Salvation for Souths with Good Friday win
16 mins ago | Robert Crosby
1. St. George Illawarra Dragons (up 1)
It was an absolute show of strength from the Dragons against their bitter rivals the Cronulla Sharks. The Sharks only managed 6 points against the Dragons' stoic defence. Josh Dugan was impressive with the ball in his hands, breaking 8 tackles and making 2 line breaks of his own; especially impressive considering he was backing up from being bashed around in Origin.
2. North Queensland Cowboys (down 1)
What a streak! The Cowboys look to have forgotten how to lose, even after they looked to be on the mat against the Sea Eagles on the weekend. Their strength definitely lies in winning close matches, a skill that will serve them well at the back end of the season. The Origin period will definitely test their winning streak, but they've put themselves in a position where they can drop a couple of games and still be in good stead for the finals.
3. Sydney Roosters (up 1)
We've been waiting for the Roosters to click all season, and it looks like they finally have. They were strong against the Storm on Monday night - with the Storm going to jelly once a bit of pressure was applied. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was a beast, finishing with 2 offloads, 10 tackle busts, and a host of other impressive stats, including 240 running metres. Mitch Aubusson was also impressive, although his game was based more around setting up his winger - with 2 line break assists, and 2 try assists.
4. Brisbane Broncos (down 1)
As one of the hardest hit teams over the Origin period, the Broncos can be forgiven for dropping a couple of games while some of their stars are either rested, or backing up. That hasn't been the case so far though. A win over the Knights, followed by a win over the Raiders this week, and the Broncos are looking good. They also gave a lesson to all the kids watching, about never giving up on the play. If you haven't yet seen their "try of the year", look it up on Youtube. It's definitely worth the watch.
5. Melbourne Storm (equal)
It was a pretty terrible performance that the Storm put together this week. Yes, they played without Billy Slater, but they did that earlier in the season as well, and didn't look anywhere near this bad. A few of the Storm's outside backs broke a tackle or two, but apart from that the Storm looked decidedly average with the ball. No line breaks, very few offloads, and no second phase play to speak of. The Roosters lifted the intensity, and the Storm just couldn't match it.
6. Penrith Panthers (equal)
Whoever has the Panther shaped voodoo doll, please put it down! Just as they were looking to sticky tape the side's spine back together, the Panthers lost Jamie Soward and Matt Moylan in the same match. The late hit on Jamie Soward was as grubby a tactic as I've seen in a long time, however the loss of Matt Moylan for the next six weeks will hurt them even more. They tried hard, but just couldn't get the win.
7. South Sydney Rabbitohs (up 1)
The Rabbitohs managed to pip the Titans at the post, but it wasn't exactly the dominant performance we've come to expect from the Rabbitohs. The question on everyone's lips is "When is Reynolds back?". Greg Inglis left the field with a concussion midway into the game, and the Rabbitohs were forced to reshuffle. They do appear to be starting to get themselves together though, and they are by no means a writeoff.
8. Canberra Raiders (down 1)
In one of the biggest twists to come out of the weekend, the Raiders turned what looked like a set-play certain Raiders try, into a 100 metre try scored against them. The tactic to stack the open side and run blind was a good one, but when it failed, they continued to beat the dead horse down the blind side - resulting in one of the best tries you'll see all year. It's hard to defend in broken play, but they really never should have got themselves into that situation.
9. Warriors (up 2)
It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win. The Warriors still haven't managed to find any consistency at all so far this season, and they definitely didn't perform as well as they were expected against the understrength Knights last start.
10. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (equal)
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs had the bye this week.
11. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (up 3)
Finally the Sea Eagles look to be on the up. They pushed the Cowboys right until the final whistle, and were unlucky not to get the win. In off field news, in case you hadn't heard, they've also committed Daly Cherry-Evans to the club for the rest of his career. In layman's terms what that means is that the rest of the side will be playing for pies and sausage rolls for the next ten years.
12. Wests Tigers (equal)
The Wests Tigers had the bye this week.
13. Gold Coast Titans (down 4)
The Titans played well against the Rabbitohs, but went down by 8 points - primarily due to missing almost 50 tackles. Mr Burr missed 8 on his own, while Daniel Mortimer (who, let's be honest, is picked for his tackling and support play) also missed 5. There's also that little matter of DCE - but we won't rub salt into an open wound.
14. Parramatta Eels (up 2)
The Eels did enough to drag themselves up off the canvas this week - although they probably wouldn't have done so had all the Panthers players stayed on the park. The tactic of taking Jamie Soward out of the game ended up being a good one for the Eels, although it was a disgusting way to do it.
15. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (down 2)
In what should have been an epic battle between two fierce rivals, the Sharks were impotent in attack and terrible in defence, eventually going down by almost 40 points. The return of Paul Gallen cannot happen fast enough. Sharks supporters are split in their opinions on his worth to the side, but the Sharks' performances without him have been far from inspired.
16. Newcastle Knights (down 1)
Knights fans have finally got their wish, with Tyrone Roberts missing from the side for this weekend's game. Unfortunately, it's due to injury, and without Mullen in the side, the Knights are relying on a halves combination of rookie Carlos Tuimavave and veteran Kurt Gidley. That said, the Knights performed well last week, almost knocking over the Warriors, despite their injury woes.