A gallant second half comeback from the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles wasn't enough to get the two competition points in Magic Round, going down 13-12 to the Brisbane Broncos tonight.
In front of a sold out crowd of 50,971 at Suncorp Stadium, the Sea Eagles trailed 12-0 at half-time after playing with 12 men for 10 minutes following the sin-binning of prop Taniela Paseka for a professional foul.
The Sea Eagles were boosted by the return of powerful second-rower Haumole Olakau'atu following a two week suspension. Full-back Tolu Koula played his 50th NRL match.
The match also marked the final game of a long commercial deal struck in 2015 with Suncorp Stadium to take their home games against Brisbane from Brookvale Oval to the Broncos' traditional home ground.
A drop ball from a fifth tackle kick by Koula resulted in the Broncos scoring from the next set of six from the scrum win for a 6-0 lead after 10 minutes through second-rower Brendan Piakura.
With Paseka then sin binned, the Broncos capitalised on the extra space with a try to winger Deine Mariner in the next set for a 12-0 lead in as many minutes.
Manly had a half a chance tryscoring opportunity when second-rower Ben Trbojevic reached out to pull in a Daly Cherry-Evans grubber kick only for the ball to come loose.
The Sea Eagles dug deep to keep the Broncos out to trail 12-0 at half-time, finishing the first half with a 76 per cent completion rate and 53% possession.
Manly were rewarded for some tough perseverance early in the second half with a try to centre Reuben Garrick off a short pass from Haumole Olakau'atu for a 12-6 scoreline after 50 minutes.
With 12 minutes remaining, Garrick made a break downfield and tried to kick inside for Cherry-Evans but the ball went into touch.
Winger Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega then dived over in the corner with Garrick converting from the sideline for a 12-all scoreline with eight minutes left.
Brisbane half-back Jock Madden landed a field goal three minutes later for a 13-12 lead after Manly winger Jaxson Paulo was earlier penalised for a high tackle.
The Sea Eagles return to 4 Pines Park next Friday night to tackle the Melbourne Storm at 8pm.
