The Sydney Roosters ensured the race for the National Rugby League's Minor Premiership would come down to the final week and killed off Manly's hopes of making the top eight with a 46-10 win at Brookvale Oval.
The Roosters fullback Roger Tuivasa-Scheck in action. Photo: Photosport
The Roosters hardly missed a beat without some of their biggest guns as they moved to within touching distance of a third straight minor premiership.
The tri-colours are in first place level on 38 points with the Brisbane Broncos but ahead on points difference with one round to play before the finals.
With Mitchell Pearce, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Michael Jennings and Shaun Kenny-Dowall watching from the dugout, the Roosters were clinical in their 11th straight victory.
Wingers Brendan Elliot and Daniel Tupou each racked up hat-tricks in the eight-tries-to-two victory.
With Waerea-Hargreaves' season over due to an ACL injury and with Pearce (hamstring) out for a month, the Roosters were expected to wane but showed no signs of stumbling against the Sea Eagles.
Manly had everything to play for with their finals hopes on the line and the match being coach Geoff Toovey's last at Brookvale after an illustrious playing and coaching career that stretched back to 1988.
It was also five-eighth Kieran Foran's last Brookvale match in Manly colours ahead of his move to Parramatta.
In some positive news the club did announce that fullback Brett Stewart had penned a one-year contract extension which would see him stay at the club until the end of 2017.
They looked listless in the opening stanza as the Roosters jumped out to a 16-0 lead after 27 minutes and never got back within touching distance.
The Roosters' first two tries were almost replicas with Elliot going over in the corner after some swift hands.
Jackson Hastings proved he was up to filling Pearce's No.7 jumper when he toed it through for an Aidan Guerra four-pointer.
Manly were staring down the barrel of going into the break down 16-0 but pegged one back when Jamie Lyon went over off the back of a gem of a Stewart flick pass.
But the second half began almost exactly as the first with Elliot going over in the corner after the Roosters opened up an overlap and it was a steady procession from there.
A Tupou second-half treble put the exclamation point on the win before Roger Tuivasa-Sheck added one to his highlight reel with a 50 metre burst which ended with Isaac Lui crossing.
Manly's Justin Horo (high contact) and Willie Mason (shoulder charge) are both facing scrutiny from the match review committee.