As club legend Daly Cherry-Evans prepares to play game 350 for the Sea Eagles, Manly fans could get a glimpse into the future in the coming weeks with coach Anthony Seibold confirming young gun Joey Walsh is close to making his NRL debut.

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Walsh, 19, has had a strong year in the NSW Cup with 14 try assists in 13 games and went very close to making his debut last week, with hooker Jake Simpkin rushing from hospital to join his teammates following the birth of his first child.

Veteran halfback Jamal Fogarty will join the Sea Eagles next year, but it’s only a matter of time until Walsh gets his opportunity after earning plenty of hype as a schoolboys star.

“We were going to play him last week,” Seibold revealed, also confirming young prop Simione Laiafi is nearing an NRL debut.

“Jake Simpkin pretty much turned up straight from the hospital an hour before the game (after his partner gave birth), so Joey was going to come off the bench.

“He’ll get a chance at some stage. I would like to give him a go off the bench in the next couple of weeks, but it’ll be dependent on what we need and how we’re going.

“If he doesn’t get a debut, then he’s very close.”

Sea Eagles fans are keen to see the club’s next generation of stars, especially with Cherry-Evans set to leave at the end of the year, while workhorse lock Jake Trbojevic won’t play again in the regular season due to repeated head knocks.

Cherry-Evans has been Manly’s instrumental playmaker from the moment he led them to premiership glory in 2011, but he dropped a bombshell months ago when he announced he would leave the club after a falling out with management over an extension.

That won’t diminish everything he’s achieved on the northern beaches, with Seibold urging fans to brave Sydney’s wet weather to cheer on the skipper for his latest milestone.

“It’s quite a unique situation for one player to play that many games at the one club,” Seibold said, with mystery surrounding weather Cherry-Evans will retire, move to the Roosters or play elsewhere.

“It’s a big achievement for ‘Chez’, so we want to celebrate tomorrow by getting a good crowd here in not great conditions with the weather, and we also want to represent Chez really well with a strong performance after a really disappointing loss last week.

“I feel like his growth as a person and as a player has been significant over his journey.

“He had a lot of success early with a premiership in his first year, played representative footy when he was quite young and won a Clive Churchill Medal in the 2013 grand final, so he had a lot of success early.

“He’s had a great career, and for someone from country Queensland to come to Sydney and have the unique career he’s had is special for him and his family.”

The Sea Eagles are virtually out of the finals race, but Seibold questioned why the Wests Tigers were still being talked up for the top eight when his side was above them on the ladder, albeit four points behind eighth.

“You look at the two narratives and the Wests Tigers are on the same number of wins as us and everyone’s saying they’re pushing for the finals,” he said, hoping for a bounce back after an ugly loss to the Tigers last week.

“We’re on the same number of wins and we’ve got a better for and against, so why can’t that be us? That’s what we’re pushing for.”