Dessie's dilemma: winning games but losing players

Manly coach Des Hasler joked that his side could do with a little bit of "magic" ahead of next week's history-making round with the Sea Eagles facing a further injury crisis.

The Sea Eagles will be sweating on scan results for Lachlan Croker (hamstring) and Addin Fonua-Blake (knee) in the coming days with both failing to finish the match in the 18-10 win over the Bulldogs on Saturday night.

Manly face a six-day turnaround leading into their clash against the Broncos but the early signs for the pair are not good with Croker telling media post-game he heard a "pop" at the back of his upper leg midway through the second half.

Fonua-Blake, who was returning from a two-week suspension, left the field early in the first half with a knee complaint. The Tongan international returned in the second half for a brief stint but played on in discomfort before leaving the field once more.

"We'll have to have [Addin's] knee looked at. We'll wait and see how that pulls up. There's obviously some issue with his meniscus," Hasler said.

"That's probably a suitable term for next week… magic round … we might need a bit of magic."

The Sea Eagles are stretched in the halves with former Blues pivot Trent Hodkinson sidelined for at least another week following knee surgery.

Already without skipper Daly Cherry-Evans, rookie Cade Cust is the only other recognised playmaker in the squad's top 30 list.

Meanwhile, Hasler was all smiles following the Sea Eagles' eight-point win over his former club Canterbury but couldn't help but look ahead to the next mission.

"It was always going to be one of those games. I thought we executed and completed well, controlled possession and built some pressure but just couldn't that critical try," Hasler said.

"We kept the door open a little bit but credit to the way they're playing, they were never going to go away and they didn't, they kept asking questions.

"We certainly came up with some ways to defend them. That's what you want. In the scheme of things two points when it's like that on the knife's edge you want to get them."