NRL Round Up – Round 26

Correspondent

Brisbane crashed out of the finals race after succumbing to an 18-16 defeat at home to Canberra.

Daniel Vidot and Josh Dugan crossed for the Raiders to establish a 12-4 interval lead.

Vidot crossed again after the break but Brisbane hit back with tries from Matt Gillett and Jharal Yow Yeh but it was not enough.

Gold Coast held on for a thrilling 21-18 victory at home to Wests Tigers.

Tries from Ashley Harrison and William Zillman helped the Titans establish a 13-0 lead at the break.

But back to back scores from Chris Heighington and Lote Tuqiri for the Tigers brought them right back into the contest.

Gareth Ellis and Kevin Gordon traded scores but a late penalty from Scott Prince sealed the win for the home side.

Parramatta ended a dismal season on a sour note when they went down 26-12 at home to the New Zealand Warriors.

Warriors scores from Brent Tate and Jerome Ropati during a dominant opening period helped the visitors establish a 8-6 lead at the break.

Futher tries from the visitors came from Manu Vatuvei, Jesse Royal and Kevin Locke to put the result beyond any doubt although Eels skipper Nathan Cayless did manage to mark his final NRL game with a late try.

A patchy Sydney Roosters ended put North Queensland’s miserable season on another losing note 18-8.

The Cowboys did manage to score first through fullback Matt Bowen but a try from Sean Kenny-Dowall saw the Roosters narrowly ahead 6-4 at the break.

Kenny-Dowall grabbed another try after the break and although the Cowboys got another score through Ty Williams, half-back Mitchell Pearce sealed the result with a late score.

Penrith spoiled the leaving party for the departing Luke Covell and Trent Barrett by hammering Cronulla 50-12.

The Panthers were in scintillating form with Michael Jennings and Frank Pritchard grabbing first half doubles to go with a Brad Tighe try to make it 28-6 at half time.

The points kept coming in the second with Pritchard snatching his third, Tighe a second and Wade Graham and Nathan Smith a try each.

A spectacular score from fullback Nathan Gardner could not gloss over another horrendous result for Cronulla.

Melbourne ended the season from hell on a high, beating Newcastle 34-4.

The Storm held just a 12-0 lead at half time courtesy of tries from Ryan Hinchcliffe and Greg Inglis.

But a second half avalanche of points saw Melbourne cross for tries through Ryan Hoffman, Brett White, Aiden Tolman and Inglis to send the men from the Southern capital out on a positive note.

South Sydney’s finals hopes were eventually extinguished when they were defeated 38-24 at the hands of premiers St George.

The Dragons raced into a 26-6 half time lead thanks to a hat-trick of tries from forward Ben Creagh and a score from winger Brett Morris.

Darius Boyd and Matt Cooper crossed for the Dragons either side of two South tries from Jamie Simpson and Dylan Farrell meaning Eddy Pettybourne’s late try was meaningless.

Manly entered the finals series on the back of a disappointing defeat to Canterbury 30-24.

Despite scoring tries through Steve Matai, Ben Farrar and Chris Bailey the Sea Eagles still trailed at half time 16-14.

Despite a second try to Matai and another try for Jamie Lyon the Bulldogs cancelled these out with tries of their own from Ben Barba and Josh Morris.

Bryson Goodwin’s kicking, which included two penalties and a field goal, proved to be the vital factor as the home side went down to their 12th defeat of the year.

A costly late hit from Matai on Bulldogs hooker Michael Ennis will see him banned for not only the entire finals series but also the Four Nations tournament at the end of the year.

NRL