.
