This week we saw the Bulldogs given a dose of reality by the Sea Eagles, a truly courageous performance by a young Rabbitohs winger, and a crazy Saturday afternoon of results to baffle and confuse punters and tippers alike.
Read on as we take a look back over some of the biggest hits and misses.
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Outmuscled Bulldogs get a taste of their 2024 destiny
The Bulldogs have been punching above their weight all year, with one of the smallest forward packs and bench rotations ever assembled. On Friday night they received an early taste of finals football and a clear indication that their mobile collection of utility forwards are going to really struggle against the serious packs.
The big Manly forwards, led by Taniela Paseka and Matthew Lodge up the middle and Haumole Olakau'atu on the edge, scattered the Bulldogs defenders like bowling pins. The Bulldogs' only hope was that their stamina would outlast that of the Sea Eagles' big men. It didn't.
Down the right attacking side for the Sea Eagles Olakau'atu was making a mockery of Viliame Kikau's fearsome reputation. In the lead up to Manly's fourth try, Kikau was seen pulling away from an opportunity to tackle the rampaging Manly edge runner.
Manly's size advantage was no more evident than when with 18 minutes to go, Kurtis Morrin ran the ball straight into Olakau'atu. Morrin has somehow managed to cram the biggest heart in rugby league into one of the smallest frames to ever play in the forwards, but it didn't help him here. The hulking Sea Eagle lowered his shoulder and drove him backwards and into an early Brookvale grave.
The Sea Eagles went on to a convincing 34-22 victory, a boost to their finals preparations and a dent in the Bulldogs' hopes of sneaking into the Top 4.
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Tragic week leads to gutsy performance
Can you imagine the courage it took for Rabbitohs winger Tyrone Munro to run out onto Penrith Park to take on the Panthers on Friday night. Munro's mother died just two days earlier and his uncle the day before the Round 26 clash. The club suggested that Munro might be best served by having some time off, but he was having none of that. With just two games remaining in the season, the young man in the very early stages of his NRL career simply couldn't give up the opportunity to mark one of league's best in Panthers' star Brian To'o.
It wasn't an easy night for the struggling Bunnies, down 18-0 in the first half, but a little bit of Cody Walker magic saw a heartwarming moment. On the attack and early in the tackle count Walker chipped towards Munro's corner. The early kick caught To'o up in the line and flat-footed as Munro streamed past him. Unable to reach the kick on the full, Munro showed calmness and a steady outstretched hand to drag the ball in and score in the corner. His entire team rushed to embrace him as he looked towards the heavens in a tribute to his mother and uncle.
He wasn't fished there either, in the second half he snapped up an intercept deep inside his own half to run away from everyone to score his second for the night. They turned out to be the only Rabbitohs tries in an otherwise tepid performance. Sometimes the best way to overcome grief is by doing something you love and by doing it well.
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Everything to play for, nothing to show for it
What on earth were the Dragons doing in their must-win game against the Eels? From the opening possession, which they spilt, through the countless errors and missed tackles, they played like a team that had already booked their post-season trip.
At halftime an enraged Shane Flanagan gesticulated frantically and tore strips off his players who sat there with stunned looks on their faces. It didn't work, as they started the second half just as poorly.
As the afternoon wore on and the Eels figured that they had scored enough points to win, the Dragons stormed home, scoring the last 28 points to finish within four of the home team, 44-40. The Eels were proven right, they had scored enough points for a victory and the Dragons, well they subsequently dropped out of the Top 8.
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Broncos go missing in crucial clash as well
With everyone still scratching their heads over the Dragons' effort against the Eels, the Dolphins and Broncos ran out onto Suncorp Stadium for their crucial clash. Victory would move one team into the Top 8 whilst all but ending the season of the other. Broncos coach Kevin Walters had clearly stated last week that the Broncos were going to play finals football, so everyone knew they were set for a big performance. Everyone apart from the players it would seem.
The Dolphins were not going to let coach Wayne Bennett bow out with the humiliation of another late season fade out. They came out firing after some last minute positional changes saw Jake Averillo move in the halves, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow into the centres and livewire Trai Fuller come into the team at fullback. The changes sparked the Dolphins into the kind of attacking football that makes them just about unstoppable. Averillo, Tabuai-Fidow and Herbie Farnworth all scored doubles to help blow the Broncos off the park.
