Manly coach Des Hasler refused to blame the injury toll, or the short turnaround from Sunday's win over the Sharks, for a lacklustre performance against the Titans on Friday at Lottoland.
The same team that put 24 points on Cronulla let in 26 unanswered points against the Gold Coast in the 36-18 win by the visitors. The Sea Eagles led 12-10 at halftime.
"We couldn't get into the game at all," Hasler said.
"I thought we were a little bit down on those effort areas. I thought our kicking game was a little poor and we didn't give ourselves a chance with field position.
"Our possession was just ludicrous. We didn’t control possession well enough. They controlled it really well."
Manly could only muster 43 per cent possession from completing just 23 of 35 sets. The Titans completed 40-from-45 and enjoyed 60 per cent.
Match Highlights: Sea Eagles v Titans
The nine penalties Manly conceded also didn't help matters.
"Obviously that doesn't help the momentum, constantly being turned around," Hasler said.
Manly have key personnel on the sideline, like fullback Tom Trbojevic, halves Daly Cherry-Evans, Lachlan Croker and Trent Hodkinson, and centre Moses Suli.
"You can make all kinds of excuses … and the short turnaround from Sunday. But we had opportunities where we could have won that game and we didn't," Hasler said.
"We were a long way from just doing the fundamentals. We didn't give ourselves a chance.
Manly go 90 metres from Gold Coast mistake
"I don't remember having many attacking sets on their line in the second half.
"It wasn't a good day for us."
And there's no real joy next week against the Panthers at Penrith Stadium as Manly is likely to lose Jake Trbojevic (Blues) and Cherry-Evans (Maroons) to Origin.
Any hope of the Sea Eagles getting their line-breaking No.1 back to offset the losses, was a faint one.
"Tom is progressing but he won't play Penrith," Hasler said.