Check out what happened in round 13 of the National Rugby League competition.
Final Scores
EELS 34 d SHARKS 22
BULLDOGS 32 d KNIGHTS 2
DRAGONS 22 d PANTHERS 10
RAIDERS 26 d DOLPHINS 25 (Golden Point)
COWBOYS 18 d ROOSTERS 16
State of Origin Game 1
QUEENSLAND 38 d NEW SOUTH WALES 10
Current Ladder
Melbourne Storm (Position: 1) 20 pts (75), Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (Position: 2) 20 pts (70), Penrith Panthers (Position: 3) 18 pts (100), Dolphins (Position: 4) 16 pts (64), Brisbane Broncos (Position: 5) 16 pts (57), Canberra Raiders (Position: 6) 16 pts (-37), Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (Position: 7) 15 pts (36), Sydney Roosters (Position: 8) 14 pts (133), Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (Position: 9) 14 pts (77), North Queensland Cowboys (Position: 10) 14 pts (4), Newcastle Knights (Position: 11) 14 pts (-39), St George-Illawarra Dragons (Position: 12) 14 pts (-76), New Zealand Warriors (Position: 13) 13 pts (-3), Gold Coast Titans (Position: 14) 10 pts (-89), Parramatta Eels (Position: 15) 10 pts (-107), Wests Tigers (Position: 16) 8 pts (-95), South Sydney Rabbitohs (Position: 17) 8 pts (-170).
Review
Embed from Getty ImagesMelbourne are top of the ladder at the end of round 13 (the first Origin split round) after Cronulla-Sutherland and Penrith both lost.
Parramatta beat Cronulla at CommBank Stadium. Maika Sivo scored a double for the Eels as they led 16-10 at half-time. Mitchell Moses made a successful return from injury, with five goals and 652 kicking metres.
St George Illawarra beath Penrith at BlueBet Stadium. The Dragons overcame a 10-0 half-time deficit, with tries to Toby Couchman, Tyrell Sloan, Mathew Feagai, and Raymond Faitala-Mariner.
Canberra won their second Golden Point thriller of 2024, beating The Dolphins at Kayo Stadium. Both sides scored four tries (with Jordan Rapana and Jamayne Isaako both kicking four goals), but Canberra won the field goal battle. Isaako kicked the first one to give the Dolphins a 25-24 lead, then Rapana kicked his first to send the game into Golden Point. Isaako had two attempts in Golden Point – one was disallowed due to a blocking penalty on Max Plath and he missed the second one after it was touched by Joe Tapine – before Rapana kicked his second in the 87th minute. It’s the second Golden Point game between Canberra and The Dolphins in three matches.
Canterbury-Bankstown had a big win over Newcastle at McDonald Jones Stadium. While Newcastle led 2-0 after six minutes (following Connor Tracey’s sin bin), Josh Addo-Carr scored a double as the Bulldogs led 10-2 at half-time (though he’s now set to miss eight to 10 weeks with a hamstring injury). The Bulldogs also dominated the second half, with a double to Jacob Preston.
North Queensland pulled off a massive comeback win over the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium. The Roosters led 16-4 after 40 minutes before Scott Drinkwater (a try and three goals) led the Cowboys’ comeback. It puts the Cowboys on equal points with the Roosters and Canterbury, but still outside the eight on differential.
Queensland has opened the 2024 State of Origin series with a huge win at Accor Stadium. There was drama early when Joseph Sua’ali’i was sent off in the seventh minute for direct contact to Reece Walsh’s head. Walsh was ruled out of the game with a category 1 head knock, while Sua’ali’i is the sixth player in Origin history to be sent off. Leading 6-0, Queensland took advantage of a 12-man Blues: two tries to Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow giving them a 20-6 half-time lead. Zac Lomax scored early in the second half to cut Queensland’s lead to 10. A 23-minute arm wrestle occurred, with both sides having chances to score. But Queensland put the game away with tries to Ben Hunt (his second) and Xavier Coates, before The Hammer completed his hat-trick. Valentine Holmes finished with seven goals from seven.
Embed from Getty ImagesPlayers Making Their NRL Debut
Lipoi Hopoi (Bulldogs) vs Knights, May 31
Trent Toelau (Panthers) vs Dragons, June 1
Preston Riki (Panthers) vs Dragons, June 1
Jaxon Purdue (Cowboys) vs Roosters, June 2
Jamal Shibasaki (Cowboys) vs Roosters, June 2
Blake Steep (Roosters) vs Cowboys, June 2
Key Stats
- Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks have conceded 106 points in their last three matches (avg 35 points per game) after conceding 128 points in their first nine matches (avg 14.2 points per game)
- Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have won 8 of their last 10 matches at McDonald Jones Stadium against the Newcastle Knights.
- St George-Illawarra Dragons won their first game at BlueBet Stadium since August 27, 2017 (won 16-14)
Upcoming Milestones
- Jamayne Isaako requires 67 points for 1,000 NRL career points.
- Dylan Edwards are Nick Meaney are one try away from 50 NRL career tries.
- David Fifita needs two tries for 50 NRL career tries.
- Valentine Holmes needs one try for 100 NRL career tries.
- Maika Sivo requires two tries for 100 NRL career tries.
- Tom Trbojevic is 5 tries away from 100 NRL career tries.
