NRL Rewind Round 24
0By Stephen Gallagher
Broncos 20 Bulldogs 10
In a heated affair, the Broncos beat out the Bulldogs.
Brisbane’s back line went left to right, and right to left to get on the board first.
The Canterbury Bankstown twins hit back with a Brett effort to score.
All of the Bulldogs work came undone 50 seconds before half time as Brisbane crashed over for the lead. And another short range effort saw Brisbane streak further ahead after the half.
The Bulldogs discipline and handling made them look like a side well and truly out of contention. A poor display this close to the finals.
As for Brisbane? Their end of season revival continues.
Panthers 40 Tigers 10
A brutal bashing of the Tigers in the Blue Mountains has sealed a top eight spot for Penrith.
They were on point, with a fantastic 80 minute performance which could cause other teams problems in the finals.
The Tigers poor season is done. Another big loss in a year of underachieving.
Cleary and Cartwright gave Brooks and Moses a lesson, despite being even younger than they are.
The Panthers have so much confidence right now, their football is stunning.
Titans 26 Knights 6
Another loss to the Knights, surprise surprise.
It took less than ten minutes before Gold Coast crashed over for a try.
Newcastle once again looked poor in every facet of the match.
The Gold Coast didn’t deliver their best performance of the season, but it was easy to see they were going to emerge victorious.
Turn style Newcastle defence soon saw the scoreboard show 18-0 before winger Nathan Ross streaker 90 metres in an impressive intercept.
The rest of the game had a few errors within it, and petered out – but the Titans were always comfortable.
Storm 38 Sea Eagles 18
Minor Premiers again?
4 tries to Suliasi Vunivalu in 4 minutes was enough for the Storm to get home.
These two usually share a fierce rivalry – but the Sea Eagles first half was pathetic.
The Storm made light weight of whatever Manly called defence, with some simple tries being scored.
Manly did get the third try of the match, but they were slim on attack and the Storm counted with big shifts down the field.
The Storm have all but wrapped up the minor premiership now, gaining some solid momentum with the finals looming.
Cowboys 34 Warriors 6
The Cowboys had this one in the bag early. The Warriors showed no guts as their season came to an end. The fifth year in a row they have failed to make the finals.
JT is usually the man, but I believe it was Michael Morgan who was the big influence on this change of form for the Cowboys.
The locals were helped by poor handling by the opposition, who only had one shining light in debutante Ata Hingano.
Raiders 28 Eels 18
The Eels came out of the blocks in a big way.
They looked like they would crush Canberra early on with some fantastic displays of attack, backed up on D.
Before the home side knew it, they were down 16-0 and the writing was on the wall.
They hit back before the break but a bleak 18-4 scoreline was projected on the big screen.
Brad Arthur’s Eels had no response to a near perfect second half by the Raiders.
Their left edge attack tore Parra to pieces, with Brenko Lee bagging four tries.
This Raiders outfit is the real deal.
Roosters 42 Dragons 6
Another big performance the the Roosters is giving them the end to the season they deserve.
A lot of hard work and repeat sets turned in to a 14-0 lead.
A bit of luck went the way of the Red V to only trail by eight at the break.
The second half was all Roosters. They got on the front foot and they pounded away to a memorable win.
The Dragons could not answer to the pace set by the tri-colours, and were just front row spectators to an attacking clinic.
Rabbitohs 12 Sharks 8
Three losses in a row and the Cronulla Sharks look very vulnerable at the wrong time of the year.
The Rabbitohs fronted up in a big clash.
The game was in an even balance until the 30 minute mark, where a raid on Cronulla’s goal line led to a try under the sticks.
Not long after, a penalty followed up and the Rabbitohs took a 8-0 lead in to the break.
When the second half commenced – Cronulla built up some momentum and crashed over through Wade Graham with a short ball.
The match was very tense, and both sides had their chances – but with time up, Souths fired the killer blow through winger Burgess.
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