The Sea Eagles have taken a hit ahead of their top four clash with Canterbury on Friday night after Brisbane handed Manly their biggest defeat of the season at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
The Sea Eagles went into the match having won six of their past seven matches at Suncorp Stadium, and having won their past four matches against the Broncos, Manly were confident of pulling off a victory away from home.
But their impressive streak came to an end as Manly dropped to third on the competition ladder following the heavy 36-10 defeat.
Both sides were missing a number of key members from Wednesday night’s brutal Origin opener, but it was Brisbane who appeared unaffected as they dictated play from the outset to hand the Sea Eagles their fourth loss of the season.
The home side exploded out of the blocks, crossing the line three times inside the opening quarter hour mark to lead Manly 14-0.
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Lachlan Maranta, Alex Glenn and Jack Reed all bagging tries to put the Broncos in a commanding position early.
Reed’s second try soon after then put the Broncos beyond three converted tries as they lead 20-0 after 28 minutes.
Returning from a knee injury sustained in round seven against the Cowboys, Kieran Foran took matters into his own hands to put the Sea Eagles on the board.
The five-eighth showed his strength to muscle his way over and give his side something to work off.
Brisbane’s 16-point half time lead stunned even the home crowd as Manly had little to cheer about in the first 40 minutes.
It only got worse for Geoff Toovey and his troops as they conceded yet another try on the other side of the break to trail by 20 points.
It was a performance rarely seen by a Manly outfit in recent years as they fell further behind when Dale Copley grabbed his second of the afternoon.
Sea Eagles halfback Jack Littlejohn put Jamie Buhrer over the line with 10 minutes remaining to provide some consolation, but it was all Brisbane, as Matt Gillett rubbed salt into the wound with his side’s seventh try of the afternoon five minutes from full time.
