NRL Weekly Wrap: Everything we saw in Round 5

Chooks brush past Eels in Round 5 opener

The Roosters have improved to 3-1 on the year after cruising to a 28-20 win over Parramatta to open the round on Thursday night.

A pair of first-half sin bins – the second of which was for a Bailey Simonsson high shot on James Tedesco ruling him out of the game – put the Eels on the back foot from early in the piece with the Roosters taking a 16-2 lead into the sheds.

Second-half tries to Jaxson Paulo and Luke Keary put the result beyond any doubt before Parramatta snagged a couple of late ones to make the scoreline more respectable.

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was superb for the tricolours running for 180 metres from 21 carries and making 25 tackles whilst Luke Keary scored a double and ran for 131 metres.

The Eels were led by Will Penisini’s two try assists and team-high 138 run metres.

Fierce Panthers bring up half-century in Raiders thumping

After an up-and-down start to their title defence, the Panthers managed to properly turn the screws in a 53-12 bloodbath against the Raiders at GIO Stadium on Friday.

After a first half in which they had only notched two tries to one, the Panthers scored seven second-half tries to dispatch of Ricky Stuart’s Raiders in the first meeting between the sides since Stuart’s infamous “weak-gutted dog” presser last year.

In poetic fashion, Panthers back-rower Jaeman Salmon dived over under the sticks for the final try of the contest much to the thrill of his teammates.

Nathan Cleary scored 21 of Penrith’s 53 points and assisted on another try to go along with 124 run metres whilst Brian To’o ran for a game-high 235 metres from 23 carries and broke eight tackles.

The Raiders completed 14 less sets, missed 31 more tackles, and ran for 773 less metres than their counterparts in what was an all-out drubbing.

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Spirited Storm get one over Bunnies at Accor

After a less-than-convincing start to the season, Melbourne earnt a valuable 18-10 win in their heavyweight clash against South Sydney on Friday night.

Josh King crossed for an early one for Melbourne before Cody Walker answered with his third try in two weeks for the Rabbitohs.

A 21st-minute Will Warbrick try gave Melbourne a half-time lead before Cameron Munster notched the first try of the second half to give Melbourne a handy 18-6 lead that proved enough.

Harry Grant was terrific for the Storm managing the ruck and finishing with 107 run metres and 51 tackles whilst Munster scored a try and ran for 141 tackles with four tackle breaks.

For Souths, Cameron Murray assisted on a try, ran for 151 metres, and made 45 tackles without a miss whilst Thomas Burgess ran for a game-high 218 metres from 23 carries with four tackle breaks and made 27 tackles.

Sea Eagles, Knights hold on for rare draw in Mudgee

A 90-minute belter in Mudgee ended in the NRL’s first draw since Round 3, 2020 between Manly and Newcastle on Saturday afternoon.

Manly scored twice in the first eight minutes before Newcastle answered with three four-pointers of their own through Greg Marzhew, Jack Johns, and Dom Young – two of which with Manly’s Haumole Olakau’atu in the bin and the other with their own Lachlan Fitzgibbon off – to make it 16-10 after just 23 minutes.

Brad Parker crossed for Manly before Young grabbed a second prior to the half-time siren as Newcastle took a six-point lead into the break.

Young scored a 90-metre beauty to open the Knights’ second-half account before Manly answered with back-to-back-to-back tries to take the lead.

With a little over two minutes left of regulation, Young skied to reel in a high ball and grab the first four-try haul of his NRL career.

After 90 minutes and several unsuccessful field goal attempts, both sides walked away with one point as the Mudgee locals were treated to a 64-point extravaganza.

Young scored four for the Knights and ran for 227 metres from 18 carries with five tackle breaks whilst Lachie Miller continued his superb start to 2023 running for a team-high 282 metres from 27 carries with 13 tackle breaks and a try assist.

For Manly, Tom Trbojevic ran for a game-high 297 metres from 33 carries and assisted on a pair of tries whilst Olakau’atu scored a try and ran for 198 metres with five tackle breaks.

Dragons bounce back against injury-hit Dolphins in Wollongong

The Dragons are back in the winners’ circle after back-to-back games conceding 40 points thanks to a second-half surge in Wollongong resulting in a 38-12 win over the Dolphins.

Tries to Jacob Liddle and Blake Lawrie gave the Dragons a 12-8 lead heading into the second half before the game opened up.

Mikaele Ravalawa scored two of the side’s five second-half tries as they grabbed their sixth-straight victory at WIN Stadium.

