2024 NRL: Round 19, State of Origin Recap and Key Stats

Check out what happened in round 19 of the National Rugby League competition and the State of Origin decider.

Final Scores

DOLPHINS 36 d RABBITOHS 28
SHARKS 58 d TIGERS 6
TITANS 24 d EELS 16
DRAGONS 30 d BRONCOS 26
SEA EAGLES 44 d KNIGHTS 6

State of Origin Game 3

BLUES 14 d MAROONS 4

Current Ladder

Melbourne Storm (Position: 1) 32 pts (125), Penrith Panthers (Position: 2) 28 pts (116), Sydney Roosters (Position: 3) 26 pts (225), Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (Position: 4) 26 pts (125), Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (Position: 5) 24 pts (65), Dolphins (Position: 6) 24 pts (48), Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (Position: 7) 23 pts (67), North Queensland Cowboys (Position: 8) 22 pts (1), St George-Illawarra Dragons (Position: 9) 22 pts (-56), Newcastle Knights (Position: 10) 20 pts (-81), Canberra Raiders (Position: 11) 20 pts (-93), New Zealand Warriors (Position: 12) 19 pts (-32), Brisbane Broncos (Position: 13) 18 pts (9), Gold Coast Titans (Position: 14) 18 pts (-59), South Sydney Rabbitohs (Position: 15) 18 pts (-104), Parramatta Eels (Position: 16) 12 pts (-153), Wests Tigers (Position: 17) 12 pts (-203).

Review

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With two points each from the bye, Melbourne, Penrith, and the Sydney Roosters kept the top three spots after round 19 (the last Origin split round). Cronulla-Sutherland are fourth.

The Sharks re-entered the top four after a huge win over the Wests Tigers at PointsBet Stadium. Wearing their excellent mid-90s heritage jersey, they ran in 10 tries: Ronaldo Mulita scored a hat-trick, Sione Katoa scored a double, and Braydon Trindall (taking over from Nicho Hynes) kicked nine goals from 10 attempts. The Tigers have conceded 138 points since their round 16 win over Canberra and are battling Parramatta for the wooden spoon.

The Dolphins kept in touch with the top four after a high-scoring win over South Sydney at Redcliffe’s Kayo Stadium. There was 12 tries in all, with Jacob Gagai scoring a hat-trick and Alex Johnston a double (and now only 19 away from passing Ken Irvine as the greatest try scorer in NSWRFL/NSWRL/ARL/Super League/NRL history). the Dolphins had six individual try scorers (Jack Bostock, Tevita Pangai Junior, Herbie Farnworth, Kodi Nikorima, Sean O’Sullivan, Trai Fuller), while Jamayne Isaako kicked six goals from six attempts.

The Titans have moved further away from the wooden spoon after beating Parramatta at CommBank Stadium. Alofiana Khan-Pereira scored the first two tries as the Titans led 12-0 after 13 minutes. Trailing 24-6, Parramatta cut the margin to 10 with 15 minutes left (tries to Will Penisini and Clinton Gutherson), but the Titans held on.

St George Illawarra beat the “Baby Broncos” at Suncorp Stadium. While many expected the Dragons to be a bottom four side, they’ve won nine games so far and are a genuine finals contender. As for Brisbane, they were one of the premiership favourites after last year’s Grand Final loss, but they’ve lost six in a row and are in danger of missing the finals. Christian Tuipulotu scored a hat-trick as the Dragons led 28-6 early in the second half. Kotoni Staggs scored a double as the Broncos fought back, but it was too late.

Manly are back in the eight after a crushing win over Newcastle at 4 Pines Park. The Sea Eagles scored eight tries and had seven individual try scorers, with a double to Lehi Hopoate. Reuben Garrick and Jamie Humphreys (who also scored a try on his NRL debut) kicked three goals each.

New South Wales have won the 2024 Origin series, beating Queensland in the Suncorp Stadium decider. But the final margin didn’t reflect what was an absorbing and try-less game for the first hour. Queensland led 4-2 when Jarome Luai broke down the left and passed to Bradman Best, who did well to hold the pass and run the final 25 metres to score. Mitchell Moses iced the game with a try three minutes later. It was NSW’s first series win since 2021, a debut series win for coach Michael Maguire, and the Blues’ first win in a Brisbane decider since 2005. The game erupted in the 30th minute when a brawl broke out onto the sideline, with Jeremiah Nanai and Cameron Murray sin binned.

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Players Making Their NRL Debut

• Lorenzo Mulitalo (Eels) vs Titans, 13/7/24 (24 years, 8 months, 6 days)
• Jamie Humphreys (Sea Eagles) vs Knights, 14/7/24 (22 years, 6 months, 4 days)

Key Stats

• Dolphins win their 9th game of 2024, equalling the total number of wins they had in 2023.
• Dolphins vs Rabbitohs was the highest aggregate game involving the Dolphins at Kayo Stadium (64 points – previous 51 Dolphins vs Raiders, 1/6/24).
• Jacob Gagai completed his first career hat-trick in the Rabbitohs loss to the Dolphins.
• Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks record their highest winning margin over the Wests Tigers (52 points – previous 30 points at Browne Park, 21/8/21).
• Ronaldo Mulitalo completed his first career hat-trick in the Sharks victory over the Wests Tigers.
• Braydon Trindall recorded his highest individual point scoring in a game with 22 points with 1 try and 9 goals (previous 16 points Sharks vs Bulldogs, 25/7/21).
• Gold Coast Titans recorded back-to-back victories at home for the first time since winning four straight between August 14, 2022 and April 9, 2023.
• St George-Illawarra Dragons broke a seven-game losing streak at Suncorp Stadium winning their first game in 1,422 days (last win 28-24 vs Broncos, 21/8/20).
• Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles equalled their biggest winning margin against the Knights (previous 48-10 win at Brookvale Oval, 15/8/04).
• Jamie Humphreys scored on his NRL debut for the Sea Eagles against the Knights.

Upcoming Milestones

• 500 NRL points: Sam Walker (494 career points), Corey Oates (484), Jordan Rapana (484), Matt Burton (472).
• 1000 NRL points: Jamayne Isaako (969), Zac Lomax (779), Alex Johnston (772).
• 1500 NRL points: Nathan Cleary (1,449).
• 50 NRL tries: David Fifita (49 career tries), Kotoni Staggs (48), Luke Keary (47), Luke Brooks (47), Marcelo Montoya (47).
• 100 NRL tries: Maika Sivo (98), Tom Trbojevic (96), Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (95), Cody Walker (95), Clint Gutherson (93).
• 150 NRL tries: Kyle Feldt (139), Josh Addo-Carr (135), James Tedesco (130).
• 200 NRL tries: Alex Johnston (193).