Manly duo on verge of becoming greatest try-assist double act

In-form Manly playmakers Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans are five try assists away from breaking a record set by Parramatta many would have thought untouchable.

With Turbo's stunning 28 try assists in 17 games this year paired with his captain's 27 in 24 games, the pair have set up a remarkable 55 four-pointers this year.

That is the second-most tries set up by any club's two most prolific players in any single season.

The figure is four behind the 59 tries set up by Eels duo Tim Smith and John Morris in 2005, on the back of the former putting together the single greatest rookie season in NRL history.

Smith's unprecedented 40 individual assists is a figure no player in the era of detailed record-keeping has looked like beating, rookie or otherwise, with Cooper Cronk's 37 in 2008 the next best according to NRL.com Stats.

The Manly pair is averaging 1.3 assists per player per appearance – well clear of the 1.1 the Eels duo averaged in 2005.

Plenty of those assists this year have come in clusters against much weaker opposition than that which awaits them this weekend and in the grand final, should they get there.

However if they maintain their rate through two more games (which is four more individual appearances) they will pip the Eels pair by one on grand final day.

This year's Rabbitohs just make it into the top 10 with Cody Walker (33) and the currently-suspended Latrell Mitchell (14) combining for 47 through the season while Cronk and Billy Slater have two separate entries in the top five, combining for 54 assists in 2012 and for 51 in 2008.

Johnathan Thurston also makes the list twice with two different fullbacks, combining with Matt Bowen for 51 assists in 2012 and with Lachlan Coote for 47 in their 2015 premiership year.

Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah combined for 48 assists in 2010, the best season of a golden run that saw the pair create a combined 43 or more tries in four straight years from 2009 to 2012.