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Knights rattle Storm at home

Newcastle has surged towards the NRL finals, upsetting reigning premier Melbourne 17-16 at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Saturday evening.

An enthusiastic Knights outfit overcame the loss of inspirational captain Danny Buderus for the rest of the season to stun the Storm, who missed a chance to put one hand on a third straight minor premiership with one round remaining.

The Storm ran in three tries to two but two penalties and a field goal ensured Newcastle will stay in the top eight for another week and will secure finals footy with a win over Brisbane at Lang Park next Friday night.

“You’ve got to give the Knights credit, they’ve certainly come here to play and played a tough game and they just had a better attitude than us tonight,” Storm captain Cameron Smith told Fox Sports.

Newcastle had the Storm on the hop from the get-go when Billy Slater knocked on from the kick-off and Buderus’s replacement Matt Hilder scored from the ensuing set.

The visitors pulled a try back with a 24th minute intercept to five-eighth Greg Inglis and went to the break trailing 10-6.

The scores were soon level four minutes into the second half when Israel Folau went over for Melbourne, but the Knights kicked clear again when Jesse Royal barged over from close range.

A 66th minute long range field goal from Newcastle half-back Scott Dureau turned out to be the turning point, with Melbourne unable to bridge the deficit despite scoring a late converted try to Sika Manu.

“We’ve got next week we’ve got to get our heads on for Brisbane - another huge game,” Dureau said following the match.

“If we win next week we’re in there so we don’t want to lose next week and wait for other results.”

Melbourne’s defeat has opened the door for Manly or Cronulla to finish in top spot.

The Sharks are level with the Storm at the top of the ladder following their spanking of Wests Tigers last night, while the Sea Eagles take on the Gold Coast on Monday night.

Knights 17 (M Hilder, J Royal tries; K Gidley 2 conversions, 2 penalties, S Dureau field goal)

Storm 16 (G Inglis, I Folau, S Manu tries; C Smith 2 conversions)

Sharks put Tigers season to bed

The Sharks quickly put the Greg Bird saga behind them and marched on to deliver a 32-6 flogging to the rudderless Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval on last night.

Cronulla pivot Brett Seymour adapted well and stood out in Bird’s absence, scoring a try and having a hand in several others as the Sharks ran roughshod over a team they had not beaten in nine previous encounters.

“We had a good chat this week about what’s got on, (coach) Ricky (Stuart) got us together,” Seymour told Fox Sports.

“We’re a really tight unit here and that’s what makes us play good footy, so we’re happy with the way things are going at the moment.”

In the evening’s other encounter, the Sydney Roosters were given a hell of a fright when they survived a South Sydney fight-back to win 22-20.

The Roosters led 22-0 when Braith Anasta crossed four minutes into the second half, before the Rabbitohs scored the next four tries to almost snatch an unlikely victory.

Chris Sandow’s conversion attempt to level the scores hit the upright and then a 40-20 attempt with seconds remaining was ruled to have fallen just short.

The Roosters’ win puts them three points clear of fifth-placed Brisbane in the race for a top four spot, although the Broncos have a game in hand.

Across town, the Sharks held a commanding 20-6 advantage at the break against a Tigers outfit missing injured playmaker Robbie Farah.

The visitors went on with the job in the second half, with Seymour gifted a saloon passage to the line after Ryan O’Hara dropped the ball cold in his own half.

Six minutes later Seymour fed the ball to Brett Kearney who danced around some tired Tigers defence and streaked away to dot down.

The Tigers went into the match needing victory to keep their season alive but were never in the contest.

The writing was on the wall early in the piece when Fraser Anderson was held up over the line by a desperate Stuart Flanagan.

Anderson did however atone for the missed opportunity, forcing his way over later in the first half to add to tries from Misi Talaupapa and Luke Covell.

It is the third season in a row the Tigers have missed the finals since winning the premiership in 2005 and coach Tim Sheens has signalled there will be changes.

The match was also Tigers’ captain Brett Hodgson’s final game in front of a home crowd before he heads to the English Super League next season.

He will finish off his NRL career against the Gold Coast at Skilled Park next weekend.

Sharks 32 (M Talaupapa, L Covell, F Anderson, B Seymour, B Kearney tries; L Covell 5 conversions, penalty)

Tigers 6 (B Harrison try, B Hodgson conversion)

Storm cruise over Panthers

It was the Melbourne Storm on another training run tonight, as they seemingly crushed the Penrith Panthers without breaking into a sweat 40 -6.

The precision of the Storm, along with their freakish ability and well coached gameplans have them set to reach their 3rd Minor Premiership in as many years.

