Bulldogs Coach Trent Barrett says he knew they were facing an uphill battle but is still extremely disappointed.
“That’s taking nothing away from Manly, they were really good,” he said.
“We had a lot of players on report and the injuries didn’t help … and we don’t have anyone coming back next week, what we had is what we’ve got.”
He said playing so many debutants was not ideal but he didn’t have a choice.
“They’re going to be good players in a few years,” he said.
Saying the Bulldogs looked flat from the start, he said the many changes disrupted them defensively from the start.
“Not much went our way and a lot went their way,” he said.
“They are a good team with world class players but there’s plenty of lessons there for us.
“We’ve got to train hard and find a way to instil some confidence in the group; we’re not the only team getting put away at the moment.
“I’m certainly not happy about it; we only had 38 per cent possession in the first half but defence was our biggest problem.”
The Bulldogs next play the Roosters on Saturday from 7.35pm at Bankwest Stadium.
