Lote Tuqiri took just four minutes to celebrate his return to rugby league with a try as Wests Tigers fought back from a 16-point deficit to record a stunning 26-22 win over Manly at the SFS on Monday night.
The Tigers were trailing 20-4 after 59 minutes before scoring four tries in 16 minutes late in the match to turn the match on its head and give Tuqiri the perfect homecoming after seven years in rugby union
The loss could prove disastrous for the Sea Eagles, with star full-back Brett Stewart carried from the field late in the game with suspected knee damage after attempting to bring down a runaway Tuqiri.
The Sea Eagles also have three players – Brent Kite, George Rose and Kieran Foran – on report for high shots.
They are also likely to be minus winger David Williams for up to six weeks after he dislocated a collarbone at the team's pre-match training session on Sunday night.
With his first touch in an NRL game since 2002, Tuqiri received a pass from centre Chris Lawrence to plunge over in the corner in the fourth minute.
But the dual international's dream start soon began to unravel as the Sea Eagles took control before a boisterous crowd of 18,421.
The Sea Eagles weathered a ferocious onslaught from the Tigers early, struggling to get out of their own end and get an even share of possession.
But Des Hasler's men have a great ability to hang in games when things aren't going their way and 25 minutes in had the lead.
Jamie Lyon's first four crossfield kicks were poor but the fifth was spot on.
It landed a metre out from the goal-line and allowed winger Michael Robertson to jump between two defenders and pluck the ball from the air to score.
Lyon laid on Manly's second try four minutes later, going the short side and sucking in three defenders before slipping an inside ball for Glenn Stewart to cross.
At 12-4, Tuqiri's homecoming was fast turning into a nightmare.
It got worse in the 35th minute.
On the back of a controversial penalty, Rose steamed onto the ball from 10m out and powered past four defenders to slam the ball down next to the posts.
Lyon converted for an 18-4 advantage.
A soft penalty on the stroke of half-time edged the Sea Eagles further ahead.
The Tigers needed to be next to score to stay in the contest and 19 minutes into the second half they delivered – twice inside two minutes as an avalanche of points arrived.
Full-back Tim Moltzen, who was having a horror night with his hands, finally found some glue to dummy and split the defence before linking with Blake Ayshford for a beautiful try.
When Moltzen found himself in the clear two minutes later courtesy of some clever work from Robbie Farah and Benji Marshall, he kept his cool to send Liam Fulton on an unimpeded 45m run to the line.
All of a sudden the momentum was with the Tigers as Manly's lead was narrowed to just six points at 20-14.
A Lyon penalty after 69 minutes gave the Sea Eagles some much needed breathing space but the Tigers just would not go away.
Tries to Chris Lawrence (72nd minute) and Gareth Ellis (75th) completed a remarkable comeback, Tuqiri receiving a standing ovation from the Tigers faithful after capping his return with a memorable victory.
Wests Tigers 26
Tries: Tuqiri, Ayshford, Fulton, Lawrence, Ellis
Goals: Marshall 3
Manly 22
Tries: Robertson, G Stewart, Rose
Goals: Lyon 5