Darren Lockyer's NRL career is over after a clinical Manly outlasted a brave Brisbane 26-14 in the first preliminary final at the SFS.
The injured Broncos skipper watched on helplessly from the dugout as the Sea Eagles overpowered his team-mates to qualify for their third grand final in five years.
Lockyer had already declared himself a certain starter in the NRL decider if required, but there will be no fairytale ending to his 355-game NRL career after Des Hasler's men scored five-tries-to-three in front of 31,894 spectators.
The win keeps Manly on course for a grudge match with bitter rivals Melbourne, with the winner of Saturday's clash between the Storm and Warriors to face the Sea Eagles in next week's NRL decider.
While Manly will be boosted by the return of Glenn Stewart from suspension, they face a nervous wait after Tony Williams and Steve Matai were both placed on report for separate tackles on Jharal Yow Yeh.
Williams floored the Brisbane winger with a swinging arm in the 63rd minute before Matai led with his knees and connected the winger's ribs two minutes later.
Will Hopoate bagged a double for the Sea Eagles, while half-back Daly Cherry-Evans had a hand in four of his side's five tries in a dominant individual performance.
The Broncos had the benefit of a strong breeze in the first half but it was the Sea Eagles who flew out of the blocks with two early tries.
Hooker Matt Ballin opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a dart from dummy half after the Broncos conceded consecutive penalties to gift the Sea Eagles field position.
Brisbane should have hit back in the 10th minute when boom youngster Jack Reed fielded a dangerous kick from Peter Wallace in Manly's in-goal area, but team-mate Dale Copley accidentally head butted the ball out of Reed's hands to blow a golden chance.
Copley's nightmare continued when he dropped the ball on his own line 60 seconds later.
Shane Rodney swooped and offloaded to Cherry-Evans who sent Hopoate crashing over in the corner for 10-0.
The onslaught continued when Cherry-Evans went to the line and created a hole for Brett Stewart to score in the 20th minute.
Jamie Lyon converted for 16-0 before Brisbane hit back on the half hour when Yow Yeh scored a miraculous try from a Matt Gillett kick to give the Broncos a glimmer of hope at 16-4.
The Broncos' job got a lot harder when Hopoate crossed seven minutes into the second stanza, Cherry-Evans hitting Jamie Lyon on a second-man play to set up the teenager's second try.
Brisbane hit back through Peter Wallace in the 52nd minute to trim the deficit to 10 points.
But when Kieran Foran plucked a towering Cherry-Evans bomb from Gerard Beale's grasp to score on the hour, the Sea Eagles were all but assured of a spot in the decider.
Copley had the final say of the match with a try in the 72nd minute, but it was too little too late for the Broncos.
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 26
Tries: Hopoate 2, Ballin, Stewart, Foran,
Goals: Lyon,
Brisbane Broncos 14
Tries: Yow Yeh, Wallace, Copley,
Goals: Parker,
Crowd: 31,894