2024 NRL: Round 7 Recap and Key Stats

Check out what happened in round 7 of the National Rugby League competition.

For further round 7 statistics, head to thegurgler.com

2024 Current Player Stats can be found here.

Final Scores

STORM 18 d ROOSTERS 12
DRAGONS 30 d WARRIORS 12
DOLPHINS 44 d EELS 16
PANTHERS 22 d TIGERS 6
SEA EAGLES 34 d TITANS 30
BRONCOS 34 d RAIDERS 10
BULLDOGS 36 d KNIGHTS 12
SHARKS 42 d COWBOYS 6

Current Ladder

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 12 pts (59), Melbourne Storm 12 pts (20), Dolphins 10 pts (53), Penrith Panthers 10 pts (30), Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 9 pts (25), Brisbane Broncos 8 pts (40), Canberra Raiders 8 pts (24), North Queensland Cowboys 8 pts (-8), St George-Illawarra Dragons 8 pts (-18), New Zealand Warriors 7 pts (20), Sydney Roosters 6 pts (31), Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 6 pts (17), Wests Tigers 6 pts (-31), Parramatta Eels 6 pts (-41), Newcastle Knights 4 pts (-29), South Sydney Rabbitohs 4 pts (-102), Gold Coast Titans 2 pts (-90).

Review

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The top four is starting to take shape nearly two months into the season: Cronulla-Sutherland, Melbourne, The Dolphins, and Penrith are all on 10 points or more.

Cronulla is top of the ladder after destroying North Queensland at Shark Park. Braydon Trindall (two) and Ronaldo Mulitalo (two) scored four of the Sharks’ seven tries, with Nicho Hynes kicking seven goals from seven. And Samuel Stonestreet scored a try on his NRL debut.

Melbourne opened round 7 with a tight win over the Sydney Roosters at the SFS. The Storm led 12-6 at half-time and survived losing Cameron Munster for 10 minutes after he impeded James Tedesco while he was taking a quick tap. Joseph Manu levelled the scores with 10 minutes left before Xavier Coates put the game away a few minutes later.

The Dolphins racked up their highest score and their second biggest win as they demolished Parramatta in Darwin. It was 10-10 after 50 minutes, then The Dolphins ran in seven more tries: including a hat-trick to Jack Bostock, two to Max Plath, and two to Tesi Niu. The win could have been even bigger as Jamayne Isaako and Kodi Nikorima only kicked four goals from nine between them.

Coming off the loss to Manly in round 5, and then a bye, a refreshed Penrith comfortably beat the Wests Tigers at Bathurst. Penrith to lead 10-6 at halftime, with two tries to Sunia Turuva. The Tigers led 6-0 early and were unlucky not to go further ahead when Brad Schneider ankle tapped Justin Olam off the ball, with Olam a big chance to score if he received the ball with no interference.

The Dragons had a comfortable win against the NZ Warriors at Wollongong. Zac Lomax showed his Parramatta signing wouldn’t be a distraction: scoring 14 points (a try and five goals); Manly won a high-scoring clash at Cbus Super Stadium: outgunning the still winless Titans six tries to five. Tommy Turbo (Tom Trbojevic) scored two tries while Alofiana Khan-Pereira scored another double for the Titans; Brisbane defied the constant rain to belt Canberra at Lang Park. Reece Walsh scored two tries (and finished with five goals) as the Broncos led 28-0 at half-time. While the Raiders showed some spirit in the second half (especially Chevy Stewart: he had a nightmare first half and showed tremendous character to keep fighting), the game was gone. But the biggest blow for Canberra was Jamal Fogarty’s bicep injury – he could be out for 12 weeks; Canterbury-Bankstown flogged Newcastle at Homebush. After being on the wrong end of 66-0 and 42-6 scores last year, the Bulldogs redeemed themselves, scoring six tries to two, while Matt Burton kicked six goals from six.

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Players Making Their NRL Debut

Sam Stonestreet (Sharks) vs Cowboys, April 21 (21 years, 288 days)

Key Stats

• Michael Jennings scored his first NRL try in 1,370 days in Sydney Roosters defeat by the Melbourne Storm.
• Zac Lomax passed 700 career points with his 14-point haul against the New Zealand Warriors on Friday night. He also joined the list of players to successfully attempt a two-point field goal. Previously Adam Reynolds (3 2pt FGs), Nathan Cleary (2), Valentine Holmes (2), Dylan Edwards (1), Latrell Mitchell (1), Matt Frawley (1) and Ryan Papenhuyzen (1) had done so.
• The Dolphins’ 44 points against Parramatta Eels eclipsed their previous highest team score of 38 set against the St George-Illawarra Dragons at Kayo Stadium on March 17, 2024.
• Jack Bostock completed his first career hat-trick in the Dolphins win over the Eels.
• Tanah Boyd passed 100 career goals in the Titans loss to the Sea Eagles.
• Reece Walsh’s 18-point haul against the Canberra Raiders was his highest individual tally in a single game.
• Brisbane Broncos’ 28-0 half-time lead was the biggest lead by any NRL team this season (previous Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 26-0 lead against Sydney Roosters on April 5)
• The 36 points scored by Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs over Newcastle Knights was the equal highest team score under Cameron Ciraldo (36 vs South Sydney Rabbitohs, July 8 2023)
• Sam Stonestreet scored on debut for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks over North Queensland Cowboys.

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 4 tries away from 100 career tries.