Having lost four out of their past five matches, Manly needed the 24-6 victory to steady their season, grinding out a hard-fought win in their Saturday night clash at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
The teams went into halftime locked at 6-6 after Haumole Olakau'atu pounced on a loose ball before offloading to Saab.
The dashing winger made it a double five minutes into the second half when he outleapt Murray Taulagi to take a Daly Cherry-Evans bomb.
Reuben Garrick added a penalty after Reece Robson was pinged for being offside, then Lehi Hopoate set up a winning margin at 70 minutes when Manly sent the ball wide to the winger.
Ben Trbojevic iced the win with four minutes left on the clock, with his pass bouncing off Jaxson Purdue and back into his hands for an unlikely try.
It continued Manly's stunning record in Townsville, with the visitors unbeaten there since 2016, with the Sea Eagles also thumping the Cowboys in round one 42-12.
The first half was marred by the loss of Jake Trbojevic, leaving the incumbent NSW captain's hopes of playing Origin in tatters.
The Sea Eagles lock collided with the shoulder of Taulagi while trying to make a tackle, with his brother Tom immediately rushing to his aid.
Deemed to have suffered a category-one concussion, a groggy Trbojevic was able to walk from the ground and was later seen on the bench.
With an 11-day stand-down rule, Trbojevic would only be available to resume training with the Blues a few days out from the first Origin match, in Brisbane on May 28.
Trbojevic was forced off the field exactly a month ago after suffering a head knock while trying to tackle St George Illawarra forward David Klemmer, and has been in patchy form in his limited game time this season.
NSW coach Laurie Daley has faced growing calls to drop Trbojevic for this year's series against the Maroons, despite leading his side to a 2-1 series win over Queensland in 2024.