The 40-6 flogging was surely a sign of much deeper issues at the Broncos, certainly Walters was not happy for the media to probe him about his assertion that his team were finals bound. He admitted that the team had a lot to work on, but that technically they still weren't out of the running just yet.
"I am not even thinking about that mate. We need to get through this performance and get set again," Walters said.
"You know what I'm like as a person and as a character and we will never give up that's for sure but that [finals] is not in my sights just at the moment.
"It is higher but we still haven't finished yet. We've still got a game to go. We could make the finals."
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Johnson goes out a winner as Warriors complete nightmare afternoon for punters and tippers
There were some fantastic scenes as champion of the game Shaun Johnson finished his NRL career at Shark Park, where he had spent a three-year stint splitting his 11 years at the Warriors.
Clinging to a Top 4 position and at home the Sharks were heavily favoured to take the two points against a Warriors side that had disappointed all year. A week ago they had every reason to lift against the Bulldogs as Johnson played his last ever home game, but weren't able to send him off with a win.
The Warriors scored the first try of the match before conceding the next 22 points to trail 22-4 into the second half. It looked like being a comfortable win for the Sharks, until in the space of three minutes they were denied two tries by the bunker. From there the fightback was on, with the Warriors scoring the next four tries to take a 26-22 lead with 15 minutes remaining.
The twists in this tale were not over, with the Sharks the next to score through Samuel Stonestreet with 11 minutes left on the clock. The Sharks looked set to hold on for a 28-26 victory, but Johnson and his men were having none of that.
With two minutes remaining Warriors five-eighth Luke Metcalf missed a shot at a two-point field goal. The Sharks made an error, handing the ball to the Warriors, who were given a set restart and with 30 seconds on the clock, Johnson threw a perfect looping pass to Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, who still had plenty of work to do before crossing for his third try and the match-winner.
It was a fitting ending for Johnson, but one that must have left frustrated Warriors fans wondering why they wouldn't be playing finals football this year.
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Titans start the scoring with quick turn-around
You often see 12-point turn arounds, where a side has a try disallowed before the opposition heads down the other end of the field to score a try of their own, but they don't always happen as quickly as the first try of the Knights' crucial clash with the Titans in Newcastle.
The Knights were on the attack when winger Greg Marzhew crashed over out wide on the last tackle. It took the bunker an eternity to decide that he had not grounded the ball. The Titans played the ball 10 metres out and three tackles later spread the ball to their right to put winger Jojo Fifita in the clear. He sprinted downfield and was looking to line up his support on the inside, but noticed that fullback Kalyn Ponga had left him a bit to much territory on the outside. He swerved in and then accelerated around the star fullback to score the first try of the match.
The Titans wouldn't cross again until halfway through the second half at which point they were down 30-8.
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Weird effort from Whitehead to spend a quarter of the game in the sin bin
We saw two bizarre incidents involving Raiders' forward Elliott Whitehead during their gutsy victory over the Roosters.
The English international spent two stints in the sin bin for his troubles, making the 14-12 victory all the more remarkable.
The first infringement came before halftime after Roosters hooker Brandon Smith dived on a loose ball 20 metres out from his own line and just lay there.
Whitehead hovered over him, not making contact, for what seemed like an eternity. Finally Smith leapt to his feet to run and Whitehead instantly dragged him to the ground putting his entire weight awkwardly across Smith's already battered knee.
Smith recoiled in agony and was eventually helped from the field with a possible season-ending medial ligament injury. Whitehead was penalised, put on report and sent to the sin bin. It was an incident that has been on the cards ever since the voluntary tackle rule was thrown out the window some years back.
The second incident saw Whitehead holding onto the arm of Angus Crichton who was standing, well held by another Raiders player and going nowhere. Whitehead saw the ball being held in one arm by Crichton and inexplicably tried to kick it from his grasp, like some opportunistic forward catching a goalkeeper off guard in soccer.
The referee was having none of it, penalising him and sending him back to the bin to leave his teammates short and scrambling to hold onto their 12-point lead.
The Roosters managed to get within two points, missing a conversion to level the scores after the siren.