NRL Round-up

Parramatta failed to recover from the loss of Brett Finch as they crashed to a 22-8 defeat at the hands of in-form St George Illawarra.

The Eels showed a great deal of enthusiasm but lacked direction in attack, trailing 14-2 at the break to the Dragons who registered first half scores to Ben Hornby and Neville Costigan.

Despite Jeremy Smith’s sin-binning, the Eels could only muster a single score from Luke Burt, when he took advantage of Kris Keating’s measured kick.

It was Wendell Sailor who had the final say, crossing in the corner late on after some neat attacking sets from the Dragons.

Eels
Tries: Luke Burt
Goals: Luke Burt 2

Dragons
Tries: Ben Hornby, Neville Costigan, Wendell Sailor
Goals: Jamie Soward 5

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Canberra are starting to gain momentum by grabbing their second win in as many weeks after holding off a spirited Cronulla side at Toyota Park to win 24-14.

The hosts started strongly and a neat piece of vision from fit-again Trent Barrett put David Simmons away for the first of his three tries.

Canberra hooker Stuart Flanagan exposed some poor marker defence when he darted over from dummy-half although a Luke Covell penalty equalled the scores at 6-6 at the break.

Simmons grabbed his second – a carbon copy of his first before claiming his hat-trick with the next score from Brett Seymour’s kick.

But the Sharks were exposed again, this time by veteran forward Alan Tounge who barged his way under the posts forcing the home side to attack desperately in the dying minutes. But things backfired for the hosts when Terry Campese galloped under the sticks late on after collecting a lose pass.

Sharks
Tries: David Simmons 3
Goals: Luke Covell 1

Raiders
Tries: Jarrod Croker, Stuart Flanagan, Alan Tongue, Terry Campese
Goals: Josh Dugan 2 Terry Campese 2

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Melbourne showed their steel by grinding out a workmanlike 16-14 victory over Penrith.

The Storm started strongly but it was the Panthers who grabbed the first score through Brad Tighe after Michael Jennings had broken out.

The Panthers pressed but the home side held out and managed a score through Billy Slater who beat a tiring Panthers defence to score under the posts.

It was the hosts who acclimatised better to the damp conditions after the break when Anthony Quinn collected a kick to score although the Panthers hit back through Luke Lewis who raced through from a neat Wade Graham pass.

A Will Chambers bodyslam on Lachlan Coote gave Michael Gordon the chance to square the game up before Cameron Smith kept his cool late on to kick the winning penalty.

Storm
Tries: Billy Slater, Anthony Quinn
Goals: Cameron Smith 4

Panthers
Tries: Brad Tighe, Luke Lewis
Goals: Michael Gordon 3

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Newcastle edged out the New Zealand Warriors 24-22 in an enthralling game at Energy Australia Stadium.

The Knights made the early running with a try through Isaac De Gois but the Warriors hit back with a score from Wade McKinnon who latched on to Stacy Jones’ neat kick.

The underrated James McManus grabbed a brace of tries to give the home side a handy 14-6 lead at the break.

But New Zealand were not fazed and it was Nathan Fien who got the first try of the second half after burrowing his way over the line. A Keith Lulia try gave the Knights a narrow 18-12 lead before Jarrod Mullen set up Chris Houston for another score.

Russell Packer barged his way over for the Warriors who added another score though Patrick Ah Van, but the Knights held on to claim a morale-boosting 24-22 victory.

Knights
Tries: Isaac De Gois, James McManus (2), Keith Lulia, Chris Houston
Goals: Kurt Gidley 2

Warriors
Tries: Wade McKinnon, Nathan Fien, Russell Packer, Patrick Ah Van
Goals: Denan Kemp 3

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It was a happy return to action for fullback Brett Stewart who overcame recent controversy to weigh in with three tries to help Manly breeze past hapless Wests Tigers 23-10 at Brookvale.

Beau Ryan score first for the Tigers but a hat-trick of scores from Stewart helped the Sea Eagles establish a 16-4 halftime lead.

A Glenn Hall try extended Manly’s lead before John Morris gave the Tigers hope with a try, although it was Matt Orford who had the final say with a field goal to seal the result.

Sea Eagles
Tries: Glenn Hall, Brett Stewart 3
Field Goals: Matt Orford 1
Goals: Jamie Lyon 3

Tigers
Tries: Beau Ryan, John Morris
Goals: Benji Marshall 1

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Torrential rain failed to dampen the spirits of Canterbury who posted a gritty 14-12 result against a resurgent South Sydney.

The Bulldogs started badly with a kick-off out on the full and it was not long before Beau Champion burst over at the other end to take an early lead for the Rabbitohs.

Josh Morris just about managed to ground a kick-ahead to bring the Bulldogs right back into the contest before skipper Andrew Ryan went through a hole in the Bunnies’ defence to score.

A Michael Ennis penalty edged the home side further in front before John Sutton’s grubber set up Eddy Pettybourne for a try to make for a tense finish, although the Rabbitohs could not take advantage.

Bulldogs
Tries: Josh Morris, Andrew Ryan
Goals: Hazem El Masri 2 Michael Ennis 1

Rabbitohs
Tries: Beau Champion, Eddy Pettybourne
Goals: Chris Sandow 1 Issac Luke 1