Mann endured a rough start to his career at the Dragons after switching from Melbourne this season, dropped after two games at fullback. The 23-year-old admitted that it put a dent in his confidence but credited a mid-season stint with the Cutters for turning his year around.

He fought his way back into first grade for the Dragons round 12 clash with North Queensland, scoring a try in a 14-10 win, and finished the season as leading try-scorer with 10 four-pointers from 13 games.

He added his overall tally with a try in the Cutters nail-biting 21-20 win over Mounties in last week’s ISP grand final and is looking to maintain that form against Burleigh on Sunday.

“We will have to prepare the exact same against the Bears as we did against the Mounties as it seemed to work and hopefully we get a similar result,” Mann said.

“I was lucky enough to score a try against the Mounties and it was the product of a good team move. We started really well against them and it was probably one of the best starts we’ve had since I’ve played Cutters at least.

“Unfortunately, we took the foot off the throat a bit, they gained a bit of momentum and we had to fight them off in the second-half. We will just continue to focus on our own preparation and work hard on correcting some of the things that need improving on and hopefully it pays off on Sunday.”