Manly superstar Tom Trbojevic has celebrated his 100th NRL outing with an imperious display to mastermind victory over NZ Warriors 38-32 at Lottoland.
The Warriors dominated the opening half and seemed in control with a 20-12 lead at the break, but were powerless to resist an unanswered 24-point avalanche over the next 30 minutes.
The game turned on a missed opportunity soon after the restart, when half Kodi Nikorima had the tryline at his mercy, but threw a loose pass that evaded wing Edward Kosi and bounced into touch.
The Sea Eagles quickly counterattacked, with Trbojevic - who had his team's two first-half tries - laying on the final pass for NZ-born centre Morgan Harper to score and open the floodgates.
Wingers Jason Saab and Reuben Garrick followed in quick succession, then Saab had two more for his hat-trick, as Manly went into overdrive, extending to a 36-20 advantage.
With 12 minutes remaining, the Warriors responded, as half Chanel Harris-Tavita brought up his try double and teenager Reece Walsh gave them a sniff of forcing Golden Point with a converted try.
They fell just centimetres short, when a high kick on the last bounced free and big wing Ken Maumalo set sail for the corner, barely tackled into touch by Saab to extinguish the Warriors' last hope.
Trbojevic finished with impressive personal stats - two tries, four try assists, five linebreaks, three linebreak assists and 197 metres run.
His two first-half touchdowns gave his side a 12-6 lead, before tries to Tohu Harris and Josh Curran propelled the Warriors ahead.
Returning from injury, Harris-Tavita was a late replacement for Walsh in the starting line-up, but coaching staff gave supporters a glimpse of perhaps their best spine combination, when Walsh came off the bench into the halves and Nikorima moved to dummy half.
The result sees the Warriors cling onto a top-eight playoff spot for now, with a better points differential than Manly, Newcastle Knights and North Queensland Cowboys, and they face a daunting prospect in second-placed Parramatta Eels next Sunday.
Manly Sea Eagles 38 (T Trbojevic 2, Garrick, Saab 3 & Harper tries; Garrick 5 goals) NZ Warriors 32 (Harris-Tavita 2, Walsh, Curran & Harris try; Nikorima 6 goals)
