Golden Day for the Manly Sea Eagles lived up to it's name as a new breed of Sea Eagles stepped up to deliver Manly a 44-6 win over an insipid Newcastle Knights side who didn't look as if they wanted to be there.
The opening try for Manly was a golden moment for debutant Jamie Humphreys who was able to score after just six minutes but it didn't come without controversy as the officials gave the all clear to a pass inside from Jason Saab to Humphreys despite replays showing it looked forward.
To rub salt into the wounds of the Knights, minutes later they had a try to Adam Elliott denied on the basis of a forward pass call that looked flatter than what was let go.
The Sea Eagles quickly added another try when Tom Trbojevic was able to get his first try after returning from injury when he was able to outleap Fletcher Sharpe to score. The Sea Eagles added a third try when Garrick and Saab combined with the latter having to tip toe the sideline to stay in the field to score.
Manly's fourth try of the half was probably one of the best they've produced this season when Luke Brooks kicked across field putting the ball beautifully on the chest of Lehi Hopoate who quickly got the ball back inside for Tommy Talau. Despite the last two conversion attempts being waved away, the Sea Eagles still had a comfortable 20-0 lead at the break.
The second half started the same way that the first half finished at the Sea Eagles opened the scoring when the right side defence of the Knights was yet again torn apart easily as Saab got into open space before Reuben Garrick scored under the posts. The conversion was successful from in front for 26-0.
Things just continued in the procession as Lehi Hopoate channelled Peter Jorgensen when he pulled out the aeroplane celebration after his first try when it was down the left that the Sea Eagles found success.
An 80m run from Luke Brooks after swooping on a Knights error before Manly swept to the right and Haumole Olakau'atu was able to stroll over. Jamie Humphreys added his second conversion to his tally to put Manly up 38-0.
The Knights hit the scoreboard inside the final ten minutes when repeat sets paid off as Tyson Frizell went over and Will Pryce converted. Manly finished things off with Lehi Hopoate going over for his second try before half time.
Next week, Manly will be back at home on the Northern Beaches again when they host the Titans meanwhile the Knights will take on fellow out-of-form side the Broncos in Newcastle.