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Daly Cherry-Evans claims only understanding and acceptance can bring Manly back together as he tries desperately to keep the club unified in the run to the finals.

The Sea Eagles were gutsy in the 20-10 loss to the Sydney Roosters, playing without the seven men who refused to wear the club's rainbow jersey on religious, cultural and family grounds.

But a significant challenge still awaits, with the players to return at home next week against Parramatta and another week in the spotlight likely.

Coach Des Hasler claimed on Thursday night he hoped the group would be shown some sympathy by fans, after not being consulted in the lead up to Manly's inclusivity jersey.

Likewise Manly captain Cherry-Evans said it was vital players welcomed them back with an open mind, pointing to the values the inclusivity initiative had tried to represent.

"It's really important for us to understand where everyone comes from," Cherry-Evans said.

"How can we not go in there and understand and accept what people have done if we are out here trying to promote inclusiveness and diversity?

"It's not easy ... there is human emotion to this, so it's never going to be perfect.

"But I always see the opportunity in things. I think this could be a chance for us to come together and understand a bit more about each other."

Next week's clash shapes as crucial for Manly, who now need to win up to four of their last five games to make the finals.

When asked if Manly's fight on Thursday night was a statement of how unified the club were, Hasler admitted the Sea Eagles still had some work to do.

"It's been very emotional on all different aspects," Hasler said.

"But we're humans and as long as we take some learning lessons out of it and as long as we grow and I think tolerance going forward (it's a positive).

"It's never going to be solved but at the same time we certainly don't want to be shying away from it."

Hasler also said he could see the seven players being willing to take up to offer from club great Ian Roberts, who broke new ground when came out in his playing days, to meet with them.

Manly intend on wearing the inclusivity jersey again next year, with owner Scott Penn confident the players would feature and hopeful it will be part of a league-wide initiative.

However Cherry-Evans has warned the game has to be careful at times not too push too much on players without proper consultation, be it with any issue.

"We need to be really careful about how much we push on players to commercialise the game," the players' union general president said.

"If you look at a dressing room as an NRL squad, it is very diverse and very inclusive.

"I think at some stage we need to understand that sport is pretty inclusive. It's not perfect, it does have boundaries.

"I know from my time in the game it does represent a lot of the things we are talking about.

"But unfortunately when people get put in a position to have to do something they don't want to do, that's when you see positions like (Manly faced)."

© AAP 2022

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More Australians are feeling lonelier now than before the COVID-19 pandemic, research has found.

The latest research released on Friday from Telstra's Talking Loneliness report shows 27 per cent of people experienced loneliness for the first time during the pandemic, while almost half of Australians felt lonelier because of COVID-19 lockdowns.

"The pandemic has really disrupted our social routine and behaviour," clinical psychologist Michelle Lim told AAP.

"I think we're going to be experiencing huge disruptions to maintaining relationships for a very long time."

Almost two-thirds of Australians regularly feel isolated from others, the report found, while one in four say they don't have people they can regularly talk or turn to.

More than 40 per cent of people reported being worried they would be judged if they told people they were feeling lonely.

Loneliness is a normal feeling but that doesn't mean people should suffer in silence, Dr Lim said.

"We have robust global data that says loneliness actually leads to things like poorer heart health, type two diabetes and poor mental health," she said.

"But almost half of Australians now report feeling lonely and perhaps they might feel lonely because nobody's talking about it.

"It's really important that loneliness is not seen as a stigmatise word. It's like how we see being hungry or thirsty.

"Feeling lonely means that we need to reach out, reconnect and take every opportunity to build meaningful social connection so we can thrive and flourish as humans."

People experiencing loneliness could start small by sending a text message to an old friend.

"Don't worry if you don't hear back," Dr Lim said. "That's what stops a lot of people."

"There are a lot of people who enjoy someone reconnecting, even if it's just to say hi and I'm thinking about you.

"You don't have to commit to catching up. It doesn't need to be this intense effort and commitment."

© AAP 2022

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Coal-fired power station outages, turning on expensive gas-fired plants to plug the gap and steep global fuel prices are driving Australia's record energy costs, the latest data shows.

The Australian Energy Market Operator's report issued on Friday confirmed unprecedented wholesale prices, which are now flowing through to households and businesses.

East coast gas market prices surpassed international prices in May and June, as a cold snap and limited supply meant local buyers were competing with demand for gas exports.

The scale of interventions in the electricity market to manage shortfalls and avoid blackouts made the regulator declare conditions "impossible", with the spot market suspended for almost half of June.

AEMO executive Violette Mouchaileh said the three months to June have been "one of the most complex and challenging periods" for Australia's energy markets.

"What's clear is the urgent need to build-out renewable energy with diversified firming generation - like batteries, hydro and gas - and transmission investment to provide homes and businesses with low-cost, reliable energy," she said.

Record wholesale electricity prices averaged $264 per megawatt-hour, more than triple the previous quarter and up $179MWh or 210 per cent on a year earlier, the Quarterly Energy Dynamics report found.

Multiple market interventions were needed on the east coast as prices spiked for coal and gas, while in the west coal-fired generation fell and the output of gas and renewables increased.

Coal-fired generation in the wholesale electricity market fell as plants throttled down with price caps and high fuel costs making it uncommercial to operate, and some units already out of action with faults.

With black coal generation at its lowest June quarter output on record, gas-fired generation overtook coal as the primary fuel towards the end of the quarter.

Gas-fired generation surged to its highest June quarter level since 2017 as gas prices reached record highs averaging at $28.40 per gigajoule - more than three times higher than a year earlier.

Renewable generation increased 21 per cent compared to a year earlier with the total renewable supply share for the quarter reaching 31.8 per cent, up 3.7 per cent as new capacity was added.

Rooftop solar for homes and businesses continued to grow with total installed capacity in the June quarter reaching 2174 megawatts, up more than one-fifth on a year earlier.

© AAP 2022

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Australian stargazers are being treated to three active meteor showers lighting up the night sky ahead of an expected peak this weekend.

The Piscis Austrinids, Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids are typically visible in late July and early August.

The Piscis Austrinids shower is expected to peak on Thursday night and the other two on Saturday night.

The Aquariids should have the most and fastest-moving meteors, while the Capricornids have been known to produce bright, fiery and slow-moving meteors.

A new moon phase will also arrive on Friday giving amateur astronomers a better chance of seeing the meteors, although light pollution in urban areas from streetlights and buildings can cancel out the advantage.

University of Southern Queensland astrophysics professor Jonti Horner told AAP the trio of showers would arrive in favourable conditions.

"It's just good timing this year, we've got the new moon and the weekend all at once," he said.

Those looking to catch a glimpse of the meteors won't need any special equipment. The naked eye with its wider field of view makes it easier to spot space rocks streaking across the sky, Prof Horner explained.

People should give themselves enough time to let their eyes adjust and not get discouraged if they don't see meteors immediately.

"They're like buses, you might go a while seeing none and then see three in the space of five minutes," Prof Horner said.

The showers could provide glimpses of about 20 meteors per hour, he said.

The best chance of spotting a meteor is expected between 10pm and dawn.

The showers form when the earth's orbit crosses paths with space debris and dust that has been orbiting for billions of years, since planets first formed in our solar system.

While the trio of showers in the Australian sky for the remainder of the week promise a spectacle, Prof Horner said even better meteoric events are coming, with the Geminids meteor shower in December rated the best shower of the year.

© AAP 2022