The Sea Eagles have faced a week as tough as any other in Barrett's time at the club, with four players fined for breaking team curfew, Daly Cherry-Evans' captaincy questioned and Jackson Hastings stuck in reserve grade.

Internally, Barrett claims his players are united and have spoken about avoiding the distractions of a turbulent month.

But realistically, the only way to move the matter on in the eyes of fans, the public and media is with two points at Lottoland against the Knights.

Because there's no denying the impact it's had on the field in the past few weeks.

Manly have completed just a combined 36 sets in the past two weeks as they've dropped from fifth to 13th since they jumped on the plane to Gladstone earlier this month.

And with trips to the Sydney Roosters, Brisbane and Melbourne in the next three weeks, it's no secret that things could get dark if Manly don't turn it around on Friday night.

"Winning from my point of view solves a lot of things," an upbeat Barrett said.

"The best response we can have is to come out and play well tomorrow night. We've been in a hole the last few weeks and it's important for our fans that we come out and play well.

"It's a huge two points for us. We need to win to stay in touch."

The fallout from Gladstone is just just one of several challenges facing Barrett, who claims his roster of available players has now slumped to just 22.

After starting the year with an under-manned squad, the Sea Eagles have since released prop Darcy Lussick and been hit by injuries in the outside backs and second row.

Ideally, Barrett would likely call up Moses Suli onto the wing with Brad Parker injured, while the club's premiership-winning under-20s captain Manase Fainu could fill a hooking-utility role on the bench.

But none of that is likely to happen until the club finds out if it will be granted leave to appeal their salary cap sanctions.

"Moses will be ready to play first grade soon ... Manase is another good player down there," Barrett said.

"Once we can get a bit of clarity on that we can go and bring a few more players in pre-June 30 which is a possibility.

"Obviously we won't have a lot of money but that's something we'll be able to do in the next couple of weeks or month."

STATS THAT MATTER:

* Manly haven't lost a home game to Newcastle since 2006.

* Manly are completing four less sets than their opponents per game.

* Newcastle's wins this year have all been by five points or less, while their losses have been by 18 or more.

Australian Associated Press