NRL Round Up – Round 15

Newcastle stopped the rot following three successive defeats to grind out an unspectacular 6-4 win over Parramatta.

A Justin Horo try for the Eels midway through the second half looked to be enough to get the visitors home.

But a late try to Junior Sau was converted by skipper Kurt Gidley to hand the Knights a much-needed victory.

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A Benji Marshall-inspired Wests Tigers overcame Canberra 18-8 to keep their place in the NRL’s top three.

The teams were level at half time with Beau Ryan and Joel Monaghan crossing for the Tigers and the Raiders respectively.

But a late surge from the Tigers saw them add further tries through Ryan and Daniel Fitzhenry.

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Cronulla’s dismal season shows no signs of any real improvement following their 22-4 defeat at home to St George Illawarra.

Isaac Gordon got the Sharks’ solitary score while the Dragons, who looked at ease for most of the match, added tries through Brett Morris, Jason Nightingale and Kyle Stanley (2).

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Two field goals from halfback Trent Hodkinson helped Manly record a narrow 26-25 victory over South Sydney.

The Rabbitohs held a narrow 13-12 lead at the break but Manly surged ahead with tries from Matt Ballin and Tony Williams.

They were pegged back by the visitors, who grabbed tries through Rhys Wesser and Chris Sandow.

The bunnies looked to be heading for the win until Hodkinson’s vital intervention.

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Melbourne won the NRL’s battle of the basement when they hammered North Queensland 58-12.

The Storm were in command from the start and ran in ten tries against a disappointing Cowboys outfit.

Youngsters Justin O’Neil and Matthew Duffie combined to produce five tries between them and there was also a brace for Billy Slater.

Shannon Gallant and James Tamou got the Cowboys’ tries.

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Canterbury fell to a desperate 24-25 defeat at the hands of Gold Coast – their sixth straight loss.

The Titans led 18-6 at the break thanks to scores from Mark Minichiello, William Zillman and Kevin Gordon.

But the Bulldogs fought back and thanks to tries from Ben Barba (2) and Jamal Idris they looked to be in the box seat.

But Greg Bird’s field goal proved to be decisive and the Titans held on for the victory.

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Suncorp Stadium once again proved to be a happy hunting ground for Penrith, as they closed out Brisbane 22-12.

Tries from Lachlan Coote and Adrian Purtell ensured the Panthers held a 10-6 advantage at half time.

Peter Wallace’s 72nd minute try threw the game back into the balance but a close range score from Panthers hooker Kevin Kingston made sure of the result for the visitors.