5 Big Things: Everything we learned in Round 20

This weekend of NRL action saw a familiar face re-enter the top four as the convoluted top eight picture begins taking shape. Here are 5 Big Things we learned in Round 20.

Carnage at CommBank

Friday night’s instalment of the Battle of the Wests was chockfull of insanity from the early stages. Fill-in number six Sean O’Sullivan crossed for Penrith early before an energetic Parramatta outfit answered with two tries in four minutes to snatch the lead. Moments later, a dangerous throw saw Nathan Cleary sent off for the first time in his career in a devastating blow for Penrith who are expected to be without their star halfback and captain until week one of the finals. The Eels ran away with it against a dazed Panthers side and took an unassailable 30-4 lead into the sheds. The Panthers re-grouped and managed to outscore Parramatta in the second half but the result was all but decided when Cleary was marched in the opening quarter of proceedings. Circumstances aside, Parramatta are the only side to have defeated Penrith this season and they have done it twice. Question marks surrounding their ability to string together multiple wins come finals time are fair but their ability to trouble premiership heavyweights is far from a concern for Brad Arthur. They are, however, expected to be without halfback Mitchell Moses for the next month after he broke a finger in the win in what will be an extremely testing period as they aim to stay ahead of the surging Raiders and Roosters.

Here come the Green Machine

The Canberra Raiders looked at long odds to make a charge towards September a few weeks ago but four wins from their last five have them on the cusp of the top eight with a rather friendly draw ahead. Their 12-point win over the now last-place Titans was not their most convincing but it allowed them to leapfrog Manly and stay tied with the Roosters in the win column. Their lacklustre for-and-against may prove costly but they have a serious shot at a finals berth with five games remaining. They will face a Panthers outfit this Saturday evening sans their starting halves before facing St. George Illawarra, Newcastle, Manly and the Wests Tigers who are all below them on the ladder. Edge forward Hudson Young is enjoying arguably the most productive stretch of his career and was close to the best on ground against the Gold Coast on Saturday. The 24-year-old scored a try and came up with another two skilful assists to along with 118 run metres, five tackle breaks, and 31 tackles. Joseph Tapine, meanwhile, continued his incredible year, running for a team-high 172 metres from 20 carries with 13 tackle breaks and 29 tackles.

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Hero Hynes kicks Cronulla to victory

It took 86 intense minutes but the Cronulla Sharks managed to kick their way to a one-point golden point victory over South Sydney to solidify their place in the top four. In a topsy-turvy contest, Souths veteran Alex Johnston crossed for the opening try of the evening to move into the top ten on the NRL’s all-time try-scoring list before Cronulla answered through Connor Tracey. The Sharks looked to have sealed it through a barnstorming effort from veteran prop Andrew Fifita before Tevita Tatola tied things in the 77th minute. Both sides blew opportunities to win the game before Nicho Hynes piloted a one-pointer through the sticks to send Shark Park into a frenzy off the back of a Thomas Burgess send-off. Hynes kicked well all night and laid on a try whilst Siosifa Talakai finished with his highest run metre total since his breakout performance against Manly in Round 7, with a game-high 231. Cameron Murray was huge for South Sydney running for 154 metres and making 50 tackles whilst interchange middles Burgess and Siliva Havili combined for 343 metres from 32 carries.

Wests Tigers stun Brisbane

The Wests Tigers have scratched and crawled their way off the bottom of the ladder following an enthralling 32-18 victory over the Broncos in Brisbane. Jackson Hastings was everywhere for the visitors, finishing with 43 possessions, 157 run metres, 39 tackles and three tackle breaks before leaving the game early with an unfortunate lower leg injury. Jock Madden, who was called up late as to replace the injured Luke Brooks, scored a try, laid on two line breaks and made 21 tackles in a performance that certainly impressed coaches both at the Wests Tigers and perhaps across the premiership. Ken Maumalo ran for a team-high 171 metres and broke eight tackles whilst back-rower Alex Seyfarth made 50 tackles with just one miss. The win marked the first of interim head coach Brett Kimmorley’s career and also boosted the Wests Tigers ahead of the Titans on the ladder. The loss for Brisbane, meanwhile, was a tough pill to swallow with Kevin Walters’ men dropping out of the top four. Complacency marred the performance for Brisbane, however, 13 errors and eight penalties and infringements made life all the more difficult for the hosts. Fullback Tesi Niu continued showing off his first-grade credentials, scoring a try, running for 182 metres from 19 carries, and breaking six tackles whilst Payne Haas ran for a game-high 198 metres and made 30 tackles.

Are the Dogs exciting?

After 10 rounds, the Bulldogs’ attack was rudderless; they were averaging single-digit points and causing nary a bother for opposing defences. Over the past two months, however, interim coach Mick Potter has unlocked whatever shackles were stunting their work with ball in hand and allowed them to blossom into a vastly improved attacking outfit. They have hit 34-plus points in three of their past seven and have been held under 10 just once throughout that stretch. Offseason recruits Matt Burton and Josh Addo-Carr have developed mouth-watering synergy down the left flank whilst Jeremy Marshall-King, Jake Averillo, and Kyle Flanagan are beginning to work out the intricacies of first-grade. Jacob Kiraz bagged the first hat-trick of his NRL career in their 24-10 win over Newcastle on Sunday afternoon whilst Josh Addo-Carr laid on a pair of pearlers that are sure to appear on highlight reels for the remainder of the season and beyond. Adding arguably the world’s best edge forward Viliame Kikau next season will provide the Dogs with even more attacking juice whilst Reed Mahoney’s craftiness and subtlety around the ruck should make life easier for the men around him. It has been an historically lean period for the Dogs over the past half-decade but 2023 cannot come quick enough for the revitalised blue and whites.

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