It was a comprehensive 8 tries to 1 victory for the Storm tonight - sending them exclusively to the top of the NRL Table. With seemingly still plenty left in their tank, other NRL sides much be seriously considering whether they should turn up if they have to face Melbourne in the GF.

The only enemies for the Storm seem to be complacency and effects of extended travel, as they remain in Sydney on the Central Coast before they face the Knights later this week.

Pivot Greg Inglis was again at his exciting best tonight with a 3 try performance to go with former Panther Steve Turner’s double, the Panthers throwing away their chances of a Top 8 spot with a heavy loss tonight.

Things started to mount against the Panthers after a late, low hit by Luke Priddis on Cooper Cronk gifting the Storm an early penalty with Anthony Quinn scoring soon after, the game all but over at half-time with the Storm racing away to a 20-0 lead.

There was a hint of a Panthers revival early in the second half with a Nathan Smith try a few minutes in from the break. But it was short lived for the Panthers, the Storm charging downfield and gaining a repeat set - then a 50/50 penalty against Rhys Wesser at the play the ball breaking their backs immediately, with the Storm scoring from the restart.

There is a slim chance the Panthers can sneak into the Top 8 if they win their remaining two matches and pray other results go their way.

The problems were also compounded off the NRL field for the Panthers with TV commentary claiming Penrith trainers had mentioned backrower Frank Pritchard refused to go back onto the field after copping a shoulder injury from an attempted tackle on Jeff Lima.

Melbourne look set to secure the NRL minor premiership with a single game remaining if they get over the top of the Newcastle Knights on Saturday and Manly and Cronulla both go down in their games.

MELBOURNE 40 (G Inglis 3 S Turner 2 J Lima A Quinn C Smith tries C Smith 4 goals) bt PENRITH 6 (N Smith try M Gordon goal) at CUA Stadium. Referee: M Cecchin. Crowd: 8,813.

Dragons send Warriors crashing

St George Illawarra are now only two weeks away from a almost confirmed top 8 position as the New Zealand Warriors continue their poor form with a 34-6 loss at WIN Stadium today. The win today put the Dragons in 7th position on the ladder jumping 2 points clear of their rivals knocking the Warriors out of the top 8 with their 6 tries to 1 win.

With Mark Gasnier and Jason Ryles playing their last game at the club’s home ground, it was bound to be an emotional afternoon. 

Matt Cooper was first to score with an almost identical pass to that of last week when he ran an angled path to the line off a Ben Hornby pass.

Wade McKinnon was pulled up after receiving a forward pass from Brent Tate which ruined the Warrior’s chance of an immediate response and it was Morris that made them pay dearly just two minutes later when he gave the home side a 10-0 lead.

Back in the action, McKinnon raced onto a Sam Rapira pass and crossed the line to give the Warriors a slight glimmer of hope but Cooper’s second try put the Dragons back into the drivers seat.  

With the half time score at 16-6 after the Dragons found themselves running into a strong southerly, they continued on their rampage as Ryles threw a precise offload sending Dean Young over extending their lead to 16.

Gasnier in fine form, brilliantly offloaded on his way to the ground setting up Josh Morris’ second try of the game.  Gasnier’s efforts in the match today was definitely a reminder to his teammates of what they will be missing next year.  He went one step better with an unbelievable flick pass behind his back sending Jason Nightingale over the line.

With the breeze finally behind their backs, the Warriors failed to capitalise on the advantage unable to put any further points on the board.

Forward pass after dropped balls and unable to get any further points on the board, the Warriors did little but watch the Dragons storm home comfortably with their 34-6 win.

Raiders remarkable comeback

In an amazing turnaround, the Raiders fought back from a half time 13 point deficit to bring the South Sydney Rabbitohs back to reality and cement their place in the top 8.

Trailing 19-6 at halftime the Raiders put on 6 tries in the second half turning the game around remarkably while they continue pushing towards what they hope to be a top 4 finish.

The win today moves Canberra up to 28 competition points, which is only one place behind Brisbane and only two place behind the Sydney Roosters.  The Raiders’ run home sees them up against the bottom two teams in the competition being North Queensland and the Bulldogs which only strengthens their hopes of a top 4 finish.

The win wasn’t, however, without injuries with halfback Marc Herbert suffering medial ligament damage and prop Troy Thompson with an achilles problem both of which could potentially end their season.

Tries were awarded to Joe Picker, Colin Best, Brett Kelly, David Milne and Joel Monaghan while winger Adrian Purtell ran over a double.

In what could only be seen as a gift, Canberra were the first to score in the 11th minute when a pass from Nathan Merritt was intercepted only 10 metres from Souths tryline.  Chris Sandow didn’t waste any time getting the Bunnies on the board responding five minutes later with a try of his own right under the posts.

