The Parramatta Eels have handed the Manly Sea Eagles their first loss of the 2024 season, holding on for a thrilling 28-24 win at CommBank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Sea Eagles were challenging the clock early in Sunday's game, racing out to an 8-0 lead after just seven minutes as Parramatta's left edge was torn to shreds.
Tom Trbojevic finished off a linebreak he set up in the fifth minute as he first put Reuben Garrick away before trailing in support and Parramatta's left side opened up again a few sets later.
On that occasion it was a simple draw and pass to put Jaxson Paulo over, sounding serious alarm bells for coach Brad Arthur as the combination of first-game rookie Blaize Talagi and Morgan Haprer continued to struggle defensively.
That try had the Sea Eagles up 14-0 after 13 minutes but the injection of Ryan Matterson and Junior Paulo off the bench paid dividends for the hosts, sparking Parramatta's attack to life with second-phase play through the middle.
It also helped that Manly started to make a few errors to gift the Eels opportunities, leading to a simple try for Will Penisini in the 18th minute off a Mitchell Moses kick.
That second-phase play eventually led the points directly too as Paulo popped a late offload to put Moses over in the 25th minute as suddenly Paramatta only trailed 14-12.
Talagi then celebrated his debut with a try as quick hands from Moses off a scrum set play saw the centre power over Trbojevic to give Parramatta an unlikely 16-14 lead after 34 minutes.
For all of the positives in attack, the Eels' left edge defence still remained a work in progress though and was exposed once more in the final moments of the half as Garrick scored to put Manly ahead 18-16 at halftime.
Paulo had 85 metres and three offloads in the first half while Matterson had 52 metres to his name.
As for Manly, Garrick and Paulo feasted on Parramatta's inexperienced left edge on the way to 144 metres between them to go with five tackle busts, four linebreaks and two tries.
That Eels left edge though continued to produce points as the second half opened with Harper going over untouched in the 43rd minute to see the home side regain the lead.
Struggling for field position, Manly conceded again in the 59th minute as a bullet pass from Moses put former Sea Eagles forward Kelma Tuilagi over as the Eels went ahead 26-18.
Manly looked to have hit back in the 65th minute as Luke Brooks brilliantly turned it back on the inside to a charging Trbojevic, who then somehow fit a pass through a tight window for Tolutau Koula to run away and score.
But the Bunker later took the try off the board, ruling Jake Trbojevic had obstructed Luca Moretti in the lead-up by denying the forward a chance to get to the Sea Eagles fullback.
Parramatta later slotted a penalty goal up the other end to push ahead 28-18 before a determined effort down the short side from Corey Waddell set up a grandstand finish entering the final six minutes.
In the end the Eels just held on to hand the Sea Eagles their first loss of the year.