It hurt Reuben Garrick to watch from the sidelines after injuring himself midway through Manly’s dismal loss in their most important game of the NRL season.

But the outside back, who will miss the remainder of the year, insists the Sea Eagles are still clinging to hopes of a finals berth ahead of a do-or-die clash against the Dolphins.

Sunday’s match against Wests Tigers was evenly poised at 6-6 when Garrick fell awkwardly in a tackle, with scans later revealing torn ligaments in his left shoulder.

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“I’m going to try and rehab the shoulder, see how we go, but I won’t be playing (this year),” Garrick said at the launch of the NRL’s Footy Country Round.

Garrick described the injury as “painful”.

Compounding the anguish was being forced to watch on as his teammates sputtered to a 26-12 loss in a game that shaped as crucial to Manly’s finals hopes.

“It sucks, you obviously put so much into it throughout the year and pre-season, showing up each week and giving your all,” Garrick said.

“It really sucks to have an injury right at the death of it when the stakes are so high.

“It’s pretty demoralising when you do take a loss that’s a must-win game. It does hurt, when you’ve put so much effort into this whole season, when it comes down to crunch-time, to lose a game like that with so much magnitude behind it.”

With three rounds remaining, Manly sit in 10th place on the ladder, two wins and points differential behind the eighth-placed Sydney Roosters.

They remain a mathematical chance of a finals berth, but a loss to the ninth-placed Dolphins on Saturday would deliver the hammer blow.

Garrick said Manly still believed they could make the top eight, with a milestone match for departing captain Daly Cherry-Evans providing extra motivation.

The halfback will become only the fifth man in premiership history to play 350 games, after Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Darren Lockyer and Terry Lamb.

“When there’s a little bit of (finals) hope you’ve got to hold on to that as long as you can. It’s a massive game this weekend, Chez’s 350th,” Garrick said.

“I’m very disappointed I’m not going to be out there and play with him. He’s someone who’s been so instrumental for my career.

“Hopefully we can, as a club, get behind him and go out there and get the win for him.”