NRL Finals Wrap: Penrith flex their muscles as familiar faces depart

Week one of the NRL’s finals series was one for the underdogs as three of the weekend’s four betting favourites going down with each clash about as awe-inspiring and intense as one could have hoped for.

Panthers show-off premiership pedigree in comfortable Eels rout

The Panthers again proved why they have been viewed as the premiership frontrunners for much of the season on Friday night coming away with a 27-8 victory over rivals Parramatta at BlueBet Stadium.

Taylan May was sin-binned in the 11th minute for a high shot that dazed Parramatta centre Will Penisini, however, Penrith grabbed the first points of the night off a Waqa Blake knock-on with Brian To’o ducking his way to the try-line. Parramatta answered through interchange prop Oregon Kaufusi who reeled in a Reed Mahoney face-ball to crash over underneath the sticks. Off a Mitchell Moses field goal miss down the other end, Nathan Cleary piloted through a one-pointer to give Penrith a 7-6 halftime lead. A high shot from Spencer Leniu gave the Eels the opportunity to take the two and earnt their first lead of the night early in the second half before To’o grabbed his second try of the night as Penrith wrangled the lead back. Fullback Dylan Edwards was soon after the beneficiary of a pinpoint Cleary grubber as Penrith’s lead ballooned beyond a converted try on the hour-mark only moments after Mitchell Moses was taken from the field with a head knock which will be monitored throughout the week. James Fisher-Harris crashed across off a Cleary flick for his third try of the season to put a bow on things off the back of Blake’s fourth error of the night.

Cleary put together a wow of a performance in his first game back since serving a five-week suspension running for 121 metres with a line break, assisting on two tries, and kicking superbly all night; his floating bombs yielded results on numerous occasions and will haunt Waqa Blake’s dreams for a while. Aside from Cleary, To’o put together his usual strong performance crossing for a double to go along with a game-high 238 run metres and seven tackle breaks. Fisher-Harris did everything that was asked of him running for 164 metres and making 34 tackles whilst Isaah Yeo ran for a quiet 130 metres and made 36 tackles without a miss. For Parramatta, Reagan Campbell Gillard – 19 carries for 152 metres – and Junior Paulo – 20 carries for 166 metres – did their best at laying a platform for their playmakers to work off but never built any sustained ascendency and struggled dictating the freedom with which Cleary kicked through concentrated pressure; Penrith five-eighth Jarome Luai went the entire 80 minutes without needing to kick the ball. Parramatta’s outside backs, however, had a night to forget but will need to leave it in the rear-vision mirror as they prepare to embark on do-or-die football.

The Panthers have earnt themselves a week off and the right to host a preliminary final in Sydney against the winner of Cronulla-South Sydney whilst the Eels will face Canberra at CommBank Stadium on Friday night.

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Tapine, Papali’i go berserk as Raiders stun Storm in Melbourne

The Raiders became the first side ever to beat Melbourne five times in-a-row at AAMI Park on Saturday as they came away with a brave 28-20 win over the Storm to punch their ticket to the second week of the finals.

The Raiders – who had to win six of their final seven games just to qualify for the finals – very much resembled a side playing with house money and the level of unbridled confidence needed to knock off well-oiled football machines like the Storm. Bustling centre Matthew Timoko took advantage of some sharp offloading work up the centre to scurry 35 metres down the right touchline, overpower fullback Cameron Munster on-one-one, and plant the ball down for the contest’s opening points. The Storm answered through Xavier Coates down the opposite sideline before he plucked a Jahrome Hughes chip kick out of the air moments later for his second. Raiders seven Jamal Fogarty then pushed his way through some ordinary tackle attempts from Nick Meaney and David Nofoaluma off an attacking scrum to tussle the lead back before Elliott Whitehead, running off Joseph Tapine, pushed away from Meaney again to grab Canberra’s third a few minutes before the halftime hooter. In the early stages of the second-half, Marion Seve made a nice break down the right edge before the ball found its way inside to Coates who snagged his third hat-trick of the season and pulled the Storm back into the game. Nelson Asofa-Solomona monstered his way over the line as Melbourne snatched the lead back off the Raiders before Hudson Young wriggled past Munster and got his hands on a wayward-bouncing grubber to give Canberra a two-point lead in the 65th minute. The visitors sealed things in the 73rd minute when Jordan Rapana reeled in a Sebastian Kris falcon to push the lead out to eight.

Tapine was on another level for the Green Machine running for a game-high 216 metres from 21 carries with six tackle breaks, three line break assists, three offloads and a try assist in 66 minutes in the front-row whilst his partner Josh Papali’i added 168 metres of his own, nine tackle breaks, and 29 tackles. Jack Wighton also impacted the game in multiple ways running for 106 metres, making a line break, assisting on a try and kicking for 283 metres. Munster ran the show for Melbourne finishing with a team-high 214 metres from 25 carries to go along with a try assist and six tackle breaks whilst Asofa-Solomona led all Melbourne forwards with 167 run metres, nine tackle breaks, and a try.

The Raiders will move on to face the Eels at CommBank next Friday night with a preliminary finals clash against the Cowboys in Townsville up for grabs. The Storm, meanwhile, will shift their focus to a 2023 season in which they will be without the likes of Jesse and Kenny Bromwich, Felise Kaufusi, and Brandon Smith but will welcome Tariq Sims and Eliesa Katoa and hope for some improved injury luck surrounding Ryan Papenhuyzen, Christian Welch, and Reimis Smith.

