Manly have been dealt a blow ahead of their Saturday night blockbuster against Brisbane at a sold-out Suncorp Stadium, with the strike pairing of Brett Stewart (hamstring) and Steve Matai (shoulder) ruled out through injury.
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Neither travelled with the team and were conspicuous absences as the Sea Eagles greeted legions of their interstate fans at a signing session in Brisbane's north on Thursday night.
It's a bitter pill for the ninth-placed Sea Eagles, who remain confident they can stun a Broncos side that is also missing a number of key players, including hooker Andrew McCullough, prop Adam Blair and backrower Alex Glenn.
Tom Trbojevic must now pass a fitness test for Manly on Friday, while Pita Godinet was named on the extended bench and should feature in the reshuffle.
If the loss of the two backline veterans was a blow, hooker Matt Parcell wasn't showing it, saying the team had trained confidently and believed it could rock a Broncos side that was itself humbled by the Sharks before the representative round.
Parcell was formerly in the Broncos system and has been a classy buy for the Sea Eagles. He said he would love nothing better than to fire against a team that didn't require his services but held no regrets after Wayne Bennett told him to look elsewhere.
"It was really good – I can only say good things about the Broncos. Wayne was pretty upfront and said to chase the opportunity elsewhere. I just wanted to play NRL.I would have loved to stay but the opportunity was down south," Parcell said.
"I haven't been home since the season started. I'm really excited for the weekend."
Parcell has made a seamless transition from the Intrust Super Cup to the NRL, playing a string of 80-minute games for Manly before injury struck.
He said he had never lacked confidence and was keen to hone his attacking partnership with halfback Daly Cherry-Evans now he had become attuned to the pace and workload of top-flight rugby league.s
"I was always pretty confident after the year I had last year. But it was a surprise, playing 80 mins in the NRL. At the start of the year I wasn't sure I could do it but I've played five games now. I'm feeling confident," Parcell said.
"With the week off we've had a bit of time to train. We've been working on a few things. Each week, the more we play together, that combination will get better.
"Being hooker, the biggest thing you notice over 80 minutes is that defensively, you have to aim up. That takes a bit out of you so the attack will come into it. The first few weeks was getting used to the defence but I'm feeling a lot more confident out there."
Manly have been installed as longshots for the second match on the Saturday night card, which features three of the top four teams as North Queensland start the show against the Melbourne Storm.
It's an evening of heavy hitters, but Parcell said Manly didn't feel out of their depth as they try to escape the mid-table logjam ahead of the Origin break.
"Everyone is really excited about the prospect. Everyone is confident. We're massive underdogs but we're going there to play footy."
Parcell has already been talked up as a future Origin prospect but sits well behind Rooster Jake Friend in the pecking order should Cameron Smith be unavailable.
