2024 NRL: Indigenous Round Recap and Key Stats

Check out what happened in Indigenous Round (round 12) of the National Rugby League competition.

Final Scores

BULLDOGS 44 d DRAGONS 12
COWBOYS 42 d TIGERS 28
SEA EAGLES 26 d STORM 20
ROOSTERS 44 d RAIDERS 16
PANTHERS 42 d SHARKS 0
RABBITOHS 42 d EELS 26
TITANS 36 d BRONCOS 34
WARRIORS 24 d DOLPHINS 20

Current Ladder

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (Position: 1) 20 pts (82), Penrith Panthers (Position: 2) 18 pts (112), Melbourne Storm (Position: 3) 18 pts (75), Dolphins (Position: 4) 16 pts (65), Sydney Roosters (Position: 5) 14 pts (135), Brisbane Broncos (Position: 6) 14 pts (57), Newcastle Knights (Position: 7) 14 pts (-9), Canberra Raiders (Position: 8) 14 pts (-38), Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (Position: 9) 13 pts (36), Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (Position: 10) 12 pts (47), North Queensland Cowboys (Position: 11) 12 pts (2), St George-Illawarra Dragons (Position: 12) 12 pts (-88), New Zealand Warriors (Position: 13) 11 pts (-3),Gold Coast Titans (Position: 14) 8 pts (-89), Parramatta Eels (Position: 15) 8 pts (-119), Wests Tigers (Position: 16) 6 pts (-95), South Sydney Rabbitohs (Position: 17) 6 pts (-170).

Review

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The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are still first at the end of the Indigenous Round – despite a heavy loss to Penrith at PointsBet Stadium.

Perhaps wanting to prove a point after the Magic Round loss to the Warriors, Penrith scored seven tries, with 18 points for Dylan Edwards (a try and seven goals). Penrith are now one win behind the Sharks, with a +30 points differential advantage. After important wins over Melbourne and the Sydney Roosters, it remains to be seen if this is just a blip for the Sharks or a bad omen?

While Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles beat Melbourne at 4 Pines Park, the Storm are still third. It was another close chapter in this fiery rivalry: leading 12-6 at half-time, Manly pushed their lead out to 26-14 (tries to Ben Trbojevic, Tommy Talau, Jake Trbojevic, and Tommy Talau) before Jahrome Hughes got Melbourne within six points with six minutes left.

The Sydney Roosters continued their climb to the top four, beating Canberra at GIO Stadium. The Roosters led 12-6 after 35 minutes, with two tries either side of half-time (Joseph Manu and James Tedesco) blowing the game away, though Hudson Young did his best to keep Canberra in it with 30 minutes left. Manu and Tedesco both scored two tries.

The Gold Coast Titans won a 13-try thriller against Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium. There was 13 individual try scorers across both teams, with a penalty try to Deine Mariner (with Beau Fermor tackling him as he was about to gather the footy) and a 95-metre try to Ezra Mam. Jock Madden kicked five goals for the Broncos and Keano Kini four goals for the Titans.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs scored 38 unanswered second half points to beat St George-Illawarra Dragons at Accor Stadium. With the Dragons leading 12-6 late in the first half, an ankle injury to Jack Bird (which thankfully wasn’t as bad as it first looked) turned the game, with the deflated Dragons at the mercy of the Bulldogs: once Canterbury got in front after 52 minutes, the floodgates opened.

North Queensland won a high-scoring clash against the Wests Tigers at Queensland Country Bank Stadium. The Cowboys led 20-0 after 16 minutes, and while the Tigers closed the margin to 20-16 early in the second half, North Queensland kicked away again. Valentine Holmes finished with 22 points (two tries and seven goals), while Kyle Feldt and Jeremiah Nanai both scored doubles.

The Warriors won their second straight game, beating the Dolphins at Go Media Stadium. It was four tries each, with Adam Pompey’s four goals from four attempts trumping Jamayne Isaako’s two goals from four, though Isaako scored a late try to keep The Dolphins in the game.

South Sydney won their second game of 2024, beating Parramatta at Accor Stadium. Souths led from start to finish, opening up a 22-0 lead after 27 minutes. Keaon Koloamatangi scored a double for Souths while Maika Sivo scored two late tries for Parramatta.

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Players Making Their NRL Debut

Alex Lobb (Tigers) vs Cowboys, May 24
Lehi Hopoate (Sea Eagles) vs Storm, May 24

Key Stats

• Bulldogs record their biggest score in a match since May 4, 2016 (46-12 vs Eels, Round 9).
• Jaeman Salmon scored his first career double.
• Valentine Holmes becomes the first player to reach 100 points in the 2024 NRL season.
• Manly have beaten Melbourne in their last three games at 4 Pines Park.
• Reuben Garrick becomes the second player to reach 100 points in the 2024 NRL season.
• Sydney Roosters record their biggest win over Canberra Raiders at GIO Stadium (previous best was 38-12, August 17 2002 round 23).
• Sam Walker becomes the third player to reach 100 points in the 2024 NRL season.
• Penrith record their biggest win over Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at PointsBet Stadium (previous best 36-12, May 25 1986 round 12). This is also the equal highest winning margin of the 2024 NRL season (equal with Sydney Roosters victory over St George-Illawarra Dragons on ANZAC Day at Allianz Stadium).
• Alex Johnston moves to equal leading try scorer in the NRL era with Billy Slater (190), moving into second behind Ken Irvine (212 tries in 236 games between 1958 and 1973).
• The Gold Coast Titans have won their last two matches against Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
• Jamayne Isaako becomes the fourth player to reach 100 points in the 2024 NRL season.

Upcoming Milestones

• Alex Johnston is 10 tries from 200 NRL career tries.
• Valentine Holmes is one try away from 100 NRL career tries.
• Maika Sivo is four tries from 100 NRL career tries.
• Tom Trbojevic is five tries from reaching 100 NRL career tries.
• Dylan Edwards and Nick Meaney need one try for 50 NRL career tries.
• David Fifita is two tries from 50 NRL career tries.