Manly has overcome a slow start to break its home ground hoodoo and take out the inaugural Steve Rogers Memorial Trophy match 20-18 against NRL rivals Cronulla at Brookvale Oval.

The Sharks dominated early, sprinting to a 10-0 lead, but were again overrun in the second half with the Sea Eagles claiming their first win of the season, and just their second victory from eight starts at home.

Skipper Ben Kennedy led from the front as Manly, backed by a crowd of 13,114, laid the groundwork for the rebuilding of Fortress Brookvale.

New recruit Steven Bell put the hosts in front for the first time with his try in the 63rd minute, before fellow former Melbourne teammate Matt Orford virtually sealed the game with his penalty goal eight minutes later.

That gave the Sea Eagles a 20-12 lead, and despite a late Sharks try, the home side held on grimly to claim victory and the trophy, named in memory of the legendary Sharks player and administrator Steve Rogers.

Sharks five-eighth Adam Dykes opened the scoring in the third minute, grounding a perfectly weighted Brett Kimmorley kick.

Opposing props Jason King and Ben Ross were both sidelined two minutes later after a sickening head clash as the latter took a hit-up off his own line.

Ross suffered a suspected broken nose but returned midway through the first half, as did King after recovery from the heavy head knock.

The Sharks, looking for just their fifth win at Brookvale in 32 attempts, controlled possession and field position and were rewarded in the 14th minute with their second four-pointer to winger Darren Albert.

The former Newcastle flyer took advantage of an overlap on the right-hand side after Kimmorley and Phil Bailey shifted the ball to open up a 10-0 lead.

Both sides had tries disallowed by video referee Steve Nash before Manly hit back eight minutes before the break.

After peppering the visitors' line for several sets, fullback Luke Stewart burrowed over to close the gap to just four points.

In a further blow to the visitors, winger Luke Covell was sin-binned just before the break for a professional foul.

Manly continued to hold sway early in the second half with tireless forward Kennedy leading the charge.

The Sharks extended their lead to six with a penalty goal, but the home side levelled the scores after five-eighth Travis Burns touched down after the Sharks were unable to clean up a Matt Orford grubber.

The Sea Eagles then took the lead for the first time in the match after Covell rushed up on Bell in the 63 minute, with the classy centre stepping past to post his fourth try of the year.

They seemed to have the match in their keeping when Orford kicked a penalty to extend the lead to eight, but the Sharks set up a grandstand finish when Bailey barged over in the right-hand corner five minutes from fulltime.

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