Monday?s
Expert League Wrap - Round 9, 2006

International Rugby League came to Brisbane on Friday night with 44,191 people on hand to see Australia run over the top of New Zealand by 50-12. Saturday football saw the Canberra Raiders travel to Parramatta and outclass last year?s minor premiers the Eels by 30-10. Later that night, the North Queensland Cowboys were too good for the Penrith Panthers, downing their southern visitors by 22-10. Meanwhile the Melbourne Storm were ripping into the South Sydney Rabbitohs, running away in the second half to win 38-12 at Sydney?s Telstra Stadium.

On Sunday, the NRL hosted four matches starting with the Newcastle Knights v Brisbane Broncos. In a close encounter, the Knights came away with a 32-30 victory in front vocal Newcastle crowd of 21,252. Soon afterwards, the Canterbury Bulldogs clobbered the Sydney Roosters 30-14 after the Roosters led 12-6 at half time. Meanwhile Wests Tigers were too good for the Manly Sea Eagles, the home side winning 24-18 in front a huge Leichhardt Oval crowd. The round wrapped up with the Sharks putting together a solid second half display to smash the Dragons by 30-12 after the scores were locked up 12-all at half time.

All match results and details are listed below.

LeagueUnlimited.com Player Awards
The LeagueUnlimited.com Player Awards still has Cowboys five-eighth Johnathan Thurston leading on 16 points. But new pressure is emerging from Storm hooker Cameron Smith (14 points) and Sharks playmaker Adam Dykes (13 points). Smith and Dykes have leapfrogged Knights half back Andrew Johns who appears anchored on 12 points.

Not far away are Greg Inglis (Storm) and Matt Orford (Sea Eagles) on 11 points while Matthew Bowen (Cowboys) and Danny Buderus (Knights) are on 10 points. Forwards
Ben Kennedy (Sea Eagles) and Willie Mason (Bulldogs) are still well in contention on nine 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 9, 5 ? 7 May 2006
MATCH RESULTS:

Australia: 50
Tries: Darren Lockyer(2), Nathan Hindmarsh, Mark Gasnier, Matt Cooper, Timana Tahu(2), Danny Buderus
Goals: Ben Kennedy 1/1, Andrew Johns 8/9
New Zealand: 12
Tries: David Kidwell, Sonny Bill Williams
Goals: Brent Webb 2/4
Half time: Australia 14-6
Venue: Suncorp Stadium
Crowd: 44,191
Referee: Ashley Klein

Parramatta Eels: 10
Tries: Glenn Morrison, Matthew Petersen
Goals: Brett Delaney 1/2
Canberra Raiders: 30
Tries: Craig Frawley, Lincoln Withers, Simon Woolford, Adrian Purtell (2)
Goals: Clinton Schifcofske 5/5
Half time: Raiders 18-4
Venue: Parramatta Stadium
Crowd: 10,146
Referee: Jason Robinson
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Jason Smith (Raiders)
2 - Tom Learoyd-Lahrs (Raiders)
1 - Lincoln Withers (Raiders)

North Queensland Cowboys: 22
Tries: Brenton Bowen, Aaron Payne, Johnathan Thurston, Shane Tronc
Goals: Johnathan Thurston 3/4
Penrith Panthers: 6
Tries: Shane Rodney
Goals: Preston Campbell 1/1
Half time: Cowboys 10-0
Venue: Dairy Farmers Stadium
Crowd: 16,808
Referee: Ben Cummins
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Matthew Bowen (Cowboys)
2 - Brenton Bowen (Cowboys)
1 - Shane Rodney (Panthers)

South Sydney Rabbitohs: 14
Tries: David Fa'alogo, Luke MacDougall, Nathan Merritt
Goals: Nathan Merritt 1/3
Melbourne Storm: 38
Tries: Michael Crocker, Chris Walker, Matt Geyer, Greg Inglis, Cameron Smith, Jeremy Smith
Goals: Cameron Smith 7/8
Half time: Storm 8-6
Venue: Telstra Stadium
Crowd: 8,083
Referee: Gavin Badger
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Cameron Smith (Storm)
2 - Greg Inglis (Storm)
1 - Luke MacDougall (Rabbitohs)

Newcastle Knights: 32
Tries: Todd Lowrie, David Seage, Steve Simpson, Brian Carney(2), Riley Brown
Goals: Andrew Johns 4/7
Brisbane Broncos: 30
Tries: Darren Lockyer, Tame Tupou(2), Darius Boyd, Greg Eastwood
Goals: Corey Parker 5/6
Half time: Knights 20-14
Venue: EnergyAustralia Stadium
Crowd: 21,252
Referee: Tony Archer
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Danny Buderus (Knights)
2 - Brian Carney (Knights)
1 - Darren Lockyer (Broncos)

Sydney Roosters: 14
Tries: Nigel Plum, Amos Roberts
Goals: Craig Fitzgibbon 3/3
Canterbury Bulldogs: 30
Tries: Tony Grimaldi, Willie Mason, Brad Morrin, Sonny Bill Williams, Daniel Holdsworth
Goals: Hazem El Masri 5/5
Half time: Roosters 12-6
Venue: Aussie Stadium
Crowd: 16,121
Referee: Sean Hampstead
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Willie Mason (Bulldogs)
2 - Roy Asotasi (Bulldogs)
1 - Tony Grimaldi (Bulldogs)

