A fifteen minute onslaught in the first half by Manly has set up a convincing 32-16 victory on the Northern Beaches against a dismal Raiders side.
It was the Raiders though who looked like world beaters early on when back rower Soliola stormed into a gap up the middle and scored a powerful try under the dot. Croker converted to give his side a 6-0 lead after 5 minutes.
From the kick off, Papalii dropped the ball and it was the beginning of the end for the Raiders. Three minutes later Tom Trbojevic broke through the Raiders line before passing back infield to his brother Jake, who dived over the posts. Cherry-Evans converted.
Canberra gave away a cheap penalty from the restart and Manly marched downfield rapidly before a Sironen offload to Tom Trbojevic saw the fullback barge over close to the line to score just two minutes after his brother scored. DCE again converted.
Manly weren't done yet. From the restart the advanced to halfway rapidly before a darting and stepping run by Koroisau from dummy half turned the defence around. He passed to Tom Trbojevic who made another break before putting his captain over for the Sea Eagles third try in just 5 minutes. Cherry-Evans converted his own try.
Back-to-back penalties against Canberra lead to Cherry-Evans opting to kick a penalty goal, extending his sides lead to 20-6 after 18 minutes.
A fumbled pass by Soliola followed by Canberra giving away another two quick penalties put Manly back in great position and it was Tom Trbojevic again featuring as he threw a great pass to Wright who dived over in the corner.
Chery-Evans kicked another penalty goal late in the half to give Manly an impressive 26-6 lead at oranges.
An evening up of possession in the opening ten minutes of the second half saw Canberra performing much improved. After Cherry-Evans kicked another penalty goal, the Raiders finally got across the stripe again after a very strong piece of work by Croker. He failed to convert.
The Raiders fightback continued when Wighton sliced through just 2 minutes later to score on the right side. Croker converted to get the deficit back to a pair of converted tries.
Four minutes later and Manly scored after yet another great bit of work by Tom Trbojevic who drifted left, propped off his left foot and then passed over the top to Wright who scored in the corner. Cherry-Evans failed to convert from out wide.
The final 25 minutes of the game was sloppy and ill-disciplined with no change to the scoreline. The Raiders now face a test at home on Thursday against Canterbury while the Sea Eagles travel to Gladstone in regional Queensland to face the Titans next Sunday.