Manly have soared to the top of the NRL table following a 42-0 humiliation of the Sydney Roosters at a soggy Brookvale Oval.

The Sea Eagles notched up their sixth straight win over the Roosters in the eight tries to nil romp to lead the ladder on percentage before Melbourne's clash with Gold Coast at Skilled Park on Monday night.

Manly defeated the Roosters 56-0 in their last encounter but today's fixture was expected to be a close contest.

However from the opening moments the Sea Eagles picked the Roosters apart with skipper Matt Orford and Jamie Lyon wreaking havoc behind their dominant pack.

The Roosters were missing Origin stars Willie Mason, Craig Fitzgibbon, Anthony Tupou and Nate Myles from their engine room while Manly were without Brett Stewart.

The men from Bondi Junction still cleaned up Parramatta without their Origin stars last month but were simply outgunned by the Sea Eagles today.

Manly were on top early with Steve Bell crossing twice in the first 10 minutes.

The Sea Eagles centre scurried out of dummy half and stepped through some feeble defence for the opening try before Orford put him through as the home side opened up a 10-0 lead.

Manly were in again in the 33rd minute - a skidding Lyon pass finding winger David Williams for a 14-0 halftime advantage in the greasy conditions.

The second half started badly for the Roosters with centre Brent Grose penalised for a lifting tackle on Michael Robertson which could attract attention from the judiciary this week.

The Sea Eagles put more distance between themselves and the Roosters with a sweetly-timed 40m movement that ended in Orford touching down eight minutes after half time.

The scoreline ballooned out to 26-0 only three minutes later with the ball springing loose from Roosters winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall's grasp and Lyon crossed under the sticks.

Even the intermittent rain couldn't stop the Sea Eagles with backrower Anthony Watmough joining the try-scoring list moments later and by then it was just a case of by how many.

A downside for Manly was a leg injury to backrower Glenn Stewart in the first half.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP