NRL Round Up – Round 4

Melbourne continue to make the early running in the NRL after toppling St George Illawarra 17-4 at Ethihad Stadium.

Two penalties from Cameron Smith was all that separated the sides at half time but the Storm kicked on after the restart and grabbed scores from Dane Neilsen and Anthony Quinn.

The Dragons replied with a well-worked try from Jason Nightingale but a superb score from Billy Slater put the result beyond any doubt.

MELBOURNE STORM (17)
Tries: Billy Slater, Anthony Quinn, Dane Nielsen
Field Goals: Cameron Smith 1
Penalty Goals: Cameron Smith 2

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS (4)
Tries: Jason Nightingale

Brisbane’s poor start to the season has continued after a 25-6 defeat at the hands of the Sydney Roosters.

James Aubusson darted over for the Roosters’ first score which was followed by a solo effort from Todd Carney.

Phil Graham set up Anthony Minichiello for the home side’s third score and despite a try from Andrew McCullough, another score from Carney sealed the win for the Roosters.

SYDNEY ROOSTERS (25)
Tries: Todd Carney (2), Anthony Minichiello, James Aubusson
Field Goals: Todd Carney 1
Conversions: Todd Carney 4

BRISBANE BRONCOS (6)
Tries: Andrew McCullough
Conversions: Peter Wallace 1

North Queensland bounced back from last week’s reverse at St George to record a resounding 32-18 victory over Gold Coast.

The Titans crossed first through Mark Minichiello, but the Cowboys replied with a brace of tries from Willie Tonga either side of a Luke O’Donnell to give them an 18-6 lead at the break.

The Titans struck first after the break through Tagatese but Tonga raced through the visiting defence for his third.

Minichiello weighed in with his second before Jonathan Thurston dummied his way over late on to seal the points.

NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS (32)
Tries: Luke O’Donnell, Johnathan Thurston, Willie Tonga (3)
Conversions: Johnathan Thurston 5
Penalty Goals: Johnathan Thurston 1

GOLD COAST TITANS (18)
Tries: Mark Minichiello (2), Sam Tagataese
Conversions: Mat Rogers 3

Cronulla ended their miserable losing streak with a gritty, if unspectacular 11-0 win over Parramatta.

Blake Ferguson weighed in with two tries after half time to give the Sharks a much needed result and condemn the Eels to their second loss in as many weeks.

Tim Smith heralded his arrival at Cronulla with a penalty and a drop-goal although the home side club lost winger Luke Covell with a season-ending knee injury.

CRONULLA SUTHERLAND SHARKS (11)
Tries: Blake Ferguson (2)
Field Goals: Tim Smith 1
Penalty Goals: Tim Smith 1

PARRAMATTA EELS (0)

Manly returned from their trip across the Tasman with two competition points after a superb 14-6 win over the New Zealand Warriors.

Michael Robertson scored a brilliant try to open the Sea Eagles’ account which was added to by Jamie Lyon’s penalty for a 6-0 interval lead for the visitors.

Jerome Ropati dummied his way over to level things up but another penalty from Lyon and a score from Steve Matai saw the Sea Eagles home.

NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS (6)
Tries: Jerome Ropati
Conversions: James Maloney 1

MANLY SEA EAGLES (14)
Tries: Steve Matai, Michael Robertson
Conversions: Jamie Lyon 1
Penalty Goals: Jamie Lyon 2

Wests Tigers recovered from a 22-10 half time deficit to record a miraculous 35-22 win over Canberra.

Early scores from Dane Tiles, Jarrod Croker and Jason Picker gave the Raiders a healthy lead before Liam Fulton crossed in reply for the Tigers.

A piece of magic from Terry Campese created a score for Sean Fensom before a break out from Lote Tuqiri saw Benji Marshall cross in the corner to reduce the arrears to 22-10 at the break.

A length of the field attack from the Tigers after the restart saw skipper Robbie Farah cross under the posts, who later added a drop-goal to scores from Chris Lawrence, Fulton and Beau Ryan to see the visitors victorious.

CANBERRA RAIDERS (22)
Tries: Dane Tilse, Joe Picker, Jarrod Croker, Shaun Fensom
Conversions: Terry Campese 3

WESTS TIGERS (35)
Tries: Robbie Farah, Liam Fulton (2), Benji Marshall, Chris Lawrence, Beau Ryan
Field Goals: Robbie Farah 1
Conversions: Benji Marshall 5

Newcastle fell to a controversial late 34-30 loss at the hands of Penrith.

Lachlan Coote scored for the Panthers before Akuila Uate grabbed a quick brace of scores.

Corey Paterson crossed as did Uate for his third to give the Knights a commanding 24-6 lead at the break.

Back to back tries after the break for the Panthers from Michael Jennings and Sam McKendry put them within and a slightly fortuitous try for Luke Lewis drew them level at 24-24.

Jarrod Mullen and Joseph Paulo traded scores but with Penrith pressing, a Frank Pritchard break lead to a match-winning score from Adrian Purtell.

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS (30)
Tries: Jarrod Mullen, Cory Paterson, Akuila Uate (3)
Conversions: Scott Dureau 5

PENRITH PANTHERS (34)
Tries: Luke Lewis, Adrian Purtell, Michael Jennings, Sam McKendry, Lachlan Coote, Joseph Paulo
Conversions: Michael Gordon 5

Sam Burgess was the star for South Sydney with two tries as his team crushed Canterbury 38-16.

Ben Roberts score first for the Bulldogs but three scores from Beau Champion, Chris Sandow and Nathan Merritt put the Rabbitohs in the driving seat.

Burgess barged his way over twice in quick succession to give Souths a handy 26-6 lead.

Isaac Luke scored after the restart for the Rabbitohs and despite two scores for Canterbury from Bryson Goodwin and Ben Barba, Souths werein control and rounded off the scoring through Beau Champion.

SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS (38)
Tries: Beau Champion (2), Sam Burgess (2), Nathan Merritt, Issac Luke, Chris Sandow
Conversions: Issac Luke 3 Chris Sandow 2

CANTERBURY BULLDOGS (16)
Tries: Ben Roberts, Ben Barba, Bryson Goodwin
Conversions: Bryson Goodwin 2