Manly has held out a late comeback from a winless Parramatta to stay undefeated in the NRL with a 34-30 win at Brookvale Oval.

In his first match as Manly's full-time number six, Josh Schuster had a hand in four tries as he and Tom Trbojevic combined at will on the Sea Eagles' left edge.

It was enough to consign the Eels to a third-straight loss to start the season, despite a bizarre final 10 minutes which included a combined four tries from both sides.

After the Sea Eagles led 28-16 with seven minutes to go, the Eels put themselves back into the game through tries to Maika Sivo and Josh Hodgson.

The home side then appeared to have the contest sealed when Haumole Olakau'atu intercepted a J'maine Hopgood offload and ran 30 metres to score and make it 34-24.

The Eels scored again through Sivo with two minutes to play, but any hopes of a late comeback win were killed off when Brad Parker tackled Mitch Moses into touch with a minute to play.

It summed up a chaotic night and last year's grand finalist's start to the season, with all three Eels losses by four points or less.

Eels captain Clint Gutherson was arguably the best on field, as he scored two tries and made a try-saver in the second half to help bring Parramatta back into the contest from 14-0 down to 16-14 up.

But the star of the show for Manly was 21-year-old Schuster.

The five-eighth and Trbojevic combined for the Sea Eagles' opening two tries, with the first coming when they spread it down the left and the latter put Reuben Garrick over.

Trbojevic was the beneficiary the next time around when Schuster ran the ball out of dummy half and found the fullback on his inside to hit the line at speed and crash over.

Then, after Gutherson's heroics, it was Schuster who made the biggest difference again.

He put Trbojevic over for his second try when he collected a Kelma Tuilagi offload and put a chip kick into the in-goal for his chasing fullback.

It was one of two tries to come off Schuster's boot, with Olakau'atu bagging another when the five-eighth put up a shallow bomb after a Trbojevic bust and quick play-the-ball.

Schuster's outing came after he has long pushed for a chance in the number six jersey, having sat behind departed veteran Kieran Foran for the past two years.

He was exposed at times in defence, but his attack alone and combination with Trbojevic should serve as a sign of promise for the Sea Eagles.

The Sea Eagles now sit first on the ladder after their best start to a season since they last made the grand final in 2013.

AAP