Manly hitman Steve Matai has warned St George Illawarra target Mark Gasnier he'll have nowhere to hide in Saturday's NRL qualifying final at Brookvale Oval.

Matai will mark up on the Dragons match-winner, who he infamously knocked out in a Test match between Australia and New Zealand in Wellington last year.

The Kiwi centre was sent-off for the hit, which left Gasnier unconscious and Kangaroos coach Ricky Stuart fuming in the 58-0 thrashing by Australia.

Matai is keen to avoid a similar outcome but he has promised to do everything in his power to make Gasnier uncomfortable.

"I think I've just got to get up in his face and just cut his thinking time down, so hopefully I can do that this weekend," he said.

Matai said he would not be charging out of the line at Gasnier without picking his moment.

"Definitely not, he's got great footwork and a great fend so if we rush up on him he's definitely going to put one on me and I'll look stupid," he said.

"I don't think it's picking a player, it's just picking the right time to do it.

"If you think it's on, it's on but if not then you're going to look stupid."

But Matai didn't hose down the talk of fireworks following the Dragons' aggressive approach in their round 19 clash with table-topping Melbourne.

"We're going to do anything that will help us win the game and I'm sure they'll do the same," he said.

Meanwhile, benched veteran utility Steve Menzies, who will play his last game at his beloved Brookvale Oval on Saturday, said coach Des Hasler had hatched a plan for his involvement.

"There's a set plan that Dessie's spoken to me about," Menzies said.

"Depending on what happens with injuries and little things here and there I could play in the backrow, I could play in the halves or in the centres depending on who gets pushed around.

"So it's really just see how the team's travelling after maybe 25, 30 minutes."

And five-eighth Jamie Lyon said he had felt no ill-effects after his return from a knee injury in Saturday's win over Penrith.

"I wouldn't have minded a couple more games under my belt but I got a good 60 minutes out last week and the body feels good," he said.

"I'm 100 per cent confident with the injury, I didn't even feel it on the weekend.

But Lyon did little to dispel the belief the Dragons have the wood on Manly after four wins from their last six games at Brookvale.

"They're our bogey team I suppose and they should beat us the way they've been going," he said.

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