Monday?s Expert League
Wrap - Round 6, 2006

Friday night football saw the Brisbane Broncos travel to Sydney to overcome the Roosters by 24-6. Leading 8-6 at half time, the Broncos went on with it in the second half while the home side didn?t trouble the score board attendants for the rest of the day.

Saturday afternoon took us to a close fought match in Brookvale with the St George Illawarra Dragons defeating the Manly Sea Eagles by 26-24. Saturday night saw the Melbourne Storm triumph over the Penrith Panthers by 40-18. The Adelaide crowd were treated to 11 tries with both Greg Inglis (Storm) and Lee Hookey (Panthers) posting hat tricks. Also on Saturday, the Canberra Raiders came from behind to defeat the New Zealand Warriors by 18-14, Alan Tongue scoring the match winner with just minutes remaining.

Sunday kicked off in front of huge crowd in Townsville with the North Queensland Cowboys defeating a determined Newcastle Knights by 18-16. In doing so, the Cowboys have beaten off their main rival rivals for competition favouritism and continue their unbeaten run on top of the NRL ladder. Meanwhile, reigning premiers Wests Tigers thrashed the Cronulla by 42-16 in Campbelltown.

Round six rounded up with the Bulldogs overcoming the South Sydney Rabbitohs by 26-18. The Rabbitohs led 18-8 at half time but were simply outclassed in the second half.

All match results and details are listed below.

After six rounds of football, Johnathan Thurston continues to lead the field in this year?s LeagueUnlimited.com Player Awards. The Cowboys five-eighth picked up one point on the Easter weekend to move up to 16 points and extend his lead by four.

His nearest rival, Andrew Johns failed to score with the Live Updaters on the weekend and sits in second place on 12 points. News that Johns has suffered a torn ankle ligament couldn?t have come at a worst time for the Newcastle halfback. Last year?s LeagueUnlimited.com Player of the Year, Johns is expected to be sidelined for 1-2 weeks.

In third place, Mark Gasnier (Dragons), Clinton Schifcofske (Raiders) and Cameron Smith (Storm) are all still well in contention on eight points.

The full leader board is below.

The Leagueunlimited.com players of the match are decided by our live score updaters and tallied here each week on Monday?s Expert League wrap.

Want to be a live score updater? For further enquiries, email us.

League Wrap: Round 6, 14 ? 17 April 2006
MATCH RESULTS:

Sydney Roosters: 6
Tries: Amos Roberts
Goals: Amos Roberts 1/1
Brisbane Broncos: 24
Tries: Petero Civoniceva, Sam Thaiday, Greg Eastwood
Goals: Corey Parker 6/6
Half time: Broncos 8-6
Venue: Aussie Stadium
Crowd: 21,246
Referee: Steve Clark
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Corey Parker (Broncos)
2 - Petero Civoniceva (Broncos)
1 - Karmichael Hunt (Broncos)

Manly Sea Eagles: 24
Tries: Ben Kennedy, Brent Kite, Brett Stewart, Michael Robertson
Goals: Matt Orford 4/5
St George Illawarra Dragons: 26
Tries: Matt Cooper(2), Dean Young, Matthew Bickerstaff
Goals: Mathew Head 5/5
Half time: Sea Eagles 14-12
Venue: Brookvale Oval
Crowd: 18,069
Referee: Shayne Hayne
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Mathew Head (Dragons)
2 - Ben Kennedy (Sea Eagles)
1 - Matt Cooper (Dragons)

Penrith Panthers: 18
Tries: Danny Galea, Lee Hookey(3)
Goals: Preston Campbell 1/4
Melbourne Storm: 40
Tries: Michael Crocker, Ryan Hoffman, Greg Inglis(3), Matt King, Cameron Smith
Goals: Cameron Smith 6/8
Half time: Storm 12-10
Venue: Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Crowd: 7,017
Referee: Tony Archer
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Greg Inglis (Storm)
2 - Cameron Smith (Storm)
1 - Lee Hookey (Panthers)

Canberra Raiders: 18
Tries: Alan Tongue(2), Lincoln Withers
Goals: Clinton Schifcofske 3/3
New Zealand Warriors: 14
Tries: Wairangi Koopu, Brent Webb
Goals: Tony Martin 3/4
Half time: Warriors 6-0
Venue: Canberra Stadium
Crowd: 7,174
Referee: Gavin Badger
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Alan Tongue (Raiders)
2 - Clinton Schifcofske (Raiders)
1 - Lincoln Withers (Raiders)

Wests Tigers: 42
Tries: Ben Galea, Paul Whatuira(2), Ryan O'Hara, Michael Crockett(2), Rocky Trimarchi
Goals: Brett Hodgson 6/7, Scott Prince 1/1
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks: 16
Tries: David Simmons, Nigel Vagana, Brett Kearney
Goals: Luke Covell 2/3
Half time: Tigers 24-16
Venue: Campbelltown Sports Stadium
Crowd: 15,550
Referee: Jason Robinson
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Brett Hodgson (Tigers)
2 - John Skandalis (Tigers)
1 - Scott Prince (Tigers)

