NRL Weekly Wrap: Everything we saw in Round 16

Cowboys edge Panthers in golden-point thriller

North Queensland picked up a thrilling 27-23 golden-point win over defending premiers Penrith in an Origin-impacted clash to open the round in Townsville.

A dominant first half saw the Panthers jump out to a 22-12 lead with less than half an hour to play before Kulikefu Finefeuiaki notched his maiden NRL try to breathe some life back into the Cowboys.

A Kyle Feldt try tied it with less than a quarter of the match remaining before a Chad Townsend field goal looked to have sealed it for the hosts with under two minutes left.

Jack Cogger slotted a field goal on the stroke of full-time to send it to golden-point but it was Scott Drinkwater who stole the show diving over for a walk-off four-pointer in the 88th minute.

Drinkwater scored a double and ran for 200 metres with seven tackle breaks whilst Jason Taumalolo ran for 203 metres with four tackle breaks and made 26 tackles in his return from injury.

Dylan Edwards ran for 333 metres from 32 carries with four tackle breaks whilst Jaeman Salmon scored a try, assisted on another, and ran for 119 metres.

Roosters outlast Knights in Hunter

The Knights fell agonisingly short of their first win since Round 13 after falling to the Roosters 18-16 on Saturday afternoon in Newcastle.

The Roosters took a 12-point lead into the sheds thanks to tries to Nat Butcher, Joseph Manu, and Daniel Tupou.

The Knights embarked on a chasedown effort with tries to Dom Young and Bradman Best but ultimately fell short as they dropped their fourth game of the season by four points or less.

Manu scored a try and ran for 318 metres with seven tackle breaks filling in at the back for James Tedesco whilst Nat Butcher scored a try, ran for 171 metres, and made 45 tackles.

Kalyn Ponga assisted on a try and ran for 240 metres with eight tackles breaks whilst Best scored a try and ran for 224 metres.

Eels too strong for disappointing Sea Eagles

Parramatta have cracked the top eight for the first time this season after downing Manly 34-4 at CommBank on Saturday.

The Eels got off to a flying start scoring a quartet of tries in the opening 35 minutes to take an 18-point advantage into the sheds.

Second half tries to Bailey Simonsson and Makahesi Makatoa sealed it for Brad Arthur’s men as they secured their fourth-consecutive win.

Simonsson scored a double and ran for 206 metres with five tackle breaks whilst Clint Gutherson scored a try, assisted on two others, and ran for 132 metres with seven tackle breaks.

For Manly, Christian Tu’ipulotu scored their lone try and ran for a team-high 141 metres with three tackle breaks.

Storm defeat Wests Tigers to spoil maiden Twal try

Alex Twal’s 115-game try-drought was vanquished at Campbelltown on Saturday night but it was not enough for the Wests Tigers to overcome the Storm who ran away 28-6 victors behind four Will Warbrick tries.

Twal sent the crowd into a frenzy in the first half after diving on a loose ball to end the premiership’s longest try-scoring drought, however, a pair of Warbrick tries plus a Tyran Wishart try had the visitors up 14-6 at the intermission.

Warbrick grabbed two more in the second half as the Storm pulled off a six-tries-to-one romp to secure their fourth win from their past five.

Warbrick scored four and ran for 156 metres whilst Jahrome Hughes assisted on two and kicked for 474 metres.

Isaiah Papali’i ran for 192 metres with six tackle breaks and made 41 tackles for the Wests Tigers.

Sharks thump Dogs in Sunday afternoon showdown

The Sharks are back in the winners’ circle after taking down the Bulldogs 48-10 at PointsBet Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Five tries in the opening 36 minutes gave the Sharks a 30-4 lead heading into the sheds.

Tom Hazelton, Briton Nikora, and Jesse Ramien each notched second half tries to improve the score a week on from a disastrous loss to the Storm.

Nicho Hynes assisted on a pair of tries and ran for 236 metres with three tackle breaks whilst Blayke Brailey assisted on three tries and made 25 tackles.

Jacob Kiraz ran for 169 metres and assisted on a line break for Canterbury.

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