Manly chasing top five spot in Harvey Norman women's

The opportunity to move a step closer to the Harvey Norman NSW Women's Premiership top five will be the driving force for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles on Sunday.

The Sea Eagles sit in seventh position, one point out of the top five with four regular season games remaining, heading into the crucial round eight clash with the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval.

The top five teams contest the finals. Wests Tigers sit on the bottom of the ladder.

Manly head into the game on the back of a heartbreaking 19-18 loss to Mounties at Hinchinbrook last week.

Trailing 18-6, the Sea Eagles got back to 18-all before a field goal five minutes from full-time gave Mounties victory to move them into third spot after both teams entered the game on the same amount of wins and points.

"We battled defensively early on and we need to be better on one of the edges and generally with our ruck control,'' Manly Coach Keith Hanley said.

"We need to be more consistent and effective with the things we usually do well as a team."