The home side booked a preliminary final and week off with the four-tries-to-two win, which eliminated the Knights from the finals and kept Manly's hopes alive for another day at least.

The Bulldogs showed they could get the job done without injured halfback Brett Kimmorley.

''There's been a fair amount of publicity surrounding we didn't have Noddy, but I never stopped believing that, with or without him, we could get the job done,'' Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore said.

''It's put ourselves in a tremendous position with a weekend off. [Kimmorley's] not certain [to return for the preliminary final] but he saw the specialist on Friday and it was fairly positive report.''

The Knights' gamble to play hooker Isaac De Gois backfired just seconds into the contest with the busy dummy-half reinjuring his left knee in just the second tackle of the game, his loss just part of a torrid opening to the game for the visitors.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times