Josh Schuster has put on a spectacular performance in his season debut for the Manly Sea Eagles as they took down the Parramatta Eels 34-30.
In a very even start to the contest it was the Sea Eagles who got on the board first as Tom Trbojevic found Reuben Garrick in the corner for a simple opening try.
The hosts continued to apply pressure on the winless Eels and added two more points moments after the opening try after Josh Hodgson gave away a penalty 20 metres in front of the sticks.
In his first game as the starting five-eight, Schuster made an immediate impact setting up Trbojevic for a try of his own to give the Sea Eagles a 14-point lead.
The final ten minutes of the half saw Parramatta regain the momentum of the game as Clint Gutherson began to take over his side’s attack.
With nine minutes remaining in the half, the Eels skipper got his side on the board before playing a crucial role in his side’s second as Matt Doorey crossed over untouched.
The second half started the same way the first half ended with Parramatta controlling the flow of the game and forcing the Sea Eagles into uncharacteristic errors.
Gutherson continued to showcase his stellar form as he broke through the middle of the Sea Eagles’ defence and sent the Eels into the lead just minutes after the restart.
Right as the game looked to be heading into the palm of Parramatta, the Sea Eagles came back with determination and flipped the script on their opponents.
Schuster set up Trbojevic with a sensational chip kick in the left corner, shortly before an error from Bailey Simonsson gave Brad Parker the easiest try of his NRL career to put Manly into a eight-point lead.
The Manly five-eighth continued to assert his dominance on the game putting up yet another perfectly placed kick, this time picking out Taniela Paseka to put Manly into a 12-point lead.
Parramatta gave themselves a glimmer of hope in the final five minutes when Maika Sivo crossed over, leaving Mitchell Moses with a game-defining kick from the sideline, which went just wide of the sticks.
Both sides traded blows in the final five minutes to set up a grandstand finish which saw the Sea Eagles’ defence step up and hold the Eels out in the final moments of the game.