Manly didn't panic after their trial shellacking at the hands of Wests Tigers, but according to forward Curtis Sironen, coach Des Hasler "let us know about it at training".
Hasler appeared unfazed about the 52-18 result when speaking to media after the match at the end of February as he noted that seven of his top-line players, including captain Daly Cherry-Evans, were rested.
Dylan Walker, Jake Trbojevic, Jason Saab, Lachlan Croker, Kieran Foran and Tom Trbojevic also watched from the sidelines. All but the latter are set to play in Saturday's round-one clash with the Roosters.
But second-rower Sironen told NRL.com that Hasler still made sure to dissect what went wrong ahead of their season-opener.
"I wouldn't say [Hasler was] unconcerned, he let us know about it at training," Sironen said at the NRL season launch.
"We still debriefed the game and did some video on it and things like that. He's a pretty intense sort of guy with those sort of details, so I wouldn't say he was unconcerned.
"We weren't punished, but we've definitely got a few things to work on and you never want to leak that many points no matter what game it is. In saying that, a lot of our leaders weren't there.
"It's not a true reflection of where we've been at for the pre-season."
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Sironen described the video session as "semi-thorough – probably not the same as a competition game".
"We still go and watch the clips as a team and then there's individual stuff sent out because Dessie's got us with iPads," he added.
"That gets sent out to us at home to have a little look at and come in and do one-on-ones with him."
Sironen, who turns 28 in July, has long harboured ambitions to represent NSW and is hoping to further his case in 2021.
The ex-Tiger, who made four representative appearances for City Origin, played 18 games as Manly came 13th last year.
"It was a bit disappointing as a club how we went. I had a bit of a niggle early in the season with my knee but I'm feeling fit and healthy. I just want to start playing good footy for Manly first, but I've always had [the dream] to make a Blues squad or whatever it is," he said.
He admitted that 2020 was perhaps a missed opportunity to force his way into the NSW setup with an extended 27-man squad named as the team went into a biosecurity bubble.
"[Playing Origin] is still something I want to do and I'm still young enough, I think, to make a run at it," Sironen added. "I've just got to be playing good consistently [with] Manly winning."
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