NRL Round Up – Round 7

Correspondent

Brisbane Broncos stay top of the NRL ladder with victory over Wests Tigers, joined on 12 points by St George-Illawarra Dragons. Melbourne Storm fail to join them, suffering an upset at the hands of NZ Warriors.

A ROBUST defensive display and three second-half tries gave St George-Illawarra Dragons a 24-10 victory over Sydney Roosters on Anzac Day at the Sydney Football Stadium.

The reigning Premiers led 6-0 at the interval after Mark Gasnier swooped on a loose ball to touch down, and that lead was extended when Gasnier sent over Darius Boyd and Brett Morris followed.

The Roosters posted two tries from Justin Carney and Mitchell Pearce, but the champions sealed the win when Ben Creagh sprinted over in the last five minutes.

NZ Warriors caused an upset by ending Melbourne Storm’s unbeaten record at AAMI Park with an 18-14 victory on Anzac Day.

Melbourne opened the scoring after just four minutes through Beau Champion, but the Warriors replied through Krisnan Inu; Jacob Lillyman and Ukuma Ta’ai then added tries for an 18-8 half-time lead.

Cooper Cronk pulled it back to 18-14 just after the restart, but despite the best efforts of both sides the remainder of a thrilling second half yielded no more points.

Brisbane Broncos remain top of the NRL ladder after a 31-18 win over Wests Tigers at the Sydney Football Stadium on Good Friday with Darren Lockyer running the show for the Queenslanders.

The Broncos scored four first-half tries – Jarel Yow-Yeh, Sam Thaiday, Alex Glenn and Peter Wallace the scorers – before Lockyer’s drop goal made it 25-6 at half time.

The Tigers’ try came when Robert Lui set up Tim Moltzen; the pair grabbed a try apiece after the restart to bring Wests within seven points, but Lockyer crossed from the scrum to ensure a Brisbane victory.

A brace of tries from Steve Matai gave Manly Sea Eagles a 22-16 Good Friday win over Penrith Panthers at Brookvale Oval.

The Sea Eagles opened the scoring when Jamie Lyon sent Michael Oldfield in to score; Matai added his two either side of half time before selflessly setting up Michael Robertson for Manly’s fourth.

David Simmons had scored for Penrith before the interval, and the Panthers crossed twice more in the second half through Timana Tahau and Nigel Plum.
 

Ben Barba, celebrating the birth of his daughter that Saturday morning, led Canterbury Bulldogs to a 34-24 victory over South Sydney Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium.

Barba scored two tries – the second a 40-metre solo effort – as well as setting up tries for Michael Ennis and Steve Turner.

Souths, inspired by Chris Sandow, could have come from behind to win but conceded far too easily; they will also be without Sam Burgess for a time after he was forced off with a serious ankle injury.

Two tries from Gavin Cooper and an impressive performance from Jonathon Thurston helped North Queensland Cowboys to a 34-12 win over Cronulla Sharks on Saturday.

Cooper opened the scoring for the Cowboys before Thurston set up Kalifa Faifai Loa and Ashley Graham also scored; Cooper’s second opened up a 26-0 lead.

Luke Douglas and Paul Gallen hit back for the Sharks but a try from Willie Tonga ensured a big win for the Cowboys. 

Shane Shackleton’s last-minute try gave Parramatta Eels a 22-18 victory over Gold Coast Titans on Easter Sunday at Parramatta Stadium.

The Titans were leading 18-16 thanks to tries from Steve Michaels, William Zillman and Greg Bird when Shackleton touched down Daniel Mortimer’s kick to the in-goal area.

The Eels’ other tries came from Joel Reddy, Jacob Loko and Jeff Robson

Two late tries from Akuilla Uate gave Newcastle Knights a 22-12 Easter Sunday victory over Canberra Raiders at Canberra Stadium.

The Raiders had led 12-0 at the half-time interval thanks to tries from Bronson Harrison and Joe Thompson.

James McManus started the Newcastle comeback before Shannon McDonnell and Uate ensured that the Knights took the two points while the Raiders remain bottom of the NRL ladder for at least another week.

 

 

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