“Didn’t fire a shot”: Alexander laments Manly's missed chance

Following their Round 2 loss to Newcastle, Greg Alexander has lamented the Sea-Eagles’ inability to capitalise on the situation in front of them.   

The Justin Holbrook era has continued to deliver nothing but wins for the Knights, having won 36-16 against the Sea-Eagles at Brookvale Oval on Sunday.

This was despite Newcastle losing stars Kalyn Ponga in the 27th minute with a hamstring strain and Dylan Brown at half-time with a MCL injury who had plenty of impact.

But had they remained on the field for the full 80 minutes, SEN's Jimmy Smith thinks the margin would be significantly worse.

“They are so fortunate that Kalyn Ponga and Dylan Brown left the field when they did,” Smith said on SEN’s Kick Off.

Alexander had a similar view, admitting he was surprised the Sea-Eagles couldn’t make the most of the situation.

“Just when Kalyn left the field, you thought, ‘Dylan Brown needs to step up’,” he added.

“He did late on (with) another try, they got to 30, and if Ponga and Brown stay on the field, god knows what the score could have been.

“Because when Haumole Olakau'atu scored in the third minute of the second half, I thought, ‘here we go, Manly are a real chance to run down these points’.

“That was it, they didn’t fire another shot.

“The play of the ball incident with (Reuben) Garrick towards the back end of the game, it summed up their performance yesterday.”

The Sea-Eagles will now have an extra week to prepare for their showdown against Daly Cherry-Evans and the Sydney Roosters.

That’ll take place at Brookvale Oval on March 26. Kick-off takes place at 8pm AEDT.