Manly harnessing Joey's Immortal talents - Sydney Morning Herald

AAP

Manly will call on the brilliant mind of Newcastle champion Andrew Johns as they plot to bring down the Knights in Sunday's NRL clash at Brookvale Oval.

Newcastle's greatest player, the halfback who guided them to both of their premierships, is now a fulltime employee of the Knights' greatest rival and he delivered instant results in the form of match-winning efforts from young Sea Eagles halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran in round one.

The pair mixed skill with strength in the victory over Brisbane, just as Johns did in a glittering career for Newcastle, NSW and Australia that led to NRL Immortality last year.

His fingerprints were everywhere, with Cherry-Evans playing arguably his best game since his all-conquering rookie season.

"I think he's added a lot to not only myself and Kieran but to the team in general," Cherry-Evans said.

"He's a very knowledgeable man and his guidance out on the training paddock has been great."

Cherry-Evans scored a wonderful solo try and produced a number of rib-rattling tackles, including one on Broncos centre Jack Reed which dislodged the ball and led to David Williams' match-sealing try.

"I think it's always good to start the year off on the winning side of things," Cherry-Evans said.

"We're just looking to build on that and keep the Ws continuing this year."

Foran and Cherry-Evans struggled to match their premiership-winning efforts of 2011 last season, but star fullback Brett Stewart heaped praise on the pair's standout start to the year.

"(Cherry-Evans) does his thing on the right hand side and Fozza (Foran) does his on the left," Stewart said.

"They probably overshadow each other sometimes, they're that good.

"It was good to see both halves play a good game for round one (and) to get out of the blocks the way we did."

Manly are expected to field an unchanged starting line-up from the side which downed Brisbane, with Sydney Roosters recruit Tom Symonds to drop from the bench.

Co-captain Jason King remains sidelined with a shoulder injury but has resumed full contact in training and is on track for a round-three return against the Gold Coast.