Wests Tigers: 24
Tries: Dean Collis, Daniel Fitzhenry, Todd Payten, Scott Prince
Goals: Brett Hodgson 4/5
Manly Sea Eagles: 18
Tries: Steve Menzies, Michael Monaghan, Paul Stephenson, Steve Bell
Goals: Matt Orford 1/4
Half time: Tigers 16-14
Venue: Leichhardt Oval
Crowd: 20,231
Referee: Russell Smith
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Robert Farah (Tigers)
2 - Steve Menzies (Sea Eagles)
1 - Brett Hodgson (Tigers)

Cronulla Sutherland Sharks: 30
Tries: Luke Covell, David Simmons, Nigel Vagana, Lance Thompson, Darren Albert
Goals: Luke Covell 4/5, Lance Thompson 1/1
St George Illawarra Dragons: 12
Tries: Charles Leaneo(2)
Goals: Aaron Gorrell 1/1, Ben Hornby 1/1
Half time: 12 all
Venue: Toyota Park
Crowd: 18,845
Referee: Steven Clark
Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Adam Dykes (Sharks)
2 - Paul Gallen (Sharks)
1 - David Simmons (Sharks)

NZ Warriors - Bye

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

Next weekend?s matches:
Fri 7:30 COUNTRY ORIGIN v CITY ORIGIN - Dubbo
Round 9, 6-7 May 2006
Sat 5:30 DRAGONS v WARRIORS - WIN Stadium
Sat 7:30 STORM v COWBOYS - Olympic Park
Sat 7:30 BRONCOS v SEA EAGLES - Suncorp Stadium
Sun 2:30 BULLDOGS v EELS - Telstra Stadium
Sun 3:00 TIGERS v KNIGHTS - Campbelltown Stadium
Sun 3:00 RAIDERS v SHARKS - Canberra Stadium
Sun 3:00 PANTHERS v RABBITOHS - CUA Stadium
ROOSTERS 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)

14 points
Cameron Smith (Storm)

13 points
Adam Dykes (Sharks)

12 points
Andrew Johns (Knights)

11 points
Greg Inglis (Storm), Matt Orford (Sea Eagles)

10 points
Matthew Bowen (Cowboys), Danny Buderus (Knights)

9 points
Ben Kennedy (Sea Eagles), Willie Mason (Bulldogs)

8 points
Hazem El Masri (Bulldogs), Mark Gasnier (Dragons), Clinton Schifcofske (Raiders)

7 points
Steve Bell (Sea Eagles), Karmichael Hunt (Broncos), Darren Lockyer (Broncos)

6 points
Craig Gower (Panthers), Mathew Head (Dragons), Nathan Hindmarsh (Eels), Corey Parker (Broncos), Ruben Wiki (Warriors)

5 points
Roy Asotasi (Bulldogs), Petero Civoniceva (Broncos), Robert Farah (Tigers), Nathan Fien (Warriors), Steve Menzies (Sea Eagles), Luke O'Donnell (Cowboys), Amos Roberts (Roosters), Jason Smith (Raiders), Alan Tongue (Raiders)

4 points
Preston Campbell (Panthers), Cooper Cronk (Storm), Aaron Gorrell (Dragons), Justin Hodges (Broncos), Brett Hodgson (Tigers), Mark O?Meley (Bulldogs), Steve Price (Warriors), Jamie Soward (Roosters), Rhys Wesser (Panthers), Paul Whatuira (Tigers)

3 points
Luke Covell (Sharks), Michael Crocker (Storm), Brett Finch (Roosters), Craig Fitzgibbon (Roosters), Adam MacDougall (Rabbitohs), Scott Prince (Tigers), Milton Thaiday (Knights), Lance Thompson (Sharks), Tame Tupou (Broncos), Lincoln Withers (Raiders),

2 points
Luke Bailey (Dragons), Brenton Bowen (Cowboys), George Carmont (Knights), Brian Carney (Knights), Peter Cusack (Rabbitohs), Daniel Fitzhenry (Tigers), Paul Gallen (Sharks), Awen Guttenbeil (Warriors), Ashley Harrison (Roosters), Tom Learoyd-Lahrs (Raiders), 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), Steven Southern (Cowboys), John Sutton (Rabbitohs), Brad Thorn (Broncos), Clinton Toopi (Warriors), Dean Young (Dragons)

1 points
Darren Albert (Sharks), Trent Barrett (Dragons), Paul Bowman (Cowboys), Nathan Cayless (Eels), Matt Cooper (Dragons), Michael Ennis (Broncos), Kurt Gidley (Knights), Matthew Gidley (Knights), Tony Grimaldi (Bulldogs), Lee Hookey (Panthers), Wairangi Koopu (Warriors), Luke MacDougall (Rabbitohs), Tony Martin (Warriors), Luke Patten (Bulldogs), Shane Rodney (Panthers), Brent Sherwin (Bulldogs), David Simmons (Sharks), Steve Simpson (Knights), Billy Slater (Storm), Tim Smith (Eels), Brett Stewart (Sea Eagles), Shane Tronc (Cowboys), Anthony Tupou (Roosters), Trent Waterhouse (Panthers), Simon Woolford (Raiders), Craig Wing (Roosters), William Zillman (Raiders)