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TIM Mannah is a fortnight out from his wedding and still short a best man.
Or more precisely, the best man.
Missing that mate whose clothes still hang in the home they shared. Whose countless gadgets — a toy helicopter here, steel robot there — are also strewn about, many in the last place they were dropped.
And photographs? Mannah's mobile is full of them.
Tim Mannah (L) with his brother and former Cronulla Sharks player Jon. Source: News Limited
Countless pictures of the inseparable brothers, hulking arms slung over one another, as they smile their way through Texas, Las Vegas, Trinidad, New Zealand, even that time as teenagers when they found each other in France, on separate schoolboy footy tours.
"Have kept his last text messages, too,'' the Parramatta captain says. "Don't think I'll ever have the guts to delete them."
This is why the Jon Mannah Cup matters.
Why in age where footballers are almost weekly contesting another piece of silverware dreamed up by the marketing department, you could touch this new gong and not only feel warmth, but a heartbeat.
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It has now been 16 months since Jonny Mannah, 23, lost his battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Life so cruelly taken from the missionary who toured Vanuatu twice. A Youth Leader who went abseiling within hours of chemotherapy because, well, he'd promised the kids.
A best man who, a fortnight from now, should be handing brother Tim that ring picked for his beautiful South African bride.
"But, yeah ... he won't be there,'' the Eels prop deadpans. "And that's what I miss most, his presence.
"Wether it was school, footy, church, our lives were intertwined. I could go for a coffee and it never mattered if no one else was there but Jonny, just the pair of us joking.
Tim Mannah with the Johnny Mannah Cup, named after his brother/ Source: News Corp Australia
"Even now, I'll see something on TV, maybe hear someone make a remark — a little thing that means absolutely nothing to anyone else, but would've kept us laughing for hours.
"And Jonny, he just had that laugh, that personality which touched people. I'm so glad we now have something to keep it alive."
And by something, he means The Mannah Foundation.
Launched only last week, the new charity will use fundraisers like Monday night's Cup match between Parramatta and Cronulla — the two clubs Jon played for — to support the youth groups for which the late forward gave so much of his time.
Raising money for children like Tim Jelacic, the tiny Eels fan who, still only eight, has already endured more than 60 radiation treatments.
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Who only recently learned, despite his fight, there will be no cure. Surgeons softly explaining how, little Timmy, you will keep getting brain tumours until that one which finally takes you to heaven.
"But he wants to keep fighting,'' Mannah explains. "And we want to get him and his family to Disneyland."
So now you know where every gold coin donated at Pirtek Stadium will go. And why this Mannah Cup, it matters.
"Jonny had a real heart for helping others,'' his older brother continues. "Even his sickness, he saw it as an opportunity, a chance to free up his time from football and shine more light on those in darkness.
"I guess, as footballers, so many of us feel like we do our bit for community through the club. But for Jon, it was 24/7.
"You didn't clock on, clock off ... it was a lifestyle."
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And still, there isn't a day he wishes his brother back.
"No, because that would be selfish,'' Mannah insists. "I haven't told many people this, but during one of our hospital chats early on, we were going through all the different scenarios he faced.
"And I'll never forget Jonny saying, 'give me a choice to go slow or quick — I choose quick every time'.
"Which is how it happened, too. God was real gentle with him.
"So, no, he won't be here for my wedding. But because of the way he lived, because of his legacy ... it means Jonny will be helping others for a long time yet."
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