The 11th placed Dragons sit one win adrift of a Sea Eagles outfit clinging to the bottom rung of the top eight with seven games to play.

With a poor differential, a loss would see the Dragons effectively fall three wins off the pace ahead of clashes with the Cowboys and Sharks in the ensuing fortnight.

A tough run home and the prospect of another year without finals action has seen pressure fall on Griffin, who remains contracted until the end of next season.

A loss to Sea Eagles would see the blowtorch turned up, but Griffin says he's not feeling the heat.

"Obviously, or I wouldn't be standing here," Griffin said when asked if he was the man to lead to club long-term.

"[Speculation's] just part of the job, that stuff happens. Most of that stuff gets played out outside our four walls so I'll leave it that way.

"That type of situation is something that gets talked about outside of here. My role's to get the team ready for tomorrow night, that's the main thing.

"All that other stuff's for the papers and for the fans [to talk about]."

It remains a what-if, but the possibility of missing the eight for the sixth time in seven seasons has also shifted the focus on the club's roster and whether there is capacity for improvement.

Dally M Medal contender Ben Hunt has $1.1 million option in his favour for 2023, while Jack De Belin and Zac Lomax are also on lucrative deals inked prior to Griffin's arrival.

Josh McGuire's confirmed departure to Warrington will not free up cap space given he's off-contract this season, while Tariq Sims also came into 2022 off-contract after the club opted not to re-sign him.

Jack Bird was re-signed earlier this year after his return season in Wollongong last year was largely subsidised by former club Brisbane.

With young stars Cody Ramsey, Talatau Amone, Jayden Sulluvan and Tyrell Sloan all upgraded over the last 12 months, it leaves limited scope for recruitment.

Griffin didn't rule out some forays into the player market, but said he has full confidence in his current group.

"There's always movement, we've still got some [recruitment] capacity," Griffin said.

"The people we've got here at the moment from a junior point of view, and the guys we've brought in, are doing a really good job.

"They'll build into some of our key people when you talk about [Cody] Ramsey and [Talatau] Amone, [Jayden] Sullivan, [Tyrell] Sloan.

"We've gone and blooded them probably a little bit ahead of schedule over the last couple of years with that in mind.

"That's all going well, but there's always [recruitment] capacity. Everyone's got an opportunity to add or to move your squad around."

Talk of next season could be quickly shut down with a win over Manly, who'll be without key forward Jake Trbojevic after he tested positive for COVID.

Read more: Half measures won't fix Dragons second-half woes

Des Hasler's side has been equally hit and miss this season but has won four of their last five games, their only loss in that period coming by two to Cowboys in round 15.

"It's a big week for us and them, we're in similar positions on the ladder," Griffin said.

"It's really important obviously. Manly are a great side, they've been in really good form through the middle of the year.

"They're a big mobile side, they've got a lot of strike, great halves. We've got two great halfbacks playing against each other in Hunt and [Daly] Cherry-Evans.

"There's been some really strong performances, but the inconsistency of our best and worst the last couple of weeks is the thing we've got to get right.

"We've been inconsistent, but we need our best game of football tomorrow night."

Griffin will be without one of his main strike weapons in Moses Suli, who's looking at a lengthy stint on the sideline with an ankle injury, but said the biggest lift will need to come at the defensive end.

The Dragons have conceded 86 points in their last two outings, with the Roosters running in 42 second-half points last week.

"It obviously hasn't been our best two weeks defensively," Griffin said.

"The last 20 minutes got away from us last week. At 20-all we were right in the game but it fell away from us. They can do that to you the Roosters, they were in a mood.

"Against Canberra and South Sydney two or three weeks ago I thought we played out a really strong 80 minutes, particularly against Canberra.

"Last week we got that wrong. Our first 50 minutes was really good, our first half was fantastic, but we've got to play out a strong 80 minutes this week."

Moses Mbye will slot into the centres in Suli's absence, while Sims returns from suspension after twice being binned against the Broncos two weeks ago.

"Suli's a big loss for us, him and [Mikale] Ravalawa," Griffin said.

"They're big bodies and bring a lot of our strike, but Moses Mbye's done the job wherever we've put him.

"He's played a lot of centre, he played Origin at centre a couple of years ago, so he'll go in there and do a job for us tomorrow night.

"Tariq's back from suspension so that'll help and Josh McGuire came back last week and got another 25-odd minutes under his belt from that groin injury.

"Having those boys back gives us a little bit more depth and a bit more foot-speed around the ruck so that'll tighten us up."

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