A fast-paced thriller has seen a fast-finishing Manly Sea Eagles score the final two tries of the game to book a place in the NRL semi-finals with a thrilling victory over the Canterbury Bulldogs 24 points to 22.

Tom Trbojevic was less than 100 per cent for the Sea Eagles, but Manly did enough to come from behind to take a thrilling victory in front of over 50,000 fans.

An early Tom Trbojevic error invited the Bulldogs through for the first major attacking chance of the game, and they didn't disappoint, swiging the ball wide for Jacob Kiraz to crash over and put the first points on the board.

A pair of penalties given away by Reed Mahoney straight afterwards though saw Manly launch their own attacking raid, and put their first points of the day on through Tommy Talau.

A conversion put Manly ahead with the game being played at breakneck pace.

The Sea Eagles then found themselves on the back foot again before the Bulldogs shuffled left, found Viliame Kikau and he broke the line, then went through Tom Trbojevic to score behind the posts, putting Canterbury back front of the contest.

Another penalty for the Bulldogs off a late shot from Talau saw them push onto the attack again, with a Matt Burton chip kick then seeing Stephen Crichton win a tight race for the ball, grounding it for a try that sent the home side ahead 16-6 with 15 minutes to go in the first half.

The Bulldogs time on top was stunted on the run to halftime with an Ethan Bullemor try after a controversial take in the air from Lehi Hopoate, but the visitors were still four points behind the rampant Bulldogs heading into halftime.

Jeral Skelton would score off a kick early in the second half to send the Bulldogs further ahead, before Daly Cherry-Evans answered with a try of his own 25 minutes from fulltime to give Manly a sniff.

A late try for Tolutau Koula would send the Sea Eagles ahead by just two points on the back of a dazzling run and long-range effort from the Sea Eagles.

The set after points saw Manly go down the field, before a bomb on the last was ruled to have seen Olakau'atu tackle Kiraz in the air. A captain's challenge however reverse the call, keeping Manly in possession with a fresh set, two points up and five and a half minutes from fulltime.

Manly turned the ball over in the corner, only for Bronson Xerri to drop it on the second play coming out of trouble, inviting Manly through for another chance at putting the game to bed.

The Sea Eagles again turned the ball over in the corner without scoring, before the Bulldogs played expansive football to get in range of a two-point field goal, only for Matt Burton to take a shot as an afterthought which missed.

Manly used seven tackles to go down the field again, giving the Bulldogs one last shot, with another two-point field goal attempt from Burton on the bell going wide.

The win ensures Manly will go through to the semi-finals, where they will clash with the Sydney Roosters next Saturday evening.