The Sea Eagles will look to return to the winners' circle this Sunday when they head to the Gold Coast to play the Titans.
Manly, by their own admission, were convincingly out played by the Rabbitohs last Friday night. However, the boys from the peninsula remain positive as they head into the final four rounds of the home and away season.
Halfback Daly Cherry-Evans conceded that the Sea Eagles weren’t at their best but sees it as a good learning curve as they head into their tenth straight finals series.
“We identified that they out enthused us in both attack and defence,” Cherry-Evans said.
“The score line wasn’t very nice at all. They got a very handy lead on us, and for us to only score one try against them was also disappointing.
“We have a few things to work on, but in saying that I have no doubt we will be better prepared next time we come up against opposition like themselves.”
Many people believe it was the loss Manly needed ahead of the finals series, but Cherry-Evans is of a different opinion.
“Personally, I don’t like losing at all, whether it’s this week or early in the year,” Cherry-Evans.
“I don’t think you have to lose coming into finals to sharpen up your skills. I think it’s a slight bump along the way in our season.
“In saying that, we have lost. We will deal with it and hopefully we can learn form that and not make the same errors next time we play them.”
Whilst the Sea Eagles were disappointed with the result on Friday night, Cherry-Evans feels that South Sydney were at the top of their game and deserve praise for their efforts.
The star No.7 also declared the Rabbitohs – going off last week’s performance – as red-hot favourites for this year’s title.
“Maybe scoring first put us into a false sense of security, but it was also a lot of errors from our behalf and I think we have to credit the way they played,” he said.
“They played with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of toughness, and of a high quality as well, so we need to identify that earlier in a game and match that.
“They’ve got an amazing side across the paddock and they’re really hitting their straps.
“At the moment its hard to see why they won’t be the number one contenders for this year. We will need to be on our toes if we come across them again.”
