2024 NRL: Round 5 Recap and Key Stats

Check out what happened in round 5 of the National Rugby League competition.

For further round 5 statistics, head to thegurgler.com

Final Scores

STORM 34 d BRONCOS 32
BULLDOGS 30 d ROOSTERS 26
KNIGHTS 30 d DRAGONS 10
WARRIORS 34 d RABBITOHS 4
SEA EAGLES 32 d PANTHERS 18
DOLPHINS 26 d TIGERS 16
COWBOYS 35 d TITANS 22
RAIDERS 41 d EELS 8

Current Ladder

Dolphins 8 pts (39),  North Queensland Cowboys 8 pts (35),  Melbourne Storm 8 pts (12),  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 8 pts (11),  Canberra Raiders 6 pts (47),  New Zealand Warriors 6 pts (38),  Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 6 pts (21),  Penrith Panthers 6 pts (14),  Wests Tigers 6 pts (-3),  Sydney Roosters 4 pts (35),  Brisbane Broncos 4 pts (2),  Newcastle Knights 4 pts (-3),  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 4 pts (-5),  Parramatta Eels 4 pts (-20),  St George-Illawarra Dragons 4 pts (-48),  Gold Coast Titans 2 pts (-85),  South Sydney Rabbitohs 2 pts (-90).

Review

The Dolphins, North Queensland, Melbourne, and Cronulla-Sutherland (with two bye points) finished round 5 on eight points.

The Dolphins had a comfortable win over the Wests Tigers at Lang Park. Tries to Isaiya Katoa, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, and Kodi Nikorima gave The Dolphins a 14-0 lead at half-time, and they were able to weather a Tigers comeback (two tries to Solomona Faataape). Though the win was soured with injuries to Herbie Farnworth, Tom Flegler, and Felise Kaufusi.

Melbourne won a high-scoring thriller at AAMI Park. Brisbane led 24-16 early in the second half, but tries to Will Warbrick, Tyran Wishart, and Jahrome Hughes gave Melbourne enough breathing space. Eliesa Katoa scored two tries for Melbourne.

North Queensland survived a Titans fightback at Queensland Country Bank Stadium (celebrating Jake Granville’s 200th NRL game). Two tries to Scott Drinkwater helped the Cowboys lead 28-4 after 55 minutes. The Titans finally showed some fight, getting to 28-22 with 14 minutes left (tries to Jayden Campbell, Klese Haas, and Beau Fermor). A try to Kyle Feldt (overtaking Matt Bowen as the Cowboys’ leading try scorer) and a field goal to Chad Townsend sealed the win.

Canberra sits just outside the top four after a huge win against Parramatta at Bruce Stadium. Matt Timoko scored two of Canberra’s seven tries as they built on a 13-0 half-time lead.

Both Canterbury-Bankstown and Newcastle braved torrential rain in NSW to win on Friday night. The Bulldogs (celebrating the 20th anniversary of their 2004 premiership with an excellent heritage jersey) led 26-0 at half-time and survived a second half Roosters comeback: Matt Burton scored a hat-trick and kicked five goals. Newcastle scored five tries against St George Illawarra, with Kalyn Ponga scoring a try and kicking five goals.

The NZ Warriors celebrated Roger Tuivasa-Sheck‘s 200th NRL game with a huge win over Souths at Homebush, with two tries and five goals to Shaun Johnson. Daly Cherry-Evans celebrated his 310th game for Manly Warringah (passing Cliff Lyons) with a try and six goals as the Sea Eagles beat Penrith at Brookvale Oval.

Key Stats

• Melbourne Storm’s 34-32 victory over Brisbane Broncos was the second highest game aggregate between the two sides in the past decade, six points short of the 72 points scored when the Storm thrashed Brisbane 60-12 on August 19, 2022.
• Dominic Young became the first player sent off in 2024 and the first since Sebastian Kris was sent off for the Raiders against Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at PointsBet Stadium on September 3, 2023.
• Matt Burton set a new individual point scoring record with 22 points (3 tries, 5 goals) in Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs win over Sydney Roosters. His previous mark was 20 (2 tries, 6 goals) versus Gold Coast Titans in 2022.
• Kalyn Ponga reached 300 points scored at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night with his 14 point haul (28 tries, 94 goals, 300 points)
• New Zealand Warriors recorded their biggest win in over a decade against South Sydney (30 points), beating their previous record of 12 points (32-20) at Optus Stadium in Perth in 2018.
• South Sydney have now lost 4 out of their first 5 games making it their worst start to the season in over a decade.
• Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles recorded their first win against Penrith Panthers in 2,107 days (18-10, 30/6/2018) with victory on Saturday night.
• The Dolphins have equalled their best winning streak (3) with victory over the Wests Tigers on Saturday night.
• Solomona Faataape scored his first NRL try, 21 days after his club debut at Wests Tigers.
• North Queensland Cowboys have won 8 out of their last 10 matches at QLD Country Bank Stadium with their victory over the Gold Coast Titans.
• Gold Coast Titans have lost 8 out of their last 10 games away from CBUS Super Stadium with their last win under Jim Lenihan against the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium (18-12, 25/6/23)
• Canberra Raiders recorded their highest score (41) and biggest margin (33) against Parramatta Eels since 2014.
• Valentine Holmes became the first player to score more than 50 points in the 2024 NRL season (54 points, 2 tries, 23 goals).
• Wests Tigers are the only team not to score the first try of a game this season.
• Sydney Roosters have scored last in each of their five matches this year.

Upcoming Milestones

• Justin Olam needs 1 try for 50 NRL career tries.
• Jesse Ramien and Nick Meaney need 2 tries for 50 NRL career tries.
• Valentine Holmes is 6 tries away from 100 career tries.