Kieran Foran insists resurgent Manly can win the NRL premiership in 2026 and will seek out Des Hasler for help to make that dream a reality.
Foran was on Tuesday appointed full-time head coach through 2029 after inspiring the Sea Eagles' spectacular turnaround as interim boss.
Manly have won seven of nine games since the club legend replaced Anthony Seibold as coach following a winless opening month.
It's been a rapid coaching rise for 35-year-old Foran, who retired from playing in November and had been considered only an outside chance to hold the job on his initial appointment.
Foran is so young that Wayne Bennett, his counterpart for Thursday's clash with South Sydney, had coached three seasons in the premiership before he was even born.
But Foran said he had never felt over-awed by his quick transition into coaching.
"I've just continued to take challenges head-on in my life. This one's been no different," he said.
Tolu Koula, Haumole Olakau'atu, Clayton Faulalo and Ben Trbojevic are among the players who have surged into career-best form since Foran took charge.
Taniela Paseka has made an excellent comeback from his Achilles injury, frequently maligned five-eighth Luke Brooks is impressing and boom youngster Joey Walsh has earned valuable minutes in the starting halves.
Six of Foran's nine games have come without club captain Tom Trbojevic, who is on track to return from his hamstring injury after the round-15 bye.
It's all left Foran bullish that the fifth-placed Sea Eagles can realistically aim for premiership gory in his first season
"I've been really impressed with how we've turned the season around and the style of footy in which we're playing. We've had to do that overcoming a few challenges," he said.
"They're starting to really believe in what they're capable of. That's been the part that's stood out for me.
"I've got no doubt in my mind that if we can keep striving to be better, each and every day and we can be fit and healthy, then why can't we be there at the end of the year?"
Foran will seek out Manly's last premiership-winning coach Hasler, a long-time friend and mentor, as he continues writing the fairytale.
Hasler handed Foran his NRL debut in 2009 and played him at five-eighth in the Sea Eagles' 2011 premiership triumph.
Foran went on to play almost half of his 318 NRL games under Hasler across two stints at Manly and his final chapter at Gold Coast.
"He's certainly someone that I'll lean on as I navigate my way through these challenges. No one understands Manly quite like Des, as well," Foran said.
"(But) I won't try and replicate any of the great coaches I've been under, I'll take parts of what I really enjoyed from them and the parts that I thought were really helpful and successful, then I'll be my own man."
