Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans insists the NRL's salary cap investigation can't be blamed for his team's finals-threatening form slump.
Sitting third just a fortnight ago, the Sea Eagles slipped into the top-eight danger zone on Sunday after a 40-6 flogging at the hands of Melbourne.
The loss was Manly's second consecutive heavy defeat and they have now conceded 92 points in their last two games; their worst defensive fortnight since August 2004.
The defeats have coincided with the NRL launching an investigation into allegations of cap breaches at the club.
But when coach Trent Barrett admitted it hadn't helped the team, Cherry-Evans interjected to say it wasn't impacting on the players.
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"As a player it certainly hasn't," Cherry-Evans said.
"Those things may be a big public distraction but internally it doesn't stop you rocking up to training and doing your job.
"We've made a lot of errors the last two weeks. We've missed a lot of tackles the last two weeks. And now that we've addressed it we have to find a way to improve on that and improve quickly."
The loss dropped Manly to seventh, just two points ahead of eighth and ninth-placed St George Illawarra and Penrith.
The Sea Eagles play the second-placed Sydney Roosters next week, before their run into the finals eases with clashes with the Wests Tigers, Canterbury, Warriors and Penrith.
"There's still 10 points to get in the competition," Barrett said.
"We're a chance of getting them all. And then beyond that who knows."
Meanwhile the win kept Melbourne two points clear of the Roosters at the top, as they all but sealed their 10th top-four finish in 12 seasons.
The Roosters are also two points clear of Cronulla, after both sides claimed wins over North Queensland and the Warriors respectively.
Parramatta also entered the race for the top four with their come-from-behind win over Brisbane on Friday night. They sit sixth, but are only behind the Broncos and Cowboys on for-and-against and with a much friendlier run home.
Lower down the ladder, the race for the finals was narrowed to 10 on Sunday as the Titans were beaten 26-4 by the Wests Tigers, ending their hopes.
The Dragons are also stumbling in eighth, shocked 21-14 by last-placed Newcastle on Saturday afternoon to put their finals spot in jeopardy.
It allowed Penrith to go equal on wins with them on 24 points, after they beat a hapless Canterbury on Thursday night.
Meanwhile the Raiders are four points further back, their slim finals hopes kept alive with a victory over South Sydney.
