NRL Round Up – Round 5
Brisbane Broncos 28-20 St George Illawara Dragons
The Broncos held off a spirited second-half comeback from St George Illawarra, to secure their fourth win of the NRL season in Brisbane on Friday night.
The Broncos dominated the statistics in the first half and were rewarded with tries to Corey Norman, Peter Wallace, Andrew McCullogh and Alex Glen to lead 24-0 at the break.
However, the Dragon’s showed why teams must never take the foot off the throat against them, scoring three tries in 11 minutes, before Matt Gillett sealed the win for Brisbane with 10 minutes remaining.
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Melbourne Storm 34-22 Newcastle Knights
The Melbourne Storm continued on their winning way at home on Friday, cruising to victory over the Newcastle Knights.
The Storm scored three tries to one in the first half to lead 16-6, with Billy Slater scoring 11 minutes in to the second period to take his impressive season tally to nine tries in the first five games.
Will Chambers and Todd Lowrie also crossed the paint for Melbourne, but tries to Jarrod Mullen, Neville Costigan and winger James McManus tightened up the margin late in the game.
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Penrith Panthers 14-15 Cronulla Sharks
Cronulla chalked up their third victory in a row for the first time in years, all thanks to the boot of Todd Carney.
The Sharks led 12-4 at halftime through tries to Jason Bukuya and Wade Graham, before the star Penrith due of Jennings and Coote got the Panthers back in front.
Carney kicked a penalty to tie the scores up with eight minutes remaining, before stepping up again a minute later to slot the winning field goal from 40 metres out.
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Parramatta Eels 29-20 Manly Sea Eagles
The return of Jarryd Hayne, and the midweek decision for club legend Nathan Hindmarsh to hang up his boots at end of 2012, had an immediate impact for the NRL battlers Parramatta, who gained their first points of 2012 in a deserved win over the Manly Sea Eagles.
Down 18-10 at half time, Manly fought back to take the lead in the 56th minute through young foward Jamie Buhrer, but the party in Parra was not to be spoiled and the Eels finished the game with 11 unanswered points.
On his return, Hayne was the standout – bagging a double and setting up another – while halfback Chris Sandow was on form with the boot, kicking six goals and a late field goal.
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Sydney Roosters 26-8 New Zealand Warriors
The boys from Bondi produced their best performance of the season to defeat a lackluster New Zealand Warriors side in Sydney on Sunday.
Led up front by powerhouse forward Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, the Roosters dominated the more fancied Warriors pack and took a 16-4 halftime lead though tries to Kenny-Dowall, Aubusson and Mitchell.
The Kiwis were never really in the contest despite a brilliant try to Warriors fullback Glen Fisiiahi in the 59th minute. His Roosters counterpart, Anthony Minichiello, had the final say of the match, touching down for a try to cap of a vastly improved performance for the Sydneysiders.
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Gold Coast Titans 20-30 Canterbury Bulldogs
The embattled Gold Coast Titans put in a gallant effort on Sunday afternoon, but came up short against a determined and flashy Canterbury Bulldogs.
The Titans started well, leading 10-0 after 13 minutes, but finished the half down 18-14 with some Ben Barba brilliance in the in-goal resulting in a 105 metre try to Josh Morris minutes before the break.
The diminutive fullback continued his impressive display – this time in defence- holding up the Titans big men, Nate Myles and Luke Bailey, when they looked certain to score.
The Titans regained the lead briefly though Myles, before tries to Frank Pritchard and Steve Turner put the result out of reach for John Cartwright’s men, ending another horror week on the Gold Coast.
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Wests Tigers 16-17 South Sydney
The Wests Tigers blew a 16-4 lead with five minutes to go, to loose in golden point extra time to the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
It was looking to be the game that broke the losing streak for Wests, with stand-in captain Benji Marshall beautifully guiding the Tigers around the park all day.
However, when Issac Luke grabbed his second and winger Andrew Everingham scored and then converted from close to the sideline two minutes later, it was off to extra time.
Two minutes in and who else but Greg Inglis struck an ugly, wobbling drop kick over the bar, condemning the Tigers to an embarrassing fourth straight loss in a row.
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Canberra Raiders 6-22 North Queensland Cowboys
The Canberra Raiders received a Jonathon Thurston master class on Monday, in a result that lifts the Cowboys to fourth on the ladder.
Thurston laid on three out of the four tries for the Cowboys, which included a brace for Ashley Graham who has now taken his tally to six tries in five matches.
It could prove to be a costly loss for the Raiders, with Joel Thompson limping off with ankle injury and Brett White unlikely return in 2012 with what appears to be a suspected torn ACL.