Daly Cherry-Evans has used his 324 games of NRL experience to pilot Manly towards their first finals series in three years, starring in a 24-10 win over the Warriors.
On a wet and wild night at Brookvale Oval, Cherry-Evans showed every bit of his experience to have his kicking game stand out for the Sea Eagles.
Tom Trbojevic also impressed with one try and two assists, and while he suffered a minor cork to his pectoral muscle Manly insist he is in no doubt at all for coming weeks.
Instead there were concerns over Tommy Talau and his pectoral, with the Manly centre to head for scans on Saturday over a potential tear.
Victory did not come easily for the home side, with a spectacular Dallin Watene-Zelezniak put-down forcing a 10-10 halftime deadlock that lasted until the 54th minute.
But as he has so often in recent years, Cherry-Evans and his kicking game proved the difference.
In his last clash with 2011 grand final rival Shaun Johnson, Cherry-Evans guided Manly to the exact same scoreline and victory as he did 13 years ago.
"That's uncanny," Cherry-Evans said.
"I've got so much respect and admiration for what Shaun has done. There has been some massive New Zealand players who have impacted rugby league.
"And Shaun Johnson is a name I reckon has had a massive impact on New Zealand rugby league. I have a lot of pride in playing against him."
The win moves momentarily moves Manly to fifth, all but assured of a finals finish and keeping some hope alive of reaching the top four if Cronulla stumble.
The Warriors' season is now officially over, with last year's fairytale team having entered Friday night needing something of a mathematical miracle to make the finals.
After the Warriors kept the Sea Eagles inside their own 30-metre zone for the first nine minutes of the match, it was a Cherry-Evans 40-20 on the third tackle that broke the game open.
Manly's first try came off the back of that, when Trbojevic sent winger Jason Saab over.
The Sea Eagles' crucial go-ahead try in the second half also came through Cherry-Evans' boot, when the halfback kicked across field for a leaping Reuben Garrick to score.
Cherry-Evans' smarts also shone through during torrential second-half rain, at one point putting a short grubber-kick in and pushing Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad out as he dived on the ball.
Luke Brooks also had good moments ahead of his return to Leichhardt Oval next week, putting on Manly's best try of the match when he turned a ball back inside for Talau in the first half.
That allowed Talau to break into clear space from within his own end, before Trbojevic loomed up on the inside to finish the movement.
The Sea Eagles have now won five of their past six games, and suddenly loom as genuine threats to the top teams in this year's finals.
"The guys kept fighting, it wasn't the prettiest win," Manly coach Anthony Seibold said.Â
"But that's probably where we want to get to, finals footy. We have to win ugly, and that was it tonight."
For the Warriors, they now have two weeks left to farewell Johnson, with next Friday's clash with Canterbury his last game in New Zealand.
"There's an element that Shaun won't want it to be about him," Warriors coach Andrew Webster said.
"And we have to make sure we prepare properly for Shaun. The best way we can (celebrate him) is just to win."
