Manly coach Geoff Toovey says he's nervous about sending his star halves to the NRL Auckland Nines for fear they could get injured.
Kieran Foran was last year rested from the inaugural tournament after playing for New Zealand in the World Cup, but this weekend will spearhead the Sea Eagles' charge with Daly Cherry-Evans.
Toovey said Cherry-Evans, who has again been named captain, enjoyed it so much that he convinced his playmaking partner to join him.
"Yeah, (I'm) a little bit nervous, but they both wanted to go over," he said on Wednesday.
"I'm not sure how much game time they'll get, but they're very keen to be part of it."
Both Foran and Cherry-Evans are off contract at season's end, but Toovey deflected when asked if he had agreed to let them play to just keep them happy.
"They want to play football, it's been a long off season, so I think they just want to get out there and show their skills and we're looking forward to getting out there," he said.
"We're looking forward to tidying those (contract) things up so we can all get on with playing football and I'm sure the players are as well."
The Sea Eagles lost three key players to injury during the 2014 competition - winger David Williams (knee), and back-rowers Michael Chee-Kam (elbow) and Tom Symonds (back).
They were among several long-term casualties, with South Sydney playmaker Luke Keary, North Queensland fullback Lachlan Coote and Newcastle halfback Jarrod Mullen also on the list.
"I think all the coaches will be a bit nervous," Toovey said.
"It was very quick last year, very hot, there were a few season-ending injuries.
"That's a risk you run.
"It's a great format, it's going to be here for another three years after this, and I think it's great for New Zealand spectators and TV as well.
"We'll just participate and do our best, and hopefully have some success."
Toovey has been vocal in the past about the NRL's heavy load on players and reckons trial games could become a thing of the past if the schedule continues to be beefed up.
"I think most coaches agree that trials are a necessary evil, but it'll get to a situation where if we keep putting in more and more football that maybe you'll see them disappear altogether," he added.
"There's a lot of football in the calendar; I think they've put measures in place to review that at the NRL and hopefully they'll have a look at it going forward."
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