Experienced Manly winger Akuila Uate says the team can only afford to focus on the task ahead against Canberra Raiders, rather than worrying about what went wrong at Lottoland last Saturday.
The Sea Eagles again got off to another poor start to trail Melbourne Storm 18-0 after 20 minutes before rallying back in the second half to lose 30-26. Manly have won three of seven matches this season.
“It was just a lack of concentration in the first 20 minutes. We let them in early and we worked on our defence in the second half. We should have done that better in the first half,’’ Uate said.
“Trent said it all in the dressing room at half-time and we came out and did the job in the second half. It was just bad that we didn’t come home with the two points.
“Saturday is in the past. It is the start of a new week and we just have to prepare really well to go down to Canberra.
“It is a big challenge for all of the team. There is no sense of panic. We just have to worry about ourselves.”
Uate has been in fine form in his first season for the Sea Eagles and has slowly built up a strong combination on the right side with centre Dylan Walker.
“The partnership with Dylan has been really good. We just need to keep working hard on our defence and hopefully we can score a few tries this week,’’ Uate added.
“The first two weeks I struggled with the talk. The more I do at training, the better I am on the field with ‘Walks’.”