Manly are under pressure to recall banished half Jackson Hastings after Lachlan Croker suffered a season-ending knee injury in Friday’s 18-12 NRL loss to Newcastle.
The Sea Eagles’ injury crisis worsened when the five-eighth suffered a devastating third ACL tear in the first-half at Lottoland.
Hastings was last week told he would play reserve grade for the rest of the season after an altercation with Daly Cherry-Evans in Gladstone.
However coach Trent Barrett may have no other option than to turn to the former Sydney Roosters playmaker against his former side next week.
“We’ll consider that on Monday; I’m not going to sit here and make comments on that,” Barrett said of Hastings.
“I want to keep the headlines away from that, if I could, and focus on the effort those players threw up.
“If I don’t laugh, I’ll cry at the moment.”
Croker, 21, was shattered in the sheds afterwards.
Barrett revealed second-rower Jack Gosiewski had also suffered a suspected broken hand, meaning the Sea Eagles now have just 21 fit players in their squad.
With Darcy Lussick (released), Curtis Sironen (knee), Jorge Taufua (collarbone), Brad Parker (knee) and Kelepi Tanginoa (knee) all unavailable, it leaves them on the verge of desperation.
Barrett appears to have no other choice than to name Hastings in his 21-man squad next week and he has few other five-eighth options.
It was a deflating fourth loss in a row for the Sea Eagles while for the Knights it was a big boost for their confidence without star playmaker Mitchell Pearce.
Emerging superstar fullback Kalyn Ponga was once again the hero, putting Nathan Ross over for the match-winner in the 76th minute.
At 10-10 the Knights appeared to be setting up for a field goal but Ponga decided to run it down the left side before putting Ross through a hole.
The home side were reduced to a two-man bench when winger Matthew Wright suffered a concussion and did not return after halftime.
Despite this, the Sea Eagles went ahead 10-4 when Shaun Lane charged over off a Cherry-Evans short ball in the 43rd.
But just when it looked like Manly were winning the arm-wrestle, they went to sleep and Knights hooker Slade Griffin forced his way over to even the scores with 20 minutes remaining.
Ponga then showed poise beyond his years to guide the Knights home.
“At the the end of the day you’ve got to find ways to turn them away and the boys kept turning up,” Knights coach Nathan Brown said.
“Then when we got into position, as we’ve done this year, even without Mitchell, someone has found a way to come up with a play.
“Kalyn came up with something that we’re all starting to expect him to do.”
Martin Taupau was immense for the Sea Eagles, charging for 225 metres from 22 carries while Jake Trbojevic was similarly tireless, making 200 metres and 40 tackles before being sin-binned in the dying moments.
bearfax
Guest
These are the hard yards, Hard Yards. There's always next....errr...year.
Hard Yards
Roar Rookie
It was a sombre trip back to Avalon on the bus from Brookvale for fans like me. No talking. No noise even though the bus was full. Nobody looking at their phone. A bloke in the seat in front of me offered the guy sitting next to him a mint. He replied, 'No thanks. I can't taste anything.' Summed it up.
Ryan
Guest
DCE.... entitles POS who should be spear tackled into a wheelchair.
Steve
Guest
Absolute shocker....how was he not put on report for that? That's a 4 or 5 week suspension in my book.
Albo
Guest
Yep ! Tough times at Brookie ! There is something badly wrong with that camp apart from the injury toll. So many players are out of form and there appears to be a lack of urgency or spirit out on the park. I thought Taupau was fantastic last night and Jake T keeps putting in, but what is going on with DCE ? He is under some sort of pressure it seems that is impacting his game. He was putting in silly cheap shots but not setting up anything for his team. Tom T looks injured to me. And Koroisau is battling for form. Talk of his SOO hooker spot is way off the mark. Walker is out of form. What's going on ? The Knights were there for the taking last night, but they just hung in there with their usual fighting spirit and Ponga delivered the move to clinch the game. Plenty of teams are experiencing big injury tolls but still putting in and grabbing wins. The Panthers have 9 regulars including most of their spine on the sideline, but are still remaining seriously competitive. Manly need an injection of new blood preferably with some desperation attitude.
Albo
Guest
Spot on ! I am starting to think they might have sent the wrong bloke to Blacktown ?
bearfax
Guest
Unlike the knockers of Manly, you approach this as a fellow supporter of the game, and I admire that. Thanks for your comments. Yes its troubling times and using the term Tsunami, is probably pretty close to the mark regarding who Manly face next. Some say the injury problem Manly has been having in recent years has been cuased by the playing surface a Brookvale. Love the ground but it needs some serious work done, because that's where most of the injuries are occurring. But for this year, I'm afraid Manly look like missing the finals and if Barrett doesnt bite the bullet and make some changes by bringing on the youth in the club, we could face our first Wooden Spoon.
kk
Guest
Bearfax, I feel for you and all Manly supporters. You need time and fair bit of it to recover. Things could not be any worse for Barrett and what players he has left to do battle. There is a tsunami on its way. Roosters, Broncos, Storm, Raiders, Cowboys. How Trent handles the rest of his tenure will determine his future in the game. It may help for starters by being magnanimous and recalling Hastings to the 17. Like you, I admire his talents. IMHO, had he been on deck last night Manly would have won.
bearfax
Guest
Thing is Barrett should have had Hastings at 5/8 when they brought him across from the Roosters. Instead he's tried Walker, succesfully used Green for a while, then let him go, and now has a kid stilll learning the game and not yet up to first grade standard, struggling in the role. Everey time Hastings has been on the field he has looked dangerous. He played in the halves at the Roosters. He's brilliant in the reserves at half. What the heck is Barrett doing. Surely a personaity issue is irrelevant if you have someone who can wiin you games on the field. Its different if he was criminally involved, but its all about personality. Add to this Barrettt has two speedsters in reserves in Tom Wright and Anderson, while he uses pedestrian players like Matt and Jonhn Wright on the wings, and an inconsistent Uate too boot. I'm not sure what Barrett is thinking. I started to believe he could be the life saver of the Manly side. I'm quickly losing that belief.
The Barry
Roar Guru
WTF was DCE thinking with his eye gouge on Buhrer? That’s the act of a man either a) under an immense amount of pressure or b) completely irresponsible and unfit to lead an NRL side...