Manly scored three tries in a seven-minute blitz early in the second half to storm home 22-14 over Brisbane in an entertaining NRL clash on Friday night at Lang Park.

The Broncos looked on course to repeat their victory over the Sea Eagles 25 years ago when they entered the premiership but, after leading 14-6 - the same half-time scoreline as 1988 - they were swamped by a Sea Eagles attack led magnificently by half-back Daly Cherry-Evans.

It was Cherry-Evans's solo try, busting through four Brisbane defenders in the 48th minute, which not only cut the margin to 14-12 but provided the visitors with the momentum to grab the lead five minutes later when centre Steve Matai crossed for his second try.

Half-back Scott Prince - returning to Broncos colours for the first time since 2003 - admitted it was that momentum that killed Brisbane's chances.

"It was our completion rate," he told Grandstand.

"We invited them back in the game. Manly seemed to get a bit of momentum and scored points with that.

"But we unfortunately ran out of the time in the end to stop the momentum because once a team's got that, you've got to work twice as hard to get it back."

Jamie Lyon's conversion put Manly in front 16-14 which the visitors extended to 22-14 after Brisbane centre Jack Reed spilled the ball in a Cherry-Evans tackle 15 metres out from his own tryline.

Prop Brent Kite grabbed the loose ball and shovelled it on to winger David Williams for the easiest of tries.

"I don't know about the easiest but definitely the most pleasurable," Williams told Grandstand.

"It's not often I find myself on the right side on the outside of a young Brent Kite.

"He was back to his under 10s form of wearing the number seven I believe ... grubbers inside, is there anything the kid can't do?"

Two magnificent passes by Broncos centre Justin Hodges guided Brisbane to their half-time lead in front of 31,139 fans.

Hodges served up a superb pass in a tackle for back-rower Matt Gillett to score in the 19th minute after Prince had knocked over a simple penalty several minutes earlier.

Gillett powered onto the pass, almost knocking Manly full-back Brett Stewart into the grandstand as he bolted across the tryline.

Matai cut the margin to 8-6, crossing wide out in the left corner after a sweeping shift instigated by Cherry-Evans.

"They seemed to stack that right edge of ours," Prince admitted.

"But I thought we handled it okay.

"There's just a couple of combination issues but we'll sort that out."

Brisbane's second try was a classic, reviving memories of the club's glory days.

With members of the 1988 side, including captain Wally Lewis in the stands, Brisbane turned on the razzle dazzle with Prince and finally Hodges producing perfect flick passes for winger Lachlan Maranta to score for the 14-6 lead.

How the fans would have loved to see Lewis or Alfie Langer jump out of the stands as Brisbane's attack was shut down by Manly with a glut of second-half possession.

Manly: 22 (S Matai 2, D Cherry-Evans, D Williams tries; J Lyon 3/4 conversions)

Brisbane: 14 (M Gillett, L Maranta tries; S Prince 2/2 conversions, 1/1 penalty goals)

AAP/ABC