Tom Trbojevic drives Manly Sea Eagles to defeat Parramatta Eels

He called on Schuster to rush the ball early to give Manly a 14-0 lead midway through the first half.

His second try was even better as he grabbed the ball at full speed after Schuster crossed the Eels’ defensive line. Any concerns Trbojevic might have had about his dodgy hamstrings vanished at that moment. Had Parker not been pinched through disability, ‘Turbo’ could have scored a hat trick.

Speaking of Schuster after the game, skipper Daly Cherry-Evans said: “His natural ability is quite specific, the way he can pass the ball and the chip and chase five yards off the try line.

“It’s all there for him, it’s just about building consistently in the game.”

The eels looked gone more than once only to keep coming back.

Two tries three minutes late in the first half put them back in contention, then as they trailed by 12 points deep into the second half they tallyed up three more tries. The last four-pointer was the best and included a rifle-like Moses cutout pass for winger Maika Sivo.

For the record, Sivo and Moses might be a little lighter in the bag after pulling the hair of Christian Tuipulotu and Kelma Tuilagi respectively.

Who knows when Moses will telephone about his future. Who knows when Parramatta will claim his first victory.

They could also be without a support Reagan Campbell-Gillard after he was reported to Josh Aloiai for a shoulder strain.

Eels trainer Brad Arthur admired the comeback but after doing the same for three weeks they needed more.

“We don’t have to push ourselves every week – we have to execute on our plan,” Arthur said.

As for the 0-3 start, Arthur said it would test their character and how important it was “we stick together and don’t start blaming anyone else or hearing too many opinions.” .

“We know what we need to do to get back on track; we just have to go out and do it,” said Arthur.