With the mid-season bye weekend upon us, it's time to pull up a log, sit at the fire and peer into the men's program.

We are second in 1s, seventh in 2s, 4s in 3s and sixth in 4s, so finals football is well and truly within reach across all grades.

As for the club championship, we are fourth.

First grade is just two points behind Shute Shield competition leaders Warringah following a 7-2 win/loss start.

Three straight wins were followed by back-to-back defeats and then four consecutive victories.

It's not often you hear a coach admit he is happy his team has so much to work on, but Marlins boss Chris Delooze is the exception.

"It's not necessarily about consistency of results. It's about the consistency of the process and performance," he explained.

"We know our areas of focus and the guys are up for it. If we were the finished product then I would be a little concerned.

"I am delighted we have so much to work on to sharpen the sword.

"Our accuracy in certain areas of the game needs to gets better and I am really looking forward to seeing what we produce in the second half of the season."

Delooze was happy enough with last Friday night's 28-23 win over Norths at Allianz Stadium, even if the overall performance left him a little cold.

The Marlins were the better side but trailed 15-14 at the break after conceding an intercept try followed by a try right on halftime.

The second half was nip and tuck but we controlled things better to come away with a good win.

"It was a bit ugly because we put ourselves under unneeded pressure," Delooze pointed out.

"To give them an unnecessary intercept and then give them easy access to the ball at the breakdown was disappointing.

"But it's nice to come away beating the team that beat us in the semi-finals last year and get a bit back in what was a big occasion for both clubs."

Delooze will tell his players to enjoy the long weekend before returning next week to begin the second half of the season.

It's the time of the year when Super Rugby players start filtering back to clubland and the intensity rises a level.

Delooze said: "We will take the break – we need a break – and go away and refresh and get ready for our next game against Easts, who will get a lot of their Waratahs boys back.

"It's exciting times ahead."

Each week, the club prepares more than 200 players for match day.

That's five grade teams and four colts sides in the men's and the Mermaids, with over 50 registered players (including a first XV and three Sevens squads), in the women's.

Throw in coaches, managers, strength and conditioning experts and it's easily the biggest rugby program we've ever undertaken.

And, dear reader, such a program doesn’t not come cheap.

The club funds playing kits, training gear, balls, tackle bags, hit pads, cones, colour coded training bibs, medical supplies, physio support and the match day doctor and much more by way of essential support costs. With inflation and the addition of our strong Women's Program. all these essential support costs have increased markedly.

Meanwhile, our Keirle Park training facilities are operating at full capacity (4-5 training nights each week) adding to the ground usage rental, line-marking and lighting fees.

Under Australian Government rules for sporting foundations, costs must be strictly allocated to these types of essential support costs that enable the players to get on the field each week and give you so much entertainment.

The Red and Blue Crew – thanks to the $100,000 raised in donations from loyal supporters over the past two years – has been able to assist in helping to meet some of these essential costs.

The hardworking board, players, coaches and tireless volunteers are very grateful for the support and connection from everyone so far this year.

We are operating on a strict budget and the board has been very disciplined in its expenditure.

Equally, with three wet home games affecting income, the budget for meeting these essential support costs continues to run tight.

In addition, we are looking for funding to support our gear handler/manager/volunteers (Riddo, Danny, Ian, Pete, Simon et al) to buy a second-hand van to cart all the gear around from training grounds during the week to away games on the weekend.

The Red and Blue Crew wants to do its bit to help with these costs and needs replenishment, particularly as the end of the tax year draws closer.

For those of you who are in a position to make a contribution, please do. Any tax-deductible donation will be gratefully accepted. Every dollar helps. And don't pay any more tax than you have to. The players will repay you back in spades - hopefully with a grand final or two this year.

You can assist via this link or contact any of the gentlemen below to assist in some way.

Greg Marr (manager@manlyrugby.com.au), Bill Calcraft (billcalcraft@gmail.com), Rob Forsyth (robjforsyth@gmail.com), Steve Williams (stevewilliams965@gmail.com) or Tony Melrose (tony.melrose@erymelrose.com.au ) are all happy to hear from you.