Holmes special sinks Sharks in golden-point thriller

A 92nd-minute, 44-metre Valentine Holmes field goal snap proved the difference in a belter of a clash between the Sharks and Cowboys in the Shire with the visitors coming away with a 32-30 golden-point win to book a home preliminary final in a fortnight’s time.

Cowboys edge forward Tom Gilbert snatched a Chad Townsend dink out of the air to claim the first points of the contest before Cronulla big man Toby Rudolf thundered his way to the line to even things up. Siosifa Talakai hit a gaping hole off Nicho Hynes’ hip to earn the home side an early lead before a 60-plus metre Tom Dearden scoot ended in six points down the other end. The Cowboys then looked to have truly wrestled momentum back in their favour when Peta Hiku capitalised on a sublime Jason Taumalolo cut-out to give his side an 18-12 lead. Cronulla, however, continued the match’s blow-for-blow fashion with a sharp short-side raid that saw Ronaldo Mulitalo streak down the left flank before finding fullback William Kennedy back up the middle. The Cowboys answered through Murray Taulagi in the 53rd minute before Cameron McInnes crashed over moments later as Cronulla leapt out to a 24-22 lead. Kennedy grabbed his second try of the contest hitting a hole off Hynes in what looked to be a potential match-sealer. At the 72-minute mark, Holmes was taken out off-ball chasing a Chad Townsend grubber in a borderline penalty try situation which resulted in Connor Tracey being binned and a penalty goal cutting the Sharks’ lead to six. The Cowboys had seven minutes to find a converted try against a 12-man defence and, with under 30 seconds on the clock, Jason Taumalolo swept behind a Jeremiah Nanai decoy to slam the ball down and send proceedings beyond 80 minutes.

Townsend managed to deflect a Hynes field goal attempt on the stroke of the first extra-time siren before the second siren put a line through another last-ditch attempt. After the game had advanced beyond the extra-time period to golden-point, Taumalolo bustled his way to the 30-metre line to lay the platform for Holmes – who spent the first five seasons of his NRL career with Cronulla – to slot a walk-off, two-point field goal.

Taumalolo was arguably the best on ground finishing with 270 metres from 24 carries, eight tackle breaks, and 42 tackles in 82 minutes whilst Hiku scored a try, ran for a game-high 314 metres from 28 carries, and broke eight tackles. Reece Robson went the full 92 minutes making 59 tackles without a miss whilst Reuben Cotter was also outstanding running for 182 metres and making 60 tackles in 83 minutes. The Sharks were led by Hynes’ three try assists, four line break assists, and 751 kick metres whilst Mulitalo ran for a team-high 275 metres with a try assist and eight tackle breaks.

The Sharks will face the Rabbitohs next Saturday night at Allianz Stadium in a do-or-die semi-final whilst the Cowboys will host the winner of Parramatta-Canberra in a Grand Final qualifier in Townsville the following week.

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Rabbitohs outlast Roosters in sin-bin-a-thon at Allianz

Australian rugby league’s oldest rivalry erupted again on Sunday afternoon as the Rabbitohs finished ahead of the Roosters in both the sin-bin total – four to three – and the points total – 30-14 – to keep their season alive.

Just 34 minutes of the game were played 13-on-13 as the clash descended into a brutal concoction of high-tackles, head knocks, and verbal stoushes with the rugby league itself more often than not glossed over. To be as brief as possible, Victor Radley earnt the game’s opening sin-bin for a half-hearted fist thrown at Taane Milne during a small-scale spat in the fourth-minute, Tom Burgess the second for back-to-back high shots – one of which ending James Tedesco’s afternoon, Milne the third for a high shot the set after, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves in the second half for a head slam that saw Burgess exit the field, Radley a second time along with Tevita Tatola for igniting another melee and finally Milne again for a second high shot.

As for the football, the first points of the afternoon came through the Rabbits taking advantage of a 12-man Roosters unit with an all-too-familiar left-side shift ending in an Alex Johnston try. Angus Crichton answered for the tricolours – still a man down – before a looping Sam Walker cut-out hit Daniel Tupou on the chest to give the Roosters their first lead of the contest. The Rabbitohs held on defensively despite being down to 11 men before Latrell Mitchell dove across the wrestle the lead back. The opening points of the second stanza then came through a second Johnston four-pointer taking his season tally to 30 for the second-consecutive season – a feat that had never been accomplished in premiership history. Jai Arrow then gathered in a Cody Walker grubber to put the lead out to 16 before Nat Butcher rounded in a Luke Keary grubber down the other end to keep the Roosters in it. Rookie Isaiah Tass crossed to seal things for Souths and extend their season by at least a week whilst the Roosters failed to advance past week one of the postseason for the first time since 2016.

Cody Walker put on a show for the Rabbitohs finishing with four try assists whilst Campbell Graham ran for a team-high 158 run metres and was on song defensively from the get-go. Skipper Cameron Murray ran for 140 metres and made 38 tackles. With Tedesco, Crichton, and Tupou all failing to finish the game, Siosiua Taukei’aho was among those who stepped up with the Tongan international running for 177 metres from 18 carries with four tackle breaks in his final outing as a Rooster whilst Joseph Sua’ali’i was full of running in his audition at the back finishing with a game-high 199 run metres in a mostly mixed performance.

South Sydney will face Cronulla next Saturday night again at Allianz Stadium with a preliminary finals berth on the line whilst the Roosters will now look towards a 2023 with Brandon Smith on deck.

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