NRL Round Up – Round 9
Johnathan Thurston was the hero for North Queensland as they edged out St George Illawarra 24-20.
Thurston got the Cowboys’ first try although Brett Morris replied with two
scores to take the Dragons out in front before Thurston hit back with a
penalty to make the half-time score 10-8.
The Cowboys earned a number of repeat sets which eventually led to James
Tamou crossing shortly before Thurston grabbed his brace.
Morris and Thurston traded scores before the 22-year-old raced over for a
remarkable fourth try to bring the Dragons back into it.
And St George had a chance to win it but Ben Hornby‘s break came to nothing when a Matt Prior pass failed to find Wendell Sailor leaving the home side
to take the spoils.
Cowboys
Tries: Johnathan Thurston (3), James Tamou
Goals: Johnathan Thurston 4
Dragons
Tries: Brett Morris (4)
Goals: Jamie Soward 2
————————————————————————
Newcastle held on for a tense victory over Gold Coast 23-18 at Energy
Australia Stadium.
Chris Walker opened the scoring for the Titans but three tries to Chris
Houston, Ben Rogers and Zeb Taia gave the Knights a comfortable 18-4 lead.
The Titans did not lie down and replied before half time with a score from
Kevin Gordon meaning they were just 18-14 down at the break.
Scottish-born winger James McManus latched on to a Jarrod Mullen grubber
kick for the Knight’s next score before the NSW origin halfback added a
penalty.
A Scott Prince penalty put the Titans within range before a score from Will
Zillman looked to have stolen it.
But it was not to be after referee Sean Hampstead disallowed ruling that Junior Sau had been held back at marker.
Knights
Tries: Chris Houston, Ben Rogers, Zeb Taia, James McManus
Goals: Kurt Gidley 3
Field Goals: Jarrod Mullen 1
Titans
Tries: Chris Walker, Luke Bailey, Kevin Gordon
Goals: Scott Prince 3
————————————————————————
A Jamie Lyon-inspired Manly shocked in-form Brisbane 22-20 at Suncorp
Stadium.
Former Penrith front-rower Joel Clinton got the Broncos’ first score before
Alex Glenn extended the home side’s lead after he collected a pass from Israel Folau’s towering leap.
But Jamie Lyon raced on to Matt Orford¹s grubber to fire the Sea Eagles back
into the game 16-6 at halftime.
A chip and chase score from Lyon after the break was followed up by a score
for Michael Bani before Lyon grabbed his hat-trick after racing onto Glenn
Stewart’s kick.
The Broncos woke up and registered a score through Antonio Winterstein just before fulltime, although Corey Parker was not on target with the conversion
leaving the Sea Eagles to claim the points.
Broncos
Tries: Antonio Winterstein (2), Joel Clinton, Alex Glenn
Goals: Corey Parker 2
Sea Eagles
Tries: Jamie Lyon (3), Michael Bani
Goals: Jamie Lyon 3
————————————————————————
Despite being on the end of a hefty penalty count Melbourne were able to overcome Sydney Roosters 28-12
With Steve Turner in the bin it was the Roosters who scored first through Setaimata Sa although Brett White replied for the Storm seven minutes later
Turner returned from the bin and registered the Storm’s next try just five minutes before half time when he got on the end of a well-worked movement from the Melbourne backline.
Ryan Hoffman darted over from dummy half soon after to give Melbourne a handy 16-6 half time lead.
Turner turned villain when his mistake lead to the Roosters scoring through Sam Perrett but a further Storm try through Jeff Lima and two Brett Finch penalties put the result beyond doubt.
Roosters
Tries: Setaimata Sa, Sam Perrett
Goals: Craig Fitzgibbon 2
Storm
Tries: Brett White, Steve Turner, Ryan Hoffman, Jeff Lima, Brett Finch
Goals: Joseph Tomane 4