NRL Round Up – Round 18

Gold Coast remain rooted to the bottom of the NRL table after a 22-6 defeat against the New Zealand Warriors.

First half tries from Sean Berrigan and Bill Tupou had the Warriors 10-6 in front at the break.

The tries kept coming for the home side who added scores through Simon Mannering and Manu Vatuvei.

To add insult to injury, Titans returnee Mat Rogers limped off with a suspected broken toe.

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Toothless Wests Tigers slipped outside the NRL’s top eight after falling to a disappointing 22-6 defeat to Parramatta.

Jordan Atkins scampered over early on for the Eels to establish a 6-0 interval lead.

Further Eels tries from Reni Maitua and Ryan Morgan meant Robert Lui’s solo score had no bearing on the result.

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Cronulla’s surge in form continued with a 26-12 defeat of visitors Canberra.

Wade Graham, Colin Best and Jason Bukuya crossed for the Sharks with Blake Ferguson and Jarrod Croker getting on the scoreboard for the Raiders.

But the home side were more clinical in the second half and two tries in ten minutes from Taulima Tautai and Ben Pomeroy put the result beyond doubt.

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Melbourne are sitting pretty at the top of the NRL after an encouraging 28-18 win over Canterbury in Adelaide.

Jesse Bromwich’s early score was met with an effort from the Bulldogs’ Ben Barba but Cooper Cronk and Sisa Waqa crossed help the Storm into a 16-6 interval lead.

A try from Bulldogs forward David Stagg evened up the scoreline but back to back tries from Matt Duffie and Cronk meant former Storm player Steve Turner’s late score was in vain.

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Penrith’s two match winning streak under caretaker coach Steve Georgalis came to an end with a 34-26 defeat against the Sydney Roosters.

Despite an early score from Kevin Kingston, the Roosters hit back with scores from Joseph Leilua, Todd Carney (2) and Phil Graham to lead 22-14 at the break.

Luke Lewis crossed after the restart but two Roosters tries from Braith Anasta and Sean Kenny-Dowall either side of a Carney penalty meant Lachlan Coote’s late score served only as a consolation for the Panthers.

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Manly’s march to an eighth premiership took another step forward when they defeated South Sydney 36-22 at Brookvale.

First half scores from David Williams, Brett Stewart and Michael Oldfield gave the Sea Eagles a 16-8 lead at the hooter.

The Rabbitohs came out firing in the second half and briefly took the lead thanks to scores from John Sutton and Greg Inglis.

However,  back-to-back tries from Kieron Foran went with scores from Michael Robertson and Williams to give the Sea Eagles a well-deserved, if slightly flattering victory.

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Cory Paterson proved a point to his former masters after his dumping by Newcastle, helping North Queensland to a 22-12 victory.

Will Tupou and Kurt Gidley crossed meaning the sides were locked 6-6 at half time.

Gidley’s second score evened up the scoreline after Joel Reithmuller had crossed for the Cowboys, but further scores from James Segeyaro and Paterson made sure of the victory.