2024 NRL: Round 17 Recap and Key Stats

Check out our recap and key stats from round 17 of the National Rugby League competition.

Final Scores

BULLDOGS 15 d SHARKS 14 (Golden Point)
WARRIORS 32 d BRONCOS 16
KNIGHTS 34 d EELS 26
STORM 16 d RAIDERS 6
DRAGONS 26 d DOLPHINS 6
COWBOYS 16 d PANTHERS 6
ROOSTERS 40 d TIGERS 6

Current Ladder

Melbourne Storm (Position: 1) 28 pts (113), Penrith Panthers (Position: 2) 24 pts (108), Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (Position: 3) 24 pts (77), Sydney Roosters (Position: 4) 22 pts (195), Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (Position: 5) 20 pts (64), Dolphins (Position: 6) 20 pts (40), North Queensland Cowboys (Position: 7) 20 pts (2), St George-Illawarra Dragons (Position: 8) 20 pts (-30), Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (Position: 9) 19 pts (28), Brisbane Broncos (Position: 10) 18 pts (21), Newcastle Knights (Position: 11) 18 pts (-47), Canberra Raiders (Position: 12) 18 pts (-89), New Zealand Warriors (Position: 13) 17 pts (-31), South Sydney Rabbitohs (Position: 14) 16 pts (-112), Gold Coast Titans (Position: 15) 14 pts (-71), Parramatta Eels (Position: 15) 12 pts (-129), Wests Tigers (Position: 16) 12 pts (-139)

Review

Embed from Getty Images

Melbourne have retained top spot after round 17, opening up a two-game lead over Penrith and Cronulla-Sutherland.

On a wet night against Canberra at AAMI Park, the Storm scored three tries in 15 minutes (either side of half-time): Josh King, Shawn Blore, and Jack Howarth. Kaeo Weekes’ brilliant 90-metre solo try was the highlight of the Raiders’ night. Though both sides were below their best – both making 17 errors.

The NZ Warriors produced one of the most remarkable turnarounds in recent memory, beating Brisbane at Go Media Stadium. After the embarrassing loss to the Titans, the Warriors had a 76-point turnaround inside seven days. Wearing their beautiful 1995 away jersey, the Warriors led 16-6 at halftime (a double to Chanel Harris-Tavita). Two tries to Deine Mariner kept Brisbane in the game, before Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Freddy Lussick sealed it for the Warriors.

St George Illawarra beat The Dolphins at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium. Trailing 6-2 at half-time, the Dragons scored five tries to nil in the second half (Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Christian Tuipulotu, Tyrell Sloan, Jack De Belin, Jacob Liddle). 

The Sydney Roosters are fourth after beating the Wests Tigers at Allianz Stadium. It was a big fall from grace for the Tigers after wins over Gold Coast and Canberra. Dominic Young and Daniel Tupou scored doubles as the Roosters racked up eight tries. Already trailing 26-0, the Tigers were briefly reduced to 11: Apisai Koroisau binned (dangerous tackle) in the 55th minute and Adam Doueihi (hip drop) in the 63rd.

North Queensland defeated Penrith at BlueBet Stadium. The Cowboys led 12-0 after 16 minutes (tries to Kyle Feldt and Braidon Burns), and Jaxon Purdue’s try in the 61st minute (his first for the Cowboys) sealed the win after Brad Schneider scored for Penrith just before half-time.

Newcastle won one of the most entertaining games of the season, beating Parramatta at McDonald Jones Stadium. There were 11 tries, four doubles (Greg Marzhew, Bradman Best, Blaize Talagi, Mitchell Moses), while Englishman Will Pryce scored on debut. Best scored two length-of-the-field tries in the final 10 minutes to seal the game.

Canterbury won a Golden Point thriller against Cronulla-Sutherland at Accor Stadium. After missing two two-point field goal attempts, Matt Burton kicked the match-winning field goal in the 83rd minute, nailing the shot from 37 metres as it hit the upright and went over. Nicho Hynes missed a seemingly simple field goal attempt a minute earlier. While the Bulldogs have already eclipsed last year’s win tally, Cronulla have lost four of the last five since Magic Round.

Embed from Getty Images

Players Making Their NRL Debut

Will Pryce (Knights) vs Eels, June 29 (21 years, 6 months, 24 days)
Matthew Arthur (Eels) vs Knights, June 29 (19 years, 4 months, 25 days)
Jordan Martin (Raiders) vs Storm, June 29 (24 years, 3 months, 2 days)
Adam Cook (Raiders) vs Storm, June 29 (23 years, 7 months, 15 days)
Luron Patea (Panthers) vs Cowboys, June 30
Casey McLean (Panthers) vs Cowboys, June 30 (18 years, 2 months, 6 days)

Key Stats

• coming soon

Upcoming Milestones

• Jamayne Isaako requires 43 points for 1,000 NRL career points.
• Alex Johnston requires 9 tries for 200 NRL career tries.
• Kyle Feldt requires 12 tries for 150 NRL career tries.
• Maika Sivo requires 2 tries for 100 NRL career tries.
• Tom Trbojevic requires 5 tries for 100 NRL career tries.
• David Fifita requires 1 try for 50 NRL career tries.
• Luke Keary and Luke Brooks require 3 tries for 50 NRL career tries.
• Kurt Mann, Mitchell Moses, Marcelo Montoya, Zac Lomax and Kotoni Staggs require 4 tries for 50 career tries.