Manly will be sweating on the fitness of star fullback Brett Stewart and prop Brenton Lawrence ahead of its qualifying final showdown with South Sydney next weekend.
The Sea Eagles were comprehensively outplayed in the club's 30-16 loss to the Cowboys on Saturday night, which cost them the minor premiership and the $100,000 reward that comes with it.
Coach Geoff Toovey refused to blame the loss of players for the defeat, but the club's injury ward is swelling.
The Sea Eagles went into the match missing Matt Ballin (broken leg), Jamie Buhrer (knee) and Glenn Stewart (ankle). Buhrer and Stewart are out for the season while Ballin is optimistic of returning if the club goes deep into the finals.
To compound the matter, Lawrence (knee) was ruled out during the week and then Brett Stewart rolled his ankle at training the day before the Cowboys clash.
Toovey said he was optimistic Lawrence would return in time for next weekend's qualifying final against the Rabbitohs.
"I said that last week but it was one of those things," he said.
"He will definitely be back next week."
But there is more doubt over Brett Stewart.
"We're hoping, but we'll just have to see how he goes through the week," Toovey said.
The mounting injury toll is a concern for Manly heading into the finals, which Toovey admitted.
But he said it was the fit players' mindset that caused the loss in Townsville, not the absence of the injured players.
"I think those teams that can get their best players out on the field will have a bit more of a chance (in the finals)," he said.
"But even then you have to turn up with the right mindset or else you're not going to win.
"We just got to individually and collectively be better.
"We're just dropping balls, kicking balls out on the full, we're just making poor choices."
Former Cowboy Jayden Hodges was pitched into the battle in Townsville, powering through 80 minutes in the absence of Ballin and Buhrer.
"He was out on his feet the last 10 or 15 minutes which you would expect, it's his first (full) game this year," Toovey said.
"It was always going to be difficult.
"He did well to get through it.
"He was struggling at the end obviously but that's the nature of the beast."
Share
