Penrith, the four-peat champions, sit at the bottom of the NRL ladder. Yep, you read that right.

Of all of the crazy results in the mixed-up, muddled-up, shook-up world that is the NRL this season, the sight of the champions going from the penthouse to the outhouse is the most outrageous.

The latest defeat, to a Manly side that snapped a three-game losing streak, came in the most dramatic fashion.

Three players - Manly’s Siosiua Taukeiaho and Penrith pair Scott Sorensen and Paul Alamoti - spent time in the sin bin.

The Sea Eagles opened up a handy lead, watched it whittle away during a horror period after the break in which they had only about 20 per cent of the football, and then regrouped to record just their second win in 11 attempts against the Mountain Men.

In perhaps the best Manly news of the night, as they head into a bye off the team song, Tom Trbojevic came through his comeback match unscathed.

The champion fullback, who will shift to five-eighth if the club’s pursuit of Jamal Fogarty proves unsuccessful, showed glimpses of what he is capable of. Like Mitchell Moses showed in his return for Parramatta, this is a man who makes his teammates better.

Sometimes it was just a decoy run or the organisation of his defence from the back, “Tommy Turbo” doesn’t always need to come up with a big play to make a difference.

His combination on the right, where Haumole Olakau’atu constantly terrorised Casey McLean, proved pivotal.

In a match where the momentum swung wildly - the pendulum shifted towards the Panthers when Nathan Cleary kicked a contentious 40-20 - the Sea Eagles were better for longer.

There is still time for Penrith to make the long, hard climb from the bottom. It will need to begin against Brisbane in Magic Round.