However, on the back of the arrival of co-coaches Buster and Brad Reh, the club seem determined to turn around their losing culture.

A big part of this has been their ability to recruit high level talent to the club including Keiran Rankmore, Jason Green, Chance Perham, Eze Harper, Josh Adu, Josh Ward, Jiye Ellis, Sam Price - as well as enticing local juniors such as Matt Murray and Hamish McLaurin back to Flinders Field.

Possibly the most exciting of all is former Manly-Warringah under 20s player and New Zealand under 18s representative Zaan Weatherall.

"I have a long standing relationship with Brad Reh, as he coached me at Wests Devils throughout my junior years," Weatherall said.

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"Brad was my coach all the way up until under 18s while Buster would regularly come to our training sessions and run us through defensive drills.

"When they contacted me, I jumped at the chance to reunite with them at Stingrays - they have so much experience and everyone is feeding off it already."

The 21-year-old playmaker believes all of his representative experience, including a stint with the Illawarra South Coast Dragons earlier in the year, can benefit the Stingrays.

"The professionalism of a club like Manly, where high expectations are ground into their culture, definitely helped me improve as a player," Weatherall, who also spent time with Illawarra's Harold Matthews and SG Ball squads, said.

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"Then having the opportunity to play for the ISC Dragons earlier this year was a great experience.

"It was awesome to play alongside guys I hadn't played with before and I was looking forward to helping them defend their title before COVID-19 disappointingly interrupted.

"All these experiences have helped shaped the player I am today and I hope to bring them back to the club and help us become the team I know we are capable of."

The Illawarra Sports High School alumnus' disappointment didn't stop there, as it also delayed his Group Seven debut.

"After just joining the club and ripping into pre-season with the boys, it was quite disheartening to have the season postponed," he said.

"However, Brad and Buster continued to stay in touch with us all during the lockdown, to ensure we are all staying fit and not losing all the hard work we'd put in.

"It was crucial we stayed fit because we didn't know when the season was going to start and so I made sure I did plenty of gym work and road runs with my mates."

The Rays restarted training recently ahead of the season kick-off, on the weekend of July 18 and 19.

"After months of training by yourself, it was energising to be back around a team environment," he said.

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"Everyone is looking sharp and we look strong across the board.

"One thing is for sure, we aren't here just to make up the numbers.

"I want to help the team play up to their potential and be competitive for the full 80 minutes.

"If we do that, I know we will turn plenty of heads in 2020."