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Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans has revealed how Sea Eagles players wiped their horror opening before gaining a chance to enter the top eight at Magic Round.

Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans admits his team had to laugh off their horror opening month before turning into legitimate finals contenders.

And not at all because the Sea Eagles didn't care, but realistically because if they didn't laugh, they'd cry.

The Sea Eagles sat last on the table after four rounds, conceding the most points in the club's history and scoring a record-low amount.

A win against Brisbane on Friday night will now see them climb into the top eight, something that would have seemed inconceivable a month ago.

"All you can do is look back and learn from it and laugh at it," Cherry-Evans admitted.

"You can't laugh too loudly in the public eye because everyone will tell you you don't care and it doesn't mean enough to you.

"But behind closed doors when you're losing footy games you're working so hard to get out of it.

"But you do have to take a step back sometimes and go 'what the hell were we thinking or doing here? It's a game of footy'.

"We've just got to get back to what works for you and play to your strengths in your team.

"And off the back of that we've been able to salvage our season."

Cherry-Evans admitted Manly had also taken the approach they were entirely different side over the first four weeks.

And it shows.

Manly scored just 34 points in the first four rounds, but have toppled that amount in three separate games since.

Likewise, they averaged 39 points against them in defence, another mark not reached in any of the five games since.

It's no secret the return of Tom Trbojevic has aided that form, with almost every player better off with the fullback on the park.

"We sort of classify it as a different team to be honest," Cherry-Evans said.

"We were a different side back then, we've worked really hard to change things."

The Sea Eagles insist they are wary of Brisbane on Friday night.

While the Broncos sit 14th on the ladder, they believe the fact they beat Gold Coast and pushed Penrith and Parramatta at Suncorp shows they are a different team at home.

"We spoke about it, we know they are going to come hard," Cherry-Evans said.