Manly have powered their way into the NRL finals with a crunching 28-12 win over Penrith.
With their season on the line, the Sea Eagles looked like a side on a mission as they dominated the Panthers from the opening minute and barely let up in a dominant performance.
The result put them sixth and means the battle for the last place in the finals is down to two. If St George Illawarra overcome Canterbury on Sunday, they will qualify, otherwise North Queensland will survive.
Penrith have also kept their spot in the top eight, but only after a scare, given they had trailed 28-0 with 26 minutes to play. A loss by 38 points or more would’ve put them into the danger zone.
However, they survived as they held on in defence, before Tyrone May and Reagan Campbell-Gillard crossed late.
They could have to face the Sea Eagles again next week, though, if the Dragons are unable to overcome Canterbury and Newcastle lose to Cronulla.
If that was the case, the Panthers would likely spend the week having nightmares of Tom and Jake Trbojevic after the brothers’ Saturday evening carve-up of them at Lottoland.
Fullback Tom dominated Penrith’s right-edge defence. He twice took the ball to the line in the first half, before putting centre Brian Kelly through holes.
Kelly scored on the first occasion, and found captain Daly Cherry-Evans on the second for him to score between the posts.
It helped set up a 16-0 lead at halftime, before Tom Trbojevic broke downfield on the resumption and crossed from the next play.
He finished with a season-high 256 metres and six tackle busts.
Jake was brutal in defence, forcing a number of errors with hard hits, while he also scored once in the first half.
Manly’s only concern is leg injury for bench forward Addin Fonua-Blake. Dylan Walker was penalised for a shoulder charge but was not placed on report.
The loss capped off a horror 24 hours for the Panthers, after chief executive Brian Fletcher confirmed captain Matt Moylan was only a 50-50 chance of remaining at the club next year.