5 Big Things: Everything we learned in Round 25

The NRL’s regular season has officially concluded and the postseason is here. The final round of the season saw a plethora of activity as sides still alive dare to dream of October glory. For the final time in 2022, here are 5 Big Things we learned in Round 25.

Parra outlast Melbourne to set up mouth-watering Western Sydney showdown

Parramatta managed to survive a Melbourne side sans Jahrome Hughes 22-14 on Thursday night in front of an electric CommBank crowd to secure a top four berth for the third time in six years and set up a huge playoffs clash against rivals Penrith. A sharp individual effort from a fleet-footed Dylan Brown saw Parramatta cross for the first points of the game in the 13th minute before Mitchell Moses piloted through a gift penalty goal to give the hosts an 8-0 halftime lead. A hard-running Will Penisini crossed early in the second stanza to take the lead out to 14 before skipper Clint Gutherson floated a pristine cut-out to a streaking Maika Sivo to balloon the lead to what looked to be an unassailable 20 points. Melbourne ran in a trio of tries in the final 15 minutes but were denied a last-ditch effort to win thanks to some dreadful goal-kicking. Junior Paulo put together one of his more dominant outings of 2022 running for a game-high 216 metres from 21 carries with three offloads whilst Gutherson ran for 144 metres and assisted on two tries. Reagan Campbell-Gillard was also superb running for 185 metres of his own as Parramatta’s pack got one over their Storm counterparts. For Melbourne, Munster was everywhere running for a team-high 202 metres with eight tackle breaks and a try assist. Parramatta will face the Panthers in Penrith on Saturday night with a preliminary finals berth on the line whilst Melbourne will host the red-hot Raiders on Saturday in a sudden-death final.

Chooks open Allianz with a bang but at what cost?

The newly-renovated Allianz Stadium was opened with a bang on Friday night with the Roosters defeating the Dragons 34-6 in Round 3 of the NRLW season before the Roosters got one up on rivals South Sydney to earn the right to host their elimination finals rematch next Sunday. Rabbitohs skipper Cameron Murray left the game in the opening set after picking up a nasty head knock before Roosters edge forward Angus Crichton grabbed the first four-pointer of the game in the seventh minute running a beautiful line off Luke Keary. A similar action saw Crichton burst into the backfield not long after before finding James Tedesco back up the middle to give the Roosters a 12-point lead which soon became 14 after Sam Walker nailed a penalty goal. The Rabbits hit back through Peter Mamouzelos who pounced on a deft Latrell Mitchell grubber for his first NRL try. Souths were unable to stay within reach, however, allowing Walker to retrieve his own grubber and score the Roosters’ third try. Their lead leapt up to 20 early in the second half through a storming Egan Butcher who dispatched of several defenders to slam the ball down. A tiptoeing four-pointer from flanker Taane Milne breathed some life back into the Bunnies before Mitchell was binned for a professional foul much to the delight of the Roosters faithful. With Mitchell off, South Sydney capitalised on a Roosters spill to send Milne over for his second. Now with all the momentum, South Sydney made a break down the left touchline courtesy of Alex Johnston who was eventually dragged down by Nat Butcher who held on for too long and also found himself in the bin. Down 10 with 2:40 left, Souths needed to draw on the miracle work of past Roosters-Rabbitohs clashes but saw their chances evaporate when a Kodi Nikorima touch-finder was batted in by Paul Momirovski. The Roosters won 26-16 and earnt the right to host Souths again at Allianz next Sunday in a win-or-go-home qualifying final. The Chooks will, however, be without superstar centre Joseph Manu who picked up a calf issue in the second-half and is expected to miss two-to-three weeks.

