By MARK CASHMAN

Eastern Suburbs are loving life on the edge and it will continue on Saturday when they head to the Village Green to take on Manly.

The Beasties forced their way into the top six for the first time this season after Round Nine and are increasingly being spoken of as a real contender with the return of a number of their Super Rugby stars to finish off the Shute Shield season.

As they become more familiar with the systems and the pace of club footy the likes of Alex Newsome, Tom Staniforth and Lalaki Foketi will add much to the Beasties cause.

Add Rob Leota from the Melbourne Rebels and it’s little wonder that a lot of good judges around the competition are saying keep a close eye on the boys from Woollahra.

Leota comes to Easts essentially through a family connection to a member of the club and will be a handy addition to the selection headache that will have to be worked through in coming rounds.

Easts coach Pauli Taumoepeau called on his first grade regulars to show the way last Saturday against Sydney Uni and it’s hard to argue that it won’t be same again against the Marlins.

“Manly always have been a very tough opposition and it will be the same again on Saturday,” Taumoepeau said.

“The game will be a great challenge for this group and we can’t wait. It’s playoffs rugby for us again this week.”

Manly coach Matt McGoldrick is aware of the challenge ahead of his group.

“The way that Easts have come together in recent weeks has been impressive. They are coming right at the right end of the season,” McGoldrick said.

“In my eyes they are the premiership favourites. Super Rugby players everywhere. Not many weaknesses and they have also got back into the winning habit after snatching a stack of games on the bounce.

“Their record at manly Oval is pretty good in recent times and that is a challenge that I have thrown to our playing group.

“The addition of Rob Leota will only add to their group but we’re ready to front up and give this one a real crack.

“How will we beat them? It’s simple really everyone just needs to do their job. We will be fine.”

Manly sit on 21 points and cannot afford to drop a game if they want to feature in the end of season games.

Easts on the other hand can climb as high as fourth with a bonus point victory. It makes for some great footy and I for one would be willing to pay the cost of admission just to see the scrum battle, classic stuff!

MANLY MARLINS (1-15):

Alefosio Tatola, James Hilterbrand, Conor Davidson, Max Douglas, Alex Dalzell, Van Stewart, Liam Ryan, Harry Bergelin, Adam Crear, Harley Attwater, Fraser Toohey, Dennis Pili-Gaitau, Michael Adams, Yool Yool, Jed Ibbotson.

EASTERN SUBURBS (1-15):

James King, Moli Sooaemalelagi, Archer Holz, Jeremy Williams, Tom Staniforth, Jack Digby, Charlie Gamble, Sam Shires, Jack Grant (c), Cohan Guerra, Alex Newsome, Lalakai Foketi, Henry Paterson, Richie Woolf, Dan Donato.

IMAGE: AJF PHOTOGRAPHY