Win tomorrow night and bookmakers have them odds on to do just that and extend their tally of premierships to eight and the Sea Eagles will become the only club to have won a title in every decade since the 70s.
It is a remarkable record and raises the question: just where do the Sea Eagles sit compared with other clubs in terms of greatness?
South Sydney's 20 titles place the Rabbitohs as rugby league's most successful but the red-and-green hasn't been sighted on grand final day since 1971.
The Dragons boast the record for the most grand final wins with 15 - and the most consecutive grand final wins with 11 from 1956-66 - but it took the Red V until last year to end a 30-year title drought dating back to 1979.
Brisbane, peerless since joining the competition in 1988, has six premierships, but can the Broncos maintain that pace?
Manly's godfather, Ken Arthurson, believes his old club isn't afforded the respect it deserves. That doesn't surprise him, however. He claims that's been an issue for the Sea Eagles for as long as he can remember.
Arthurson, 82 today, is an appropriate starting point when it comes to talking about Manly, given he played in the club's first grand final, in 1951. It was a fine effort as the club had been given a licence to join the NSWRL competition only four years earlier.
While the Sea Eagles would continue to remain competitive (Arthurson also guided the club to grand finals as a coach), premiership success would elude them until after the Manly patriarch shifted into an administrative role as secretary in 1963.
It was here that he made his mark and it wasn't long before Manly's reputation as Sydney's most-hated club was born. Arthurson used his negotiating skills and the club's finances to lure players to the club who would go on to become greats of the game. Names such as Bob Fulton, Graham Eadie, Ken Irvine, Mal Reilly, Terry Randall, John O'Neill, Paul Vautin and Les Boyd. "It often intrigues me, when some people say they hate Manly, because I find in many instances you can substitute jealousy for hate," Arthurson said.
"They talk about players we bought but we brought players down to play with Manly blokes like Fulton, Eadie, Paul Vautin, 16, 17, 18 years of age who had never ever played a senior game of football in their lives. Manly developed those players and made them into great internationals.
"Other clubs had the opportunity to go and get those players had they wanted to, but just because they were beaten off the mark, some of them got crooked about it."
Eadie was only 18 when he played in the club's first premiership victory in 1972. The Sea Eagles had been in business for only 25 years but Arthurson's aggressive recruitment strategy was already breeding a winning culture. The Silvertails tag was not far away.
"I know when I went there in the 70s, Ken Arthurson was proud of the club and he instilled that into his players," Eadie said.
"When Ken went to Sydney, all the blokes that took over as the secretary or the CEO from then on have had pride in the club. It's just pride players have in being part of that club."
“If I wasn’t playing here for Manly, I’d be playing somewhere else. I’d be playing in Bathurst, or I’d be playing for Walgett.
“There’s a lot of things I want to achieve. Obviously, I want to win a grand final and I’d love to play rep footy but, if it doesn’t come, I’m someone who still enjoys my footy.”
Rose has become popular with the media and fans because of his friendliness and honesty as well as the fact he looks more like a traditional front row forward before professionalism turned them all into bodybuilders.
“I’m a positive sort of person, so I’m not going to hold back or change for whatever reason,” he said. “I’m just going to be me. Some people might like it and some people might not but, you know, I love life and I love footy and I won’t change.’’
“I’ll never claim to be an athlete or a model or anything like that. I am built the way I am, and I use that on the footy field. The thing I don’t get is that, half the time, the people who are saying something about my build have got the same sort of build themselves.
“I get through the same training as the rest of the guys, but I’m probably not as strict as some in other areas. I just live a normal life, and enjoy life. I’m not eating the tuna and crackers for lunch and dinner, like some of the boys, I’m just having a good feed. The breakfast today was good - my type of feed.”
It has been a long hard road for Rose to finally run out onto the field at ANZ Stadium in a decider.
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