5 Big Things: Everything we learned in Round 21

Round 21 saw some eye-popping individual outings and several frantic finishes as the top eight picture continues morphing. Here are 5 Big Things we learned in Round 21.

Roosters firming as tricky week one matchup

Despite suffering through a rocky 2022, the Roosters find themselves in eighth position with four weeks to play and present as a difficult week one finals matchup should they qualify. Their attacking prowess was on full display in their 34-16 win over the Broncos on Thursday night. Halves Sam Walker and Luke Keary and fullback James Tedesco showed their class in the win with the trio assisting on five of the Roosters’ six tries and looking likely for long stretches throughout the night. Tedesco ran for 264 metres from 24 carries, broke 14 tackles, and assisted on two tries as the Roosters capitalised on a fast start. Keary, meanwhile, assisted on two tries and two line breaks whilst scoring one of his own as he got one up on 2014 premiership-winning halves partner Adam Reynolds. Edge forward Angus Crichton and Nat Butcher were both superb for the Chooks combining for three tries, 216 metres, and 12 tackle breaks whilst midseason-transfer Matt Lodge ran for 147 metres from 13 carries and made 19 tackles without a miss. If the Roosters can come up with another couple of big wins heading into the finals, they may well prove a headache come week one.

No Moses, no problem for Parramatta

A Mitchell Moses-less Eels outfit managed one of their more impressive displays of the season powering past Manly 36-20 in a major boost for their finals hopes. Dylan Brown was tremendous in Moses’ absence scoring a try, running for 179 metres, and making a team-high 39 tackles. Teenage halfback Jakob Arthur, meanwhile, came up with a pair of try assists, made 21 tackles, and kicked for 444 metres whilst skipper Clint Gutherson scored a try, assisted on three, and ran for 207 metres. Shaun Lane’s sensation form continued for Parramatta with the gawky edge forward running for 189 metres, assisting on a try, and making 24 tackles. The loss was a disappointing one for Manly who were in desperate need of a win to keep their finals hopes healthy as their middle forwards were thoroughly outplayed by Parramatta’s. They allowed the score-line to balloon conceding three tries in the final quarter of the game after leading 20-14 with less than half-an-hour to play. Morgan Harper and Jason Saab found some success with ball-in-hand down Parramatta’s right flank with the pair combining for 490 run metres, nine tackle breaks, and a try.

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Mitchell’s golden run

Latrell Mitchell’s run of form since returning from a three-month hamstring hiatus has been astonishing and his skillset was on full display in South Sydney’s 48-10 win over the Warriors on Saturday afternoon. The Rabbits piled on 36 points in the first 36 minutes before cruising to a 38-point victory as Mitchell earnt himself an early mark. Over his past six, Mitchell has scored four tries, assisted on nine, and broken 33 tackles as his Bunnies prepare for another finals run. Souths have won seven of their past nine and find themselves only two competition points out of the top four. With Adam Reynolds, Dane Gagai, Jaydn Su’A, Benji Marshall and Wayne Bennett all missing from last year’s Grand Final side, Mitchell offers Souths a point of different that they did not possess in their run to October in 2021. His combination of raw power, footwork, ball-playing and aggression is like few others in rugby league’s history and he looks as locked in as he ever has at the moment. If his run of form continues into September, Souths will be a difficult beat for whoever they come against and he will likely be one of the first players picked for the Kangaroos’ World Cup campaign in the UK in October.

Depleted Panthers make light work of Canberra

Despite being without the likes of Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai, and Viliame Kikau, premiership favourites Penrith made light work of an inconsistent Raiders side running away 26-6 winners in Canberra. Halfback Sean O’Sullivan was strong in place of Cleary laying on a pair of tries, making a line break, 17 tackles and kicking for 373 metres whilst Isaah Yeo put together his usual, tradesman-like performance running for 162 metres and making 40 tackles without a miss. For Canberra, Albert Hopoate ran for a team-high 178 metres with a line break and four tackle breaks whilst Josh Papali’i scored the first try of the game and ran for 126 metres. Penrith sit six points clear of the second-place Cowboys with four rounds remaining and look poised to take out their second minor premiership in three seasons. The Raiders, meanwhile, sit a win back of the eighth-place Roosters and may be without head coach Ricky Stuart for a period after disparaging comments he made postgame about Penrith five-eighth Jaeman Salmon have prompted widespread backlash.

Is the top eight decided?

With four rounds remaining, there are still 11 teams with mathematical shots at the top eight, however, there is a chance the top eight has already been decided. The eighth-place Roosters are currently two competition points and 140 for-and-against points ahead of the ninth-place Raiders. Had Canberra managed a victory against an undermanned Penrith unit on Saturday, the conversation would be vastly different, however, a loss has left them with some ground to make up. In short, the Raiders need to come up with two more wins than the Roosters over their final four. Canberra will face the Dragons, Knights, Sea Eagles and Wests Tigers in what are four winnable games whilst the Roosters face a much tougher run consisting of the Cowboys, Wests Tigers, Storm and Rabbitohs. Canberra are far from dead but will need to really hit their straps and likely need to win all four of their remaining games to be in with a chance at the postseason. The Raiders, however, have not managed a four-game winning streak since the backend of 2020 with consistency not exactly proving a strong suit of theirs. Manly and St. George Illawarra are two wins back of the Roosters and all but kissed their finals chances goodbye this weekend with losses. The top eight is far from decided but it looks as though there will be more shuffling within in rather than on the edge of it.

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