The Manly NRL juggernaut is finally gathering steam, but coach Des Hasler says his premiers are not in full crushing mode yet.

After starting their NRL title defence with four losses, Manly made it back-to-back wins with a convincing 24-8 victory over South Sydney at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.

The Sea Eagles shot to an early 12-0 lead with centre Jamie Lyon scoring all the points and fullback Brett Stewart secured the victory with two tries, taking his tally to five in two games since his late start due to suspension.

Yet Hasler felt Manly was guilty of not putting Souths away.

"I thought there were more points in us and probably our execution was down a little bit, but we can work on that," Hasler said.

He rated the performance as superior to their first win the previous weekend against Wests Tigers, but looking ahead to next Saturday's game in North Queensland wanted them to be even more clinical.

"A couple of times we should have put more points on (against Souths) than we did, so probably we just need to keep working on our execution," Hasler said.

Hasler felt stability in selection following an early season rash of injuries was the main reason for the premiers' upsurge in form.

Halfback and captain Matt Orford said he wanted Manly to work on developing their combinations.

"We need to keep working and just keep things simple, not go away from our game plan and just keep patient, that's the main thing," Orford said.

He felt his combination with new five-eighth Chris Bailey was building, but needed time to develop.

"The more game time we get (together) the more comfortable he (Bailey) is going to be in our structure and the way we play," Orford said.

"The combination on that right side with him and Glenn Stewart and Jamie Lyon is very important."

Stewart upped his try tally to get within one of competition leader Taniela Tuiaki despite giving him four weeks start.

"He (Stewart) just gives them confidence and he's so quick he scores tries other people wouldn't score," Souths coach Jason Taylor said.

He was impressed with the Manly performance, describing the Sea Eagles as "very good".

"They controlled the ball and that's how they play when they are at their best, that's what they do, they dominate you for field position and they make it hard for you," Taylor said.

Hasler believed Manly's improved completion rate was a big factor in their win, while Taylor and utility Craig Wing lamented Souths inability to complete sets.

"When you don't have too much ball you end up trying to put the plays on too early and try to push it a bit too much and it just compounds the problem," Wing said.

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