Newcastle Knights: 16
Tries: Danny Buderus, George Carmont, Matthew Gidley
Goals: Andrew Johns 2/3
North Queensland Cowboys: 18
Tries: Matthew Bowen, Mitchell Seargent, Johnathan Thurston
Goals: Johnathan Thurston 3/3
Half time: Knights 10-6
Venue: EnergyAustralia Stadium
Crowd: 26,048
Referee: Paul Simpkins
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Matthew Bowen (Cowboys)
2 - Danny Buderus (Knights)
1 - Johnathan Thurston (Cowboys)

South Sydney Rabbitohs: 18
Tries: John Sutton, Nathan Merritt, Joe Galuvao
Goals: Nathan Merritt 3/3, John Sutton 0/1
Canterbury Bulldogs: 26
Tries: Corey Hughes, Luke Patten, Andrew Ryan, Willie Tonga
Goals: Hazem El Masri 5/6
Half time: Rabbitohs 18-8
Venue: Telstra Stadium
Crowd: 19,529
Referee: Russell Smith
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Willie Mason (Bulldogs)
2 - Peter Cusack (Rabbitohs)
1 - Luke Patten (Bulldogs)

Parramatta Eels - Bye

FULL DRAW, RESULTS & LINKS TO LIVE SCORES ? CLICK HERE

Next weekend?s matches:
Round 7, 21-25 (Anzac Day) April 2006
Fri 7:30 - EELS v TIGERS - Parramatta Stadium
Sat 7:30 (NZ); 5:30 (NSW) - WARRIORS v RABBITOHS - Ericsson Stadium
Sat 7:30 - STORM v KNIGHTS - Olympic Park
Sat 7:30 - SHARKS v COWBOYS - Toyota Park
Sun 2:30 - BULLDOGS v SEA EAGLES - Telstra Stadium
Sun 3:00 - BRONCOS v PANTHERS - Suncorp Stadium
Tue 3:00 - DRAGONS v ROOSTERS - Aussie Stadium
RAIDERS v BYE

FOR LATEST CENTREBET ODDS

CLICK HERE

LEAGUEUNLIMITED.COM PLAYER AWARDS 2006
LEADER BOARD
The Leagueunlimited.com players awards are decided by our live score updaters.
Want to be a live score updater? For further enquiries, email us.

16 points
Johnathan Thurston (Cowboys)

12 points
Andrew Johns (Knights)

8 points
Mark Gasnier (Dragons), Clinton Schifcofske (Raiders), Cameron Smith (Storm)

7 points
Steve Bell (Sea Eagles)

6 points
Karmichael Hunt (Broncos), Hazem El Masri (Bulldogs), Craig Gower (Panthers), Darren Lockyer (Broncos), Willie Mason (Bulldogs)

5 points
Matthew Bowen (Cowboys), Danny Buderus (Knights), Adam Dykes (Sharks), Greg Inglis (Storm), Ben Kennedy (Sea Eagles), Matt Orford (Sea Eagles), Amos Roberts (Roosters)

4 points
Preston Campbell (Panthers), Nathan Fien (Warriors), Aaron Gorrell (Dragons), Mark O?Meley (Bulldogs), Jamie Soward (Roosters), Rhys Wesser (Panthers), Paul Whatuira (Tigers)

3 points
Craig Fitzgibbon (Roosters), Mathew Head (Dragons), Nathan Hindmarsh (Eels), Justin Hodges (Broncos), Brett Hodgson (Tigers), Luke O'Donnell (Cowboys), Corey Parker (Broncos), Steve Price (Warriors), Scott Prince (Tigers), Milton Thaiday (Knights), Alan Tongue (Raiders), Ruben Wiki (Warriors)

2 points
George Carmont (Knights), Petero Civoniceva (Broncos), Luke Covell (Sharks), Cooper Cronk (Storm), Peter Cusack (Rabbitohs), Daniel Fitzhenry (Tigers), Josh Perry (Knights), Wade McKinnon (Eels), Anthony Minichiello (Roosters), Mark O'Meley (Bulldogs), Aaron Payne (Cowboys), Todd Polglase (Rabbitohs), Luke Priddis (Panthers), John Skandalis (Tigers), Matt Sing (Cowboys), Jason Smith (Raiders), Steven Southern (Cowboys), John Sutton (Rabbitohs), Brad Thorn (Broncos), Clinton Toopi (Warriors), Lincoln Withers (Raiders), Dean Young (Dragons)

1 points
Trent Barrett (Dragons), Paul Bowman (Cowboys), Matt Cooper (Dragons), Michael Ennis (Broncos), Kurt Gidley (Knights), Matthew Gidley (Knights), Ashley Harrison (Roosters), Lee Hookey (Panthers), Wairangi Koopu (Warriors), Tony Martin (Warriors), Steve Menzies (Sea Eagles), Luke Patten (Bulldogs), Brent Sherwin (Bulldogs), Billy Slater (Storm), Tim Smith (Eels), Brett Stewart (Sea Eagles), Shane Tronc (Cowboys), Anthony Tupou (Roosters), Tame Tupou (Broncos), Trent Waterhouse (Panthers), Simon Woolford (Raiders), William Zillman (Raiders)