A second half onslaught has seen the Manly Sea Eagles move a step closer to securing a place in the finals with a 46-24 win over the Canberra Raiders at GIO Stadium.
Posting six tries in a 20 minutes rampage either side of halftime, the Sea Eagles extended their record in Canberra to nine wins from their past 12 visits with an emphatic display which saw Tom Trbojevic score his 100th try in first grade.
The Raiders looked to strike inside the opening 90 second with Ethan Strange pouncing on a loose ball, only for the bunker to deny the recalled playmaker due to a knock on by Jordan Rapana in the lead up.
A run of penalties against the visitors eventually tolled with Josh Papalii (9th minute) marking his first home appearance since bringing up 300 games for the club with a barge-over effort underneath the black dot.
The Sea Eagles took advantage of Jamal Fogarty failing to find touch from a penalty with Luke Brooks combining with Karl Lawton to send Trbojevic (12th minute) over for a four-pointer.
Having been let go by the Sea Eagles at the end of last season, Kaeo Weekes (19th minute) produced an incisive run to put his new club back in front midway through the half.
Fogarty nailed the conversion - equalling Jarrod Croker's club record of 22 consecutive conversions - and had the chance to claim the record only to shank an attempted penalty goal.
An attacking bomb from Brooks was collected by Lehi Hopoate, who produced an inspired offload to send Tommy Talau (25th minute) over for an equalising score.
The tide began to turn against the Raiders with a mutual infringement denying Adam Cook a try and a moment of individual brilliance from Trbojevic allowing Ethan Bullemor (40th minute) to put the Sea Eagles in front for the first time as the halftime sire sounded.
Further tries to Daly Cherry-Evans (43rd minute) and Hopoate (49th minute) gave the visitors the ascendancy, while frustrations boiled over for the Raiders with Joseph Tapine sent to the sin bin for dissent.
Taking advantage of the one-man advantage, the Sea Eagles piled on three tries in five minutes to Taniela Paseka (57th minute), Trbojevic (59th minute) and Brooks (62nd minute) to blow the score out to 46-12.
A pair of tries to Sebastian Kris (70th minute) and Xavier Savage (73rd minute) late in the match acted a little consolation for the Raiders as the Sea Eagles ran out 46-24 winners.
Next week, the Raiders face the Cowboys in Townsville on Saturday evening, while the Sea Eagles host the Warriors on Friday night.