Manly's premiership hopes have been dealt a devastating blow after brilliant fullback Brett Stewart was ruled out for up to five months with a serious knee injury.
Stewart's left knee buckled under the weight of Lote Tuqiri after the Sea Eagles' No.1 made a brave attempt to stop the runaway Tigers winger from scoring on Monday night.
The original diagnosis had the former Test custodian missing three to six weeks of football with meniscus medial damage, but scans on Tuesday showed the injury to be worse than first thought.
Stewart is said to be shattered at this latest setback.
He missed the majority of the 2009 season through suspension and injury, playing just five games with serious sexual assault charges hanging over him.
He is due back in court on Monday to answer those charges.
There is no disputing Stewart's worth to the Sea Eagles.
Since debuting in 2004, Manly has won 73 of 118 games in which Stewart has played.
The flying fullback had scoring a phenomenal 98 tries in those 118 appearances
Without him in the side, Manly's success rate drops to under 50 percent - 15 wins from 32 matches.
Michael Robertson is again likely to deputise for Stewart at fullback, with speculation Will Hopoate - son of former NRL bad boy John - will be given his chance at some stage of the season.
The Sea Eagles are also dealing with the loss of representative winger David Williams for up to 10 weeks.
The northern beaches club takes on fellow first-round loser Parramatta at Parramatta Stadium on Sunday.