Love NRL: Round 2
A late try from impressive hooker Andrew McCullough gave Brisbane victory in the Queensland derby.
Since their win over the Cowboys there has been some bad news for the Broncos though, with Jharal Yow Yeh announcing his retirement after two years of injury hell.
Tim Sheens, head coach of the Australian national side that Yow Yeh represented three times, paid tribute to the Queenslander:
“It’s a real shame, he is a great kid and a player who would have had a long Test career for many years,” said Sheens.
Englishman James Graham will have enjoyed his weekend, as after agreeing a new four-year contract he helped Canterbury rout a depleted Cronulla outfit.
The Sharks were without Paul Gallen, Todd Carney, Luke Lewis, Andrew Fifita, Beau Ryan, Jeff Robson, Eric Grothe and more for the 42-6 defeat at ANZ Stadium, in which Bulldogs halves Josh Reynolds and Trent Hodkinson were particularly impressive.
Graham’s international teammates Gareth Widdop and Sam Tomkins faced off at a hurricane-hit Eden Park, and to make matters worse for the home fans, Tomkins and co. fell to another tepid defeat.
Widdop’s St George Illawarra side scored some fantastic tries in their 31-12 win, as did Wests in their 42-12 demolition of Gold Coast.
Ex-Wigan winger Pat Richards managed a brace of tries for the Tigers, and he is currently the competition’s leading points scorer with a total of 34.
Elsewhere, 2013 Grand Finalists Sydney Roosters and Manly both returned to winning ways, whilst Canberra came back in the last 12 minutes to defeat Newcastle, and there was another one point win for Melbourne.
Round 2 results:
Manly 14-12 South Sydney (Mar 14, Central Coast Stadium)
Brisbane 16-12 North Queensland (Mar 14, Suncorp Stadium)
NZ Warriors 12-31 St George Illawarra (Mar 15, Eden Park)
Melbourne 18-17 Penrith (Mar 15, AAMI Park)
Sydney Roosters 56-4 Parramatta (Mar 15, Allianz Stadium)
Gold Coast 12-42 Wests Tigers (Mar 16, Cbus Super Stadium)
Newcastle 20-26 Canberra (Mar 16, Hunted Stadium)
Canterbury 42-4 Cronulla (Mar 17, ANZ Stadium)
Round 3 fixtures:
Wests Tigers v South Sydney (Mar 21, ANZ Stadium)
Brisbane v Sydney Roosters (Mar 21, Suncorp Stadium)
Penrith v Canterbury (Mar 22, Sportingbet Stadium)
Cronulla v St George Illawarra (Mar 22, Remondis Stadium)
North Queensland v NZ Warriors (Mar 22, 1300SMILES Stadium)
Manly v Parramatta (Mar 23, Brookvale Oval)
Canberra v Gold Coast (Mar 23, GIO Stadium)
Melbourne v Newcastle (Mar 24, AAMI Park)