NRL round 3 LIVE: Can Parramatta down the high-flying Sea Eagles?

The Eels have done it, snapping Manly’s unbeaten start to the year. It ended with handbags at 10 paces but what a highly entertaining afternoon here at CommBank Stadium.

The Sea Eagles started like a house on fire with a 14-0 lead inside 13 minutes, but the Eels kept chipping away and were a little bit too strong in the end.

How much more will we hear about the disallowed try to Tolu Koula in the second half? I reckon Anthony Seibold may have a bit to say about that.

But take nothing away from Parramatta, who looked absolutely shell shocked inside the first quarter before proving they will be top eight material this year.

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Kelma Tuilagi scores for the Eels.Credit: Getty

They’re almost home.

Inside the last 50 seconds and Tom Trbojevic has dropped a high Luke Brooks bomb as he raced down on the Eels’ back three. That might just be that.

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The Eels are doing enough to hang on here - and they now have a huge penalty coming out of their own end. Just three minutes left...

This game is not over. Not by a long way. And not even the bunker can take this one away from them.

It’s a great heads-up play from back-rower Corey Waddell, who wheels around the back of the ruck to the short side and quite simply, he just wants it more, wrestling past Will Penisini, Clint Gutherson and Sean Russell to give his team a lifeline.

What an unlikely man to drag his team back into the game. He’s a soon-to-be-brother-in-law of Jake Trbojevic too.

Reuben Garrick’s kick is good as well.

Only six minutes left. Can Manly pull this out of the fire?

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Mitchell Moses is back goalkicking again. Can anyone explain why he wasn’t taking them earlier if his groin is not that bad?

It doesn’t matter, though, as he bangs over a long penalty goal attempt from near the 40-metre line. It gives the Eels a 10-point lead.

Eight points. Ten points. I’m not really sure what the difference is. But Brad Arthur does. And that’s all that really matters.

Down to the last 13 minutes and time is suddenly not a great friend of Manly.

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I will never, ever reconcile with decisions like that.

The Sea Eagles are cheering a sensational Tolu Koula try after Luke Brooks sends Tom Trbojevic racing downfield. It’s a fantastic inside pass, too, from Trbojevic to send his speedster clear. Manly think they’re about to reduce the margin to two.

But guess what? The bunker has other ideas. They’re examining the play with the microscope and back near half-way where Trbojevic made the break, they’ve spotted Luca Moretti being impeded by Jake Trbojevic.

There’s a tiny touch in it. Moretti was never going to be fast enough to get near Trbojevic. Rugby league has to be played in black and white, doesn’t it?

Oh well, on we go.

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Well, the young debutant Blaize Talagi will be breathing a huge sigh of relief there.

He made a mistake carting the ball out of his own end and the Sea Eagles looked like they were about to roar back into the game. But on the end of a backline shift with Tom Trbojevic throwing the final pass, Ray Vaega is bundled towards the sideline and can only throw the ball out the back where it’s dived on by Mitchell Moses.

The Eels with the ascendancy here inside the last 16 minutes.

The official crowd is in too: 20,354.

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