Manly Sea Eagles produced an inspired second-half fightback to defeat Brisbane Broncos 20-18 in Thursday's NRL contest.

The visiting Broncos – beaten heavily in their past two outings – raced into an 18-0 lead by the 32nd minute at Central Coast Stadium and the Sea Eagles still trailed by 14 heading into the break.

But 16 further unanswered second-half points, including eight from the boot of Reuben Garrick, helped the Sea Eagles - for whom Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans excelled - produce a memorable turnaround.

There was little sign of what was to come in a lightning start from the Broncos, who were ahead after six minutes when Kotoni Staggs cleverly chased his own clip forward.

Xavier Coates brilliantly took down a high ball and Darius Boyd also went over on the left for the Broncos as the Sea Eagles struggled to get out of the blocks.

However, Tevita Funa marked his debut with a tight score from Trbojevic's excellent offload to kick them into gear before the break.

Cherry-Evans further reduced the arrears early in the second half and Moses Suli's converted score in the right corner just before the hour brought the score within two.

Garrick levelled with a penalty and added another two-pointer with 10 minutes remaining, which proved enough to complete the turnaround against the out-of-sorts Broncos, who brought on the returning Ben Teo'o for the final 23 minutes.