2024 NRL: Round 24 Recap and Key Stats

Check out what happened in round 24 of the National Rugby League competition.

Final Scores

STORM 24 d PANTHERS 22
SEA EAGLES 24 d WARRIORS 10
ROOSTERS 38 d EELS 14
BULLDOGS 30 d DOLPHINS 10
COWBOYS 42 d RAIDERS 4
TIGERS 18 d RABBITOHS 16
DRAGONS 32 d TITANS 16
SHARKS 19 d KNIGHTS 18 (Golden Point)

Current Ladder

Melbourne Storm (Position: 1) 40 pts (171), Penrith Panthers (Position: 2) 36 pts (162), Sydney Roosters (Position: 3) 34 pts (243), Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (Position: 4) 34 pts (176), Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (Position: 5) 32 pts (130), Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (Position: 6) 31 pts (129), North Queensland Cowboys (Position: 7) 30 pts (43), St George-Illawarra Dragons (Position: 8) 28 pts (-92), Dolphins (Position: 9) 26 pts (15), Brisbane Broncos (Position: 10) 24 pts (-4), Newcastle Knights (Position: 11) 24 pts (-90), Canberra Raiders (Position: 12) 24 pts (-135), Gold Coast Titans (Position: 13) 22 pts (-114), New Zealand Warriors (Position: 14) 21 pts (-48), South Sydney Rabbitohs (Position: 15) 20 pts (-138), Parramatta Eels (Position: 16) 16 pts (-187), Wests Tigers (Position: 17) 14 pts (-261).

Review

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Melbourne are one step closer to the minor premiership at the end of round 24. The Storm moved four points ahead of Penrith, with the Sydney Roosters and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks rounding out the top four.

The Storm beat Penrith at BlueBet Stadium in a clash with plenty of controversy, drama, and bizarre moments. Melbourne led 10-0 after 15 minutes, Penrith tied the scores at 10-10 after 25 minutes, before Eliesa Katoa scored his second try to give Melbourne the lead again (16-10). With 40 seconds left until half-time, Melbourne got a seven-tackle set after a Panthers kicked went dead. But in attempting to kick the ball out, Grant Anderson didn’t tap the ball before passing to Ryan Papenhuyzen, who wasn’t centre when taking the kick. This allowed Cleary to kick a penalty goal as Melbourne led 16-12. That penalty goal seemed to make a difference until the 56th minute, when Cleary missed the conversion of Casey McLean’s try. With Melbourne trailing by six, Tyran Wishart levelled the scores with 20 minutes left. In between that, Nelson Asofa-Solomona collected teammate Cameron Munster in a tackle, but NAS was sin binned as he was ruled to have contacted Daine Laurie as well. Then, with 13 minutes left, Cleary left the field with his shoulder injury, which could have massive implications for Penrith’s quest for a fourth-straight premiership. Finally, a late hit by James Fisher-Harris gave Melbourne a 24-22 lead with eight minutes left (Nick Meaney’s fourth goal of the night).

The Sydney Roosters made the most of torrential rain in Sydney, beating Parramatta at Allianz Stadium. Dominic Young scored a hat-trick despite the ground turning into a 1980s-style mudheap.

Cronulla cemented their top four position with a Golden Point win over Newcastle at Shark Park. After scoring a try and kicking three goals, Daniel Atkinson slotted an 84th-minute field goal for the Sharks. With Newcastle leading 18-12, Ronaldo Mulitalo tied the scores with six minutes left (helped by an excellent sideline conversion from Atkinson). Both Atkinson and Kalyn Ponga had field goal attempts denied late in the second half due to blocker penalties. The loss all but ends Newcastle’s finals hopes.

Canterbury-Bankstown continued their finals charge, beating The Dolphins at Salter Oval (Bundaberg). While the Bulldogs scored five tries (two to Jacob Kiraz), it was a failed attempt to score that got all the attention. With the Bulldogs leading 6-0, Josh Addo-Carr ran from his 15 metre line and seemed certain to score. But with 10 metres left, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow caught the Foxx and dragged him into touch. Will this tackle become as famous as Scott Sattler’s 2003 Grand Final tackle or even Matt Seers on Brett Mullins in 1994?

Manly Warringah also continued their finals charge, beating the NZ Warriors at 4 Pines Park. With the game tied 10-10 at half-time, Manly won the second half 14-0 (tries to Reuben Garrick and Lehi Hopoate).

North Queensland have all but secured a finals spot, destroying Canberra at Queensland Country Bank Stadium. Valentine Holmes scored 26 points (three tries and seven goals from seven) – and Kyle Feldt scored two tries – as the Cowboys entered their round 25 bye on a high. The loss shuts the door on Canberra’s slim finals hopes.

The Wests Tigers kept the wooden spoon battle alive after beating South Sydney at Campbelltown Sports Stadium. The Tigers led 16-4 at half-time (tries to Charlie Staines, Luke Laulilii, Adam Doueihi), but Souths came back through Keaon Koloamatangi and Damien Cook to set up a grandstand finish. Davvy Moale looked to have scored the match winner for Souths in the final minute, but Cameron Murray’s pass was forward. The Tigers are now just two points behind 16th placed Parramatta and – with a round 26 bye – could be level with the Eels heading into the round 27 “Spoon Bowl”.

St George Illawarra are back in the eight after beating the Gold Coast at WIN Stadium, Wollongong. While Jojo Fifita opened the scoring with the Titans’ first touch of the ball (with Keano Kini running 50 metres after receiving the footy), the Dragons dominated from there to lead 26-6 at half-time. Celebrating Kieran Foran’s 300th game, the Titans worked their way back into the game after the break: Jayden Campbell played to the whistle after he appeared to knock on but managed to kick the ball and regathered to score, and Fifita scored his second to reduce the Dragons’ lead to 26-16. Francis Molo sealed the Dragons’ win with four minutes left.

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Players Making Their NRL Debut

Lyhkan King-Togia (Dragons) vs Titans, August 18 (19 years, 3 months, 6 days)
Kyle McCarthy (Knights) vs Sharks, August 18

Key Stats

• Melbourne Storm have won 15 of 15 matches where they have led at the half-time break in 2024.
• New Zealand Warriors have lost six straight games away from home in either New South Wales or the Australian Capital Territory.
• Dominic Young scored his third NRL career hat-trick in the Sydney Roosters win over Parramatta Eels.
• Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs remain the only team to win all of their home matches in 2024, with 10 wins from 10 matches.
• Jamayne Isaako becomes the first player in the 2024 NRL season to pass 200 points.
• North Queensland Cowboys recorded their biggest win over the Canberra Raiders with a 38 point margin.
• Valentine Holmes became the second player to pass 200 points this season with his 26-point haul for the North Queensland Cowboys against Canberra Raiders.
• Wests Tigers recorded their second straight win at Campbelltown Sports Stadium for the first time since 2018-2019 (defeated Sea Eagles 22-20, 23/8/18; defeated Warriors 34-6, 24/3/19).

Upcoming Milestones

• 500 NRL points: Corey Oates (484 career points).
• 1000 NRL points: Zac Lomax (805), Alex Johnston (780), Nick Meaney (766).
• 50 NRL tries: David Fifita (49 career tries), Luke Keary (48), Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (48), Zac Lomax (48), Marcelo Montoya (47), Kurt Mann (47).
• 100 NRL tries: Maika Sivo (98), Cody Walker (98), Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (98), Clint Gutherson (96).
• 150 NRL tries: Kyle Feldt (146), Josh Addo-Carr (138), James Tedesco (132).
• 200 NRL tries: Alex Johnston (195).