Manly have blown their glimmer of hope to play NRL finals this year after a stunning late collapse against the Wests Tigers at Lottoland.
The Sea Eagles led by eight points with 11 minutes to play before the Tigers laid on three tries, including an Adam Doueihi double, for a stunning 34-32 win.
Doueihi, playing in the centres, crossed for a try with just two minutes on the clock to level the scores at 32-all before kicking the conversion to snatch victory.
A hat-trick of tries from winger David Nofoaluma set up the frenzied finish on Saturday, which resigned the Sea Eagles to their sixth-straight loss.
Manly looked set to cruise to victory after a powerful first half in which they led by 14 points after 28 minutes.
It was set up with four tries – three of which were created by Daly Cherry-Evans.
The star halfback was in supreme touch, firing a pass to Morgan Harper to score on his first touch in Manly colours just three minutes in.
He then set up Jorge Taufua and Jack Gosiewski before fullback Tevita Funa’s brilliance saw him dance through the defence to score.
A landslide of possession and a high completion rate helped Manly shoot to a 20-6 lead, with the Tigers scoring on their first dalliance in territory through Nofoaluma.
With his second career hat-trick, the spirited winger helped devise the comeback along with halfback Luke Brooks who set up the final try for Doueihi.
The stunning loss will come as a sour blow for Manly who appear to have lost winger Jorge Taufua for the rest of the season with an achilles injury.
It’s the latest in long run of troubling injuries for the 28-year-old who has suffered an ACL injury and a broken collarbone in recent seasons.
Debutant five-eighth Josh Schuster was taken from the field late with a severe leg cramp he sustained while putting up a kick.
They’ll join a slew of stars including Tom Trbojevic, Joel Thompson, Reuben Garrick, Moses Suli and Dylan Walker on the sidelines over the final three rounds.
The Tigers now have an unlikely shot at a finals berth if they win all three of their remaining games against South Sydney, Melbourne and Parramatta, but other results would also need to go their way.