At halftime it was 4-4 but Manly scored two tries in the second half to seal a comfortable win against the Broncos.
Not an outstanding game by any means, but Manly did enough to get the victory and probably claim their first minor premiership in 17 years.
On this form the Broncos will miss the semis this season.
FINAL SCORE:
Sea Eagles 16
Broncos 4
The Brisbane Broncos travel to Brookvale Oval keen to cement their position in the top eight while a win for the Manly Sea Eagles could confirm their grasp of the minor premiership. Join The Roar for all the action from 7:40pm (AEST).
All the talk at the Sea Eagles might be about players asking for releases and off-field dramas, but the Brookie boys just keep getting the job done.
Last weekend they travelled to Auckland and dispatched the Warriors and the week before that they put away the Dragons. Manly sits on top of the table, four points ahead of the Rabbitohs, Panthers and Bulldogs, and victory here will probably confirm their first minor premiership since 1997.
The Sea Eagles are a club that feeds off adversity, that love to have their backs against the wall, and the Broncos are in for a fiery reception.
The comments about Brookvale Oval being a “s**thole” by Brisbane forward Todd Lowrie will only add a little more spice to the occasion.
The Broncos have had their own off-field issues to deal with – the end-of-season axing of coach Anthony Griffin for former boss Wayne Bennett, salary cap problems, a disciplinary breach – and it has been an inconsistent season for them.
The Queensland outfit come into this game on the back of just one win in their past five games. It’s a terrible record and they will be big longshots in this one. Jorge Taufau returns on the wing, Brett Stewart is in great form, with 19 try assists this season, and the Sea Eagles just love playing at home.
Ben Barba has had an ordinary 2014 season and the Broncos will need a big game from the in-form Ben Hunt, against fellow Maroon halfback Daly Cherry-Evans, to have a chance in this one.
Brisbane got the better of Manly the last time the two sides met, though the northern beaches side was missing a few players. This is a match the Broncos really need to win to stay in semi-final contention.
The Broncos are in eighth spot, with 22 points, the same number of points as the Dragons, Warriors, West Tigers and Eels. The Titans are only two below, on 20, while seventh-placed Cowboys are all on 22 points. A loss at Brookvale would see Brisbane slide out of the eight at a crucial time in the season.
The Broncos really need to stand up tonight and give one of their best performances of the season to knock off the competition’s best team. This should be a cracker.
Join The Roar from 7:45pm (AEST) for all the action.
Real deal
Guest
The score flattered Brisbane hugely. Manly were obviously a little road weary
Clark
Guest
The bookies are confident, they have already started to pay out. I think they'll still get it regardless of this game. Every team has had a poor game or two this season. The difference is that Manly have managed to win those ones unlike the others,
Emcie
Roar Guru
worst match up to do it in with the broncos away strips being either yellow or white and maroon. Considering this was a one off you would have thought more thought would have gone into who manly were actually playing while wearing that strip
james t
Guest
Who's the genius that puts manly in bronco colours or parra and then broncos in manly colours. Wtf. Hard fought win in the end but pretty poor showing, there minds on souths next week
Marco
Guest
When I turned on the tv I thought I was watching the wrong game. Weird outfits. What happened to tradition?
Zee
Roar Guru
Ben Hunt... wtf man ?
dud
Guest
Who's the moron that wants my team to pretend they are p/matta Should be proud of our own colours .No conflict of colours would have existed. Whose making the money out of all these new strips. DISSAPOINTED FAN
Clark
Guest
Foram must be picking up a few Dally M points
paul craggie
Guest
I watched for ten minutes before realising Manly were Brisbane and the team in Parramatta colours were in fact Manly. Seriously how pathetic. Back in the 70's and 80's kids proudly walked down the street in their teams Jersey. No wonder kids wouldn't be caught dead in them these days. Tonight is a desperate example of how not to promote your sport.
Muzz
Guest
DCE looks good in Parra colours.
uPelican
Guest
I never want to see Manly play in Parra colours again. And at Brookvale Oval ! Why couldn't they have pulled out the old classic maroon with white parallel stripes from the 80's. The old Wormald jersey . Fair dinkum there are some clowns obviously making calls over there that have no idea. Bloody disgrace. What an insult to the fans. Get the mongrels who made that decision to step forward so we see who they are and throw rocks at em.
Scrubbit
Guest
Didn't see him once tonight. Terrible performance.
Bee bee
Guest
LOL. Those pesky Mariners have finally found a way to beat Brisbane.
Scrubbit
Guest
To anyone thinking about sitting through the replay the most interesting thing that happened all night was the error showing Brisbane winning 14-4 on this site.
Andrew
Guest
Manly looked like parramatta and I think its best they have looked since 1947, lol. Seriously silly jersey colours, marketing idea good just that colours in league are tribal.
Bee bee
Guest
Ben Hunts form has dropped terribly. Whats happening with his contract? His mind has been off the job for a few weeks now.
Tom
Guest
I tipped the Broncos to finnish 13th before the start of the season. I think I'm not far off ;)
jamesb
Guest
Fair dinkum, Brisbane look like Manly while from a far, Manly look like Brisbane.
Bee bee
Guest
I'll give you a quick summary. Brisbane run side ways a lot. Manly never really get out of third gear. Both teams seem confused and bored most of the game. Manly are so bored they decide to wear Parramatta jerseys just to keep their players awake. Ray Hadley and Gould give some dull banter throughout which seems appropriate for this game. And apparently Brookvale is a rust bucket in need of a Tony Abbott slush fund. If you manage to make it to the 2cnd half Manly score two decent trys. I'd wait for the highlights personally because they were it.
Tom
Guest
What's with these stupid jerseys? Who made that brain dead decision with those jerseys? Are these people so bored and underworked in their jobs that they come up with rubbish like that? What a waste of money to produce jerseys for a single game. They will probably never be used again. Do these clubs have too much money to waste? How about investing that money in lowering ticket prices instead? It's unbelievable...