He stopped short of suggesting Manly could not win without Jamie Lyon, but Canterbury opposite Josh Morris was happy to admit the Sea Eagles were easier to contain without their co-captain.

Lyon limped off with a calf strain 25 minutes into Friday night’s 16-10 NRL qualifying final loss to the Bulldogs, with scans on Monday to determine his immediate finals future.

As part of Manly’s much-vaunted right-edge attack alongside Daly Cherry-Evans and Glenn Stewart, the loss of Lyon left the Sea Eagles struggling to garner the sort of try-scoring opportunities fans had become accustomed too.

“They were probably a bit unlucky to lose Jamie Lyon there, he adds a lot more to their attack than what they had tonight – they could have been a lot better,” Morris said.

“They do a fair bit of attack down that side.

“I didn’t see him go off but then I saw Jamie Buhrer there.

“He is one of their linchpins in attack and they definitely would have been a lot better with him in that side.”

Compounding Lyon’s absence was an unhappy night for right winger Dean Whare – who made several errors with and without the ball.

The Sea Eagles could be forced to find a new centre combination for next week’s semi-final – with Steve Matai facing suspension for a high tackle on Sam Perrett.

Should both Lyon and Matai be unavailable, Sea Eagles coach Geoff Toovey would likely move Whare in from the wing for one centre vacancy with Michael Oldfield coming in on the flank, though the other centre would likely be makeshift solution involving either Buhrer or possible Tony Williams.