The 36-0 defeat leaves Canterbury in the bottom third of the ladder with just one win in the first four rounds.

Daly Cherry-Evans put on a stellar showing for Manly. After being nearly lost for words a fortnight ago as the Sea Eagles slumped against Souths, Cherry-Evans added to a strong performance against the Cowboys last week by grabbing five try assists, with four in the first half.

The skipper was delighted after the game, labelling it as one of his most enjoyable days, but he saved the most praise for his side's defence.

"Obviously there was a lot of things that went right for us, but as a captain the proudest thing is walking off and seeing a big zero, it's very pleasing," he said.

"We were pretty determined to back up last week's win, and it was an outstanding defensive effort," said Manly coach Trent Barrett.

"We haven't achieved anything yet, but we're on the right track," said Barrett who labelled the win the best team performance the Sea Eagles had produced in his tenure.

Hasler's return to Lottoland drew scattered jeers from the crowd who once revered him, and there was no happy return for the man who delivered two NRL premierships to the northern beaches, with his side out of the contest before the half-time oranges had been devoured.

Canterbury had the better of the opening exchanges, but quickly fell behind, and stayed there going into the sheds down by 26 points.

"We were flat, they out-enthused us," was Hasler's blunt assessment after the game.

"[Manly] just did what they had to do. Ran hard, tackled hard. Thursday can't come soon enough."

There were no signs of complacency in the second half for Manly, as Api Koroisau ran on to an Addin Fonua-Blake offload to grab the sixth try of the afternoon, in the 47th minute.

The final half-hour was more or less a formality with mistakes creeping in from both sides.

There were only two highlights in the last quarter of the game; a brief fracas with five minutes to go saw David Klemmer slap Cherry-Evans across the face. Despite the protestations of the home crowd, the NSW firebrand was not sent to the sin bin.

And fittingly, given the day he had, Manly's skipper had the last laugh, setting up a try in the final minute with a clever sideways kick to Akuila Uate.

The real slap in the face was felt by the travelling fans, who'd made the arduous trek from Belmore to Brookvale, only to see their team down by 14 points with less than 30 minutes gone.

In a familiar sight for Bulldogs supporters, their troops were already on the back foot when Sam Kasiano entered the fray and won a penalty with his first touch, before providing a sublime offload with his second, which saw Greg Eastwood tackled within centimetres of the try line.

But the big prop couldn't do anything to stop the flow of points. After Josh Jackson was sin binned for a professional foul near the line, Cherry-Evans darted from one side of the field to the other to put Brian Kelly over for his second try of the day.

The star halfback saved the best of his four first-half assists for last, putting Tom Trbojevic through a gap before backing up on the inside to collect the return ball. Then, when he sensed Brett Morris closing in on the chase, dabbed a grubber back to his fullback while sprinting at full speed, capping off a perfect first half for the home side.

Marcelo Montoya's blushes were spared when the rookie spilled the ball on a routine hit-up coming out of his own end, to gift the home side a try, but the play was called back for a high shot by the returning Martin Taupau - but they only had to wait a couple of minutes to extend the lead to 14-0, as Kelly timed his chase to perfection to pounce on a Blake Green grubber.

Cherry-Evans showcased his versatility in the open quarter of the contest, setting up two tries in quick succession - one with his boot, and then with his hands, as a lovely short ball gifted Curtis Sironen his first NRL try in a maroon-and-white jersey.

This came shortly after the opening score of the afternoon. Moses Mbye checked Sironen off the ball on a kick chase to give away a penalty, giving the home side a golden chance. And while Koroisau was denied by the bunker, it was green lights for Dylan Walker just a few seconds later, chasing through on a Cherry-Evans kick and grounding it just inside the dead ball line.

The former Rabbitoh converted his try, putting Manly in front after a scoreless opening 15 minutes.