Daly Cherry-Evans is adamant there are signs of life in Manly's game as they fight to avoid a repeat of last year's horror start to the season.
Friday night's 26-12 loss to the Sydney Roosters has left the Sea Eagles at 0-2 for the fifth time in seven years, currently stuck at the bottom of the ladder.
While both defeats have come against the two teams many have tipped for the grand final, the greater concern will be the manner in which Manly have lost.
In both games they have been beaten comprehensively out of the blocks, spending the majority of the first half coming out of their own end and with no ball.
There were at least better signs in the second half at the SCG, as they had the better of the ball and spent a great deal of it on the Roosters' line.
Still, the losses come after they endured their worst opening month to a season in history last year at 0-4, before Tom Trbojevic's return spurred them to a top-four finish.
But Cherry-Evans has warned they cannot let their early-season slump get away from them ahead of games against Canterbury and Canberra.
"I know it is going to come and I thought there were moments in that second half where there were signs of life," Cherry-Evans said.
"We certainly can't let it build, all this talk and all this noise around our expectations and us being no wins from two games.
"Our destiny is in our hands again, but we've just got to make sure we don't leave it too late."
Manly again stressed not much could be read into a quiet night from Trbojevic, as the Roosters piled numbers on him every time he had the ball and gave him no space.
His opening fortnight is now his quietest two-week period since 2020, with the Dally M Medallist setting up just one try and running less than 150 metres in both games.
But Manly have maintained the issue is their lack of good ball, as well as spending too much energy in defence as they are forced to repel teams from their own line.
"We're trying hard out there. But obviously we're just not connected at the moment," Cherry-Evans said.
"Our defence isn't connected to our attack, our attack isn't connected to our defence. It's a bit of a vicious cycle out there.
"We're doing a lot of defending
"So if we can help and sort of level out that 50-50 and get some better ball for our star players and strike players and all that sort of stuff, then it will help."
