Souths loss a wake-up call for Manly

Manly are confident last Friday's loss to South Sydney won't derail their push for the NRL premiership.

Manly fullback Brett Stewart

Manly are confident their loss to South Sydney won't derail their push for the NRL premiership. (AAP)

Manly players believe last Friday's defeat by South Sydney is no reason to push the panic button but claim it's the wake-up call they needed going into the final four rounds of the NRL season.

A dominant Souths eased to a comfortable 23-4 win to assume premiership favouritism over the ladder leaders but halfback Daly Cherry-Evans is confident the Sea Eagles will put the result behind them against the Gold Coast on Sunday.

"The scoreline wasn't very nice at all," Cherry-Evans said.

"They got a pretty handy lead on us and to only score one try was very disappointing.

"We have a few things to work on but I have no doubt we will be better prepared when we come up against opposition like themselves."

The Rabbitohs pack, led by the in-form Sam Burgess, dominated the Manly forwards and prop Brenton Lawrence admitted the post-match video session was difficult to watch.

However, he believes the defeat is not the worst thing that could have happened to the team.

"We're not proud of what happened, but it's not panic stations," Lawrence told AAP.

"We're not doubting ourselves or our ability, it was a game there and one of the few that we have played this year where we were dominated.

"I don't think we need to start pulling our hair out but we definitely have to be accountable, we were beaten by a better side.

"But there is nothing like a loss to make you look at what you are doing and whether you need to change things."

The Titans will have a new coach in place on Sunday in Neil Henry following John Cartwright's resignation last week after seven years at the helm.

Lawrence was at the Titans before joining Manly last year and is expecting another another test from a physical pack.

"They may not be going too well but in guys like Greg Bird, Nate Myles and Luke Bailey you know you're in for a tough game," he said.

"But it would be nice to go back to my old club and get a win and show that we can bounce back from the Souths game."


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