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Bulldogs, Titans end seasons with clutch one-pointers

Whilst bottom eight clashes are largely ignored as the regular season winds down, viewers were treated to a pair of one-point shootouts across the weekend. The Bulldogs rebounded from a 16-0 first-half deficit against Manly on Friday night to tie things up in the 49th minute courtesy of a 90-metre Aaron Schoupp intercept. Haumole Olakau’atu swooped on a Daly Cherry-Evans grubber to wrestle the lead back for Manly before a scrappy Dogs bomb in the final five ended up in the hands of Kyle Flanagan to tie the game at 20-apiece. Matt Burton capped his maiden season at Canterbury off with a match-winning one-pointer in the dying stages. Tevita Pangai Jr was dynamic for the Dogs off the bench running for 165 metres from 19 carries with three tackle breaks and a try assist whilst unsung prop Max King put in a stint of his own running for 170 metres from 19 carries and making 31 tackles in 66 minutes in the middle. Over in Auckland on Saturday, the Warriors and Titans fought it out in their own one-point showdown, ending with Tanah Boyd slotting a golden-point field-goal to win it for the Titans. The visitors found themselves trailing by 14 with six-and-a-half minutes remaining before a brilliant effort from Jayden Campbell followed by Paul Turner’s first try as a Titan brought them within two. An Addin Fonua-Blake high shot gave the Titans the opportunity to send the game the golden-point in the final 90 seconds of regulation. The match ended with a walk-off, 33-metre drop-goal courtesy of Boyd. Beau Fermor ended his standout year with another impressive performance scoring a try, assisting on another and running for 127 metres with four tackle breaks whilst Jayden Campbell ran for a game-high 220 metres with eight tackle breaks and a try and barnstorming winger Greg Marzhew ran for 195 metres of his own with a remarkable 14 tackle breaks.

Broncos put cherry on top of historic downfall

Just six weeks ago, the Brisbane Broncos were nestled in the top four and had won 10 of their previous 12 matches. Five losses from their final six games, however, saw them freefall down the ladder at an historic pace as they became the first team of the NRL-era to find themselves in the top four with six rounds remaining and miss out on the postseason. Their season was put to bed on Saturday evening with a 22-12 loss to the Dragons at a slippery Kogarah Oval. The hosts got off to a quick start with Jack Bird burrowing through a weak Brisbane middle to snatch opening points before Brisbane prop Thomas Flegler was binned for a high shot. The Broncos held on whilst down a man and answered with a try of their own through Delouise Hoeter. With five minutes remaining before the break, Dally M contender Ben Hunt nailed a fifth-tackle 40/20 which led to a Mathew Feagai try in the left corner off some slick hands from centre Zac Lomax. In the opening stages of the second stanza, Hunt bamboozled several Brisbane defenders before finding Cody Ramsey with an underarm offload to extend the lead to 10. Billy Walters found a try out of dummy-half just short of the hour-mark as Brisbane threatened to wrestle the lead off the Dragons. The red-and-whites, however, showed a level of resolve as they continually held the visitors out and capped things off with one of the tries of the season courtesy of Feagai. The Broncos stood in disbelief as their season which offered so much promise faded right in front of them. Questions will undoubtedly be asked at Brisbane over the summer; with Reece Walsh returning next season as well as the injured Herbie Farnworth, 2023 firms as a massive year for the future of the club.

Canberra demolish Wests Tigers to punch their finals tickets

The Raiders have punched their tickets to the postseason thanks to a 56-10 demolition job over a soulless Wests Tigers outfit at Leichhardt Oval. Despite Jack Wighton and Elliott Whitehead being rested, the Raiders poured in an absurd seven unanswered tries in the opening half-hour of the game to take a 42-point lead into halftime. The Wests Tigers were met with boos from the Leichhardt faithful as they exited the field after the first 40 and, whilst the second-half score finished just 14-10 in Canberra’s favour, the damage both on the scoreboard and in the minds of the supporters had been done. Matthew Timoko, Sebastian Kris, Nick Čotrić, Jordan Rapana, Hudson Young, Xavier Savage and Jamal Fogarty all ran in first-half tries before Josh Papali’i joined the party in the second-half with Young bagging a double. Zane Musgrove was sin-binned late in the piece for a forearm to the back of Corey Horsburgh’s head to cap off a humiliating afternoon for the club as they ushered in the first wooden spoon in the joint-venture’s history. The Raiders will journey south for an elimination final against the Storm in Melbourne – a venue which they have won their past four games at including a qualifying final upset in 2019 which ended with Joseph Leilua pouncing on a Josh Addo-Carr knock-on to send John Bateman over for a match-winning four-pointer.

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