2024 NRL: Round 8 Recap and Key Stats

Check out what happened in round 8 of the National Rugby League competition.

Final Scores

TITANS 27 d WARRIORS 24
ROOSTERS 60 d DRAGONS 18
STORM 54 d RABBITOHS 20
SEA EAGLES 32 d EELS 18
BRONCOS 34 d TIGERS 10
PANTHERS 26 d COWBOYS 20
KNIGHTS 18 d DOLPHINS 14
SHARKS 40 d RAIDERS 0

Current Ladder

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 14 pts (99),  Melbourne Storm 14 pts (54),  Penrith Panthers 12 pts (36),  Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 11 pts (39),  Brisbane Broncos 10 pts (64),  Dolphins 10 pts (49),  Sydney Roosters 8 pts (73),  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 8 pts (17),  North Queensland Cowboys 8 pts (-14),  Canberra Raiders 8 pts (-16),  St George-Illawarra Dragons 8 pts (-60),  New Zealand Warriors 7 pts (17),  Newcastle Knights 6 pts (-25),  Wests Tigers 6 pts (-55),  Parramatta Eels 6 pts (-55),  Gold Coast Titans 4 pts (-87),  South Sydney Rabbitohs 4 pts (-136).

Review

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and Melbourne Storm are top of the ladder after round 8.

Cronulla destroyed Canberra at GIO Stadium, spoiling Ricky Stuart’s 500th NRL game as a coach. The game turned in the 25th minute: with the Sharks up 12-0, the Raiders had a genuine scoring chance, but Danny Levi dropped the ball cold as he was running away to score. Then Sione Katoa scored to give the Sharks an 18-0 lead. Nicho Hynes scored 16 points (a try and six goals) as the Sharks did as they pleased against an extremely poor Raiders side: it’s already the Sharks’ second win over Canberra this season.

The round opened with an ANZAC Day triple-header, with the Gold Coast, Sydney Roosters, and Melbourne winning. The Titans led 27-12 in the second half (a double to AJ Brimson) at Go Media Stadium and survived a late Warriors comeback; The Sydney Roosters demolished St George Illawarra at the Allianz Stadium. Sam Walker won his second Ashton Collier Spirit of Anzac Medal: he scored a try (penalty try), kicked 10 goals from 10 attempts, had 370 kicking metres, and two try assists. His 24 points passed Jamie Soward’s 21 in 2009; Melbourne closed out the day with a huge win at AAMI Park. Xavier Coates scored a first half hat-trick (but went off the field before half-time with a hamstring injury), and Ryan Papenhuyzen scored a double. Taane Milne was sin binned for a dangerous tackle – with only seconds left in the game – on Cameron Munster.

Brisbane won their third straight game, beating Wests Tigers at Campbelltown. Coincidentally, it was the same scoreline as their win over Canberra in round 7. Like the Raiders game, Brisbane dominated the first half, leading 34-0 after 66 minutes (doubles to Reece Walsh and Jock Madden). Adam Reynolds showed how valuable he is to the Broncos, with five goals and 328 kicking metres, while Payne Haas scored a try on his return from injury.

Newcastle held off a late charge to beat The Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium (with fullback David Armstrong scoring on debut); Manly beat Parramatta 32-18 at 4 Pines Park (despite a Maika Sivo hat-trick and impressive debut from Ethan Sanders – though Sivo undid his good work with a crucial second half sin binning); Penrith weathered an improved Cowboys second half at Queensland Country Bank Stadium: Penrith lead 24-4 early in the second half before tries to Valentine Holmes, Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, and Jeremiah Nanai closed the gap to four points.

Players Making Their NRL Debut

Zyon Maiu’u (Warriors) vs Titans, April 26 (20 years, 301 days)
Ethan Sanders (Eels) vs Sea Eagles, April 26
David Armstrong (Knights) vs Dolphins, April 28 (23 years, 19 days)

Key Stats

• It was the first win by the Gold Coast Titans in 235 days (September 3, 2023 defeated Bulldogs 34-30 at CBUS Super Stadium)
• The Gold Coast Titans have won 4 of their last 5 against New Zealand Warriors dating back to September 5, 2021.
• Addin Fonua-Blake scored his third career double and first since June 28, 2020 for the Sea Eagles vs Sharks in Gosford.
• Des Hasler ended a 13 game winless record as coach with the Gold Coast Titans win on ANZAC Day.
• Sam Walker’s 24-point haul for the Roosters against the Dragons on ANZAC Day was his equal highest individual points tally in a game (24 points for the Roosters vs Wests Tigers on August 20, 2022)
• Sydney Roosters recorded their highest score and biggest win against the St George-Illawarra Dragons in an ANZAC Day clash since the two teams met annually since 2002.
• The St George-Illawarra Dragons and Sydney Roosters game aggregate of 78 points was the highest for the season, eclipsing the previous mark of 70 when the St George-Illawarra Dragons played North Queensland Cowboys at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on March 23.
• Melbourne Storm have won their last eight ANZAC Day clashes at AAMI Park, including winning three games with a score of 50 points or more.
• Joe Chan scored his first NRL try after 5 career appearances.
• Maika Sivo completed his 6th career hat-trick to move to 93 NRL career tries.
• Reuben Garrick’s 20-point haul was the eighth time he’s crossed 20 points in a match.
• Wests Tigers have now lost ten straight games at Campbelltown Stadium and 20 of their last 25 at the venue.
• Kyle Feldt played his 200th game for North Queensland Cowboys and Chad Townsend his 250th career game. Brian To’o played his 100th game for the Penrith Panthers.
• Nathan Cleary passed 600 career goals to move to 1,447 career points.
• David Armstrong scored on his NRL debut for the Newcastle Knights.
• Oryn Keeley scored his first NRL try in his fourth NRL game.
• Newcastle won their first game at Suncorp Stadium in 716 days (last win, Magic Round vs Bulldogs, 16-6 on May 13, 2022)
• Canberra Raiders were kept scoreless for the first time in 4,060 days (last time, vs Titans at CBUS Super Stadium on March 17, 2013)

Upcoming Milestones

• Justin Olam and Jesse Ramien need 1 try for 50 career tries
• Nick Meaney needs 2 tries for 50 career tries
• Reimis Smith, Dylan Edwards and David Fifita need 3 tries for 50 career tries
• Valentine Holmes needs 3 tries for 100 career tries