Broncos hammered by Sea Eagles as Cowboys go joint-top
Brisbane Broncos were hammered 44-14 at Manly Sea Eagles, with North Queensland Cowboys having beaten Canberra Raiders earlier in the day.
North Queensland Cowboys moved joint-top of the NRL by beating Canberra Raiders before Brisbane Broncos suffered a shock thrashing at Manly Sea Eagles on Saturday.
The Broncos held a two-point lead over the Cowboys heading into round 21, but Wayne Bennett's side were unable to extend their winning run to nine games as they were hammered 44-14 at Central Coast Stadium
Manly, who this week revealed that Trent Barrett will replace Geoff Toovey as coach next year after a disappointing season, blew the leaders away as they scored 26 points before Brisbane got on the board.
Tries from Tom Trbojevic, Kieran Foran, Jamie Lyon and Jesse Sene-Lefao and two Lyon conversions put the Sea Eagles 20-0 up at half-time.
Foran increased their lead when he went over three minutes after the break and Feleti Mateo got in on the act with a converted try to make it 32-4 after Lachlan Maranta crossed to finally get the visitors up and running.
There were further tries for Broncos duo Justin Hodges and Jack Reed, but they were long since consigned to a first defeat since mid-May by then and Justin Horo and Trbojevic crossed in the last 15 minutes as the resurgent Sea Eagles sealed a fourth win in their last five games.
Canberra Raiders looked set to inflict defeat on the Cowboys when they led 18-4 at half-time, but Paul Green's side rallied to secure a 32-24 victory.
Jack Wighton, Edrick Lee and Sia Soliola scored tries in the first 20 minutes to put the visitors in command, but Michael Morgan went over on the stroke of half-time to give the Cowboys hope.
Matt Scott and Ben Hannant were in inspired form as Canberra, wearing Hulk shirts in the NRL's Marvel Superhero round, were overpowered after the break.
Gavin Cooper, Antonio Winterstein (two) and Jake Granville crossed the whitewash and Johnathan Thurston scored 12 points with the boot as the Cowboys stretched their winning run to four games.
Valentine Holmes scored two tries as Cronulla Sharks came from behind to beat New Zealand Warriors 18-14 at Mount Smart Stadium and ensure they sit fifth in the ladder, with the home side denied a last-gasp try by the video referee.