Ben Hunt scored a try, assisted on another, and ran for 124 metres with six tackle breaks whilst 100th-gamer Moses Suli ran for game-high 198 metres from 17 carries and proved a handful down the right edge all evening.

For the Dolphins, Jamayne Isaako scored one of their tries and assisted on their other whilst running for a team-high 197 run metres with seven tackle breaks.

Broncos stay perfect as Wests Tigers drop to 0-5

In a clash between two teams at absolute opposite ends of the spectrum, the Broncos ran away 46-12 winners over the Wests Tigers at Suncorp Stadium.

Brisbane poured on five tries in the opening 33 minutes to jump out to a 26-0 lead against an increasingly deflated-looking Wests Tigers outfit.

The second half was far less lopsided, however, the damage had already been done as the Wests Tigers slumped to their second 0-5 season start in-a-row.

Reece Walsh’s stupendous start to 2023 continued with the star fullback assisting on three tries and running for 194 metres with six tackle breaks whilst Payne Haas scored a try, ran for 144 metres with six tackle breaks and made 19 tackles without a miss in just 46 minutes.

Brisbane completed 11 more sets and made six extra line breaks as they remain atop the premiership ladder five weeks in.

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Warriors pull off all-time comeback in Shire thriller

A Sunday afternoon thriller in soppy Shire conditions ended with a game-winning Shaun Johnson penalty goal that capped off a 20-point Warriors comeback as they survived the Sharks 32-20 for one of their greatest ever victories.

Cronulla were on fire early jumping out to a 20-0 lead just 18 minutes thanks to tries to Teig Wilton, Ronaldo Mulitalo, and Sione Katoa.

The affair then shifted to a truly back-and-forth one with Wayde Egan crossing to get the Warriors on the board before the Sharks answered through William Kennedy.

A Marata Niukore try cut the Sharks lead to 14 prior to half-time before he was binned for a hip-drop, however, tries to Shaun Johnson and Ed Kosi made things very interesting for the Warriors on the other side of the break.

Mulitalo’s second slowed the Warriors momentum ever-so-slightly before Josh Curran dived over in the 67th-minute to tie it.

Sharks veteran Dale Finucane also found himself binned for a hip-drop late in the piece before a frantic, loose-ball sequence resulted in another Warriors penalty 36 metres out from the posts with less than a minute on the clock.

Johnson nailed the shot to unbelievably give the Warriors their first lead of the contest.

The Sharks were awarded a penalty off a short kick-off, however, Hynes was unable to slot a last-ditch, game-tying penalty goal as the Warriors walked away with a famous win.

Johnson was sensational again assisting on two tries and kicking for 676 metres to go along with a game-winning penalty goal whilst fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad ran for a team-high 207 metres from 24 carries and broke nine tackles.

For Cronulla, Siosifa Talakai assisted on three tries and ran for 150 metres whilst Jesse Ramien ran for a game-high 208 metres with six tackle breaks.

Burton the hero as Dogs stun Cowboys in golden-point

Another phenomenal round of football was capped off with a golden-point classic at Accor Stadium as a walk-off Matt Burton proved the difference the Bulldogs’ 15-14 win over the Cowboys.

Tom Dearden opened the scoring in the sixth-minute with a stunning chip-and-chase before the Dogs answered through star rookie Jacob Preston.

A Tom Chester try on the hour-mark gave the visitors an eight-point lead as they looked poised to go on with it.

Canterbury were far from finished, however; Preston grabbed a second with 13 minutes left to breathe life back into the blue-and-whites before Josh Addo-Carr scored in the final minute of the game to tie it at 14-apiece.

Burton’s potential match-winning conversion from the left touchline after the siren cannoned off the left post and out, setting up an absurd golden-point period.

In the 85th minute, Burton put in a cross-field kick for Addo-Carr which the veteran winger scooped up and toed forward again.

The Cowboys came within inches of snuffing the possession out, however, Preston dived on the off the ricochet to lay the platter for a remarkable, 30-metre field goal one pass in from the sideline off Burton’s miraculous boot.

The Kennel went ballistic as Burton and favourite son Josh Reynolds lead the celebratory charge.

Preston was key for the Dogs scoring a pair of tries, running for 116 metres, and making 47 tackles whilst Jacob Kiraz’s eye-popping start to the season continued with the Lebanon international running for a game-high 239 metres from 26 carries with two line breaks.

For the Cowboys, Dearden scored a try and made 35 tackles whilst Chester also scored one and ran for 164 metres with seven tackle breaks.

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