Issac Luke and Beau Champion struck again for the Bunnies shortly after with Sandow nailing a perfectly struck field goal from 40 metres right on halftime which extended their margin to what seemed a handy 13 point lead.

But the Canberra side that returned for second half, came out a different team wasting no time in scoring their next try just 2 minutes into the second half when a kick from Terry Campese rebounded off Fa’alogo and straight into the safe hands of Picker.

Next over the line was Best with the try of the match.  Best put in a superb solo effort from halfway as he ran straight through the attempted tackles of both Jamie Simpson and Beau Champion.

With only 23 minutes remaining, the Raiders took back the lead when Purtell went over for his second set up nicely by Campese.

Another intercept try for Kelly just seconds later while Milne and Monaghan scored with runaway efforts sealing the match for the Raiders.

The damage was already done by the time Luke Capewell ran in a consolation try for the Bunnies.  What they thought was a handy first half lead ended in a 40-25 defeat.

Knights win but lose Buderus

What should have been a night to celebrate with Newcastle downing the Cowboys 38-24, Danny Buderus left the field fighting back tears with the veteran hooker suffering a suspected ruptured bicep possibly ending his season with the Knights. 

The Knights captain, who joins Super League club Leeds Rhinos next season, left the field with 10 minutes to go with an injury that is feared to sideline him for up to six months.

The timing of the injury a cruel blow to the Knights captain set to be farewelled at next Saturday’s home game again the Melbourne Storm after an amazing 12 years with Newcastle.

Leaving the stadium with wife Kris, Buderus did not front the media, but Knights coach Brian Smith later confirmed the injury didn’t look great.  If Buderus requires surgery, it is definitely a 6 month injury.

Not only possibly ending Buderus’ career in a tragic way, it also comes as a huge blow to Knights’ finals hopes, which saw their win last night move them into 8th position.

After leading 30-0 at halftime, the Knights had to dig deep to hold off a spirited and fighting North Queensland.  After only 48 seconds, Buderus started the onslaught scoring the fastest try of the season, shortly followed by Adam MacDougall, Wes Naiqama, James McManus and Jarrod Mullen who all added four pointers in the first half.

Cowboys’ Johnathan Thurston tried to spark an unlikely revival in the second half which saw two tries to Luke O’Donnell, and tries to Ty Williams and Aaron Payne.  The comeback got the visitors within reach of the Knights and could have possibly been one of the biggest comebacks in NRL history.

The Knights, however, held on to their lead.  Mullen went over for a double while Kurt Gidley kicked a penalty goal giving him 7 from 7 for the night and sealing the win for the Knights.

Gidley has come out to say the Knights will throw everything at the Storm next week in honour of their injured captain Buderus. 

With or without Buderus, the run home for the Knights is not an easy one.  Remaining in the top 8 may not be a case of winning or losing for the Knights, instead it could be relying on the results of other teams in the last two matches.

Parramatta’s finals hopes alive

Parramatta Eels Coach Michael Hagan is still talking up the possibility of his team making the top eight as the once down and out side racks up their 4th win out of 5 matches.  With the Eels having what seems to be a comfortable run home, can they keep their finals hopes alive?

The Bulldogs who have been playing with very little spirit in the past weeks came out with something to prove, however, with more on the line the Eels found just that little bit extra in the second half to come away with a 26-12 win.

Taulima Tautai, Parramatta’s centre who was a doubtful starter scored the opening try after 10 minutes, running down Tim Winitana.

The Dogs defence has left much to be desired this season, but they came straight back when Daniel Holdsworth threw a long ball which saw Heka Nanai over the line.  Two minutes before half time Winitana broke through the Parramatta defence and scored to put the Dogs in the lead.

There were plenty of missed opportunities for the Dogs when Charlie Leaeno was stopped short of the line and the scrambling Eels defence tackled Utai into the corner post.  Referee Russell Smith also disallowing an Andrew Ryan try coming off a Utai knock-on.

At 18, Jamal Idris made his dabut in the centres for the Bulldogs, and had an impressive first match being a stand out for the Dogs. 

3 minutes after half time saw the Dogs Brad Morrin placed on report for a swinging high tackle on Jarryd Hayne and shortly after another loose arm around the neck of Luke Burt.

Playing into the middle of the ruck, Parramatta came out in the second half knowing they had to get back into the game and scored 3 late tries.  A timely return from injury, Burt converted his own try from the sideline which locked the scores at 12-12 with 25 minutes remaining.  7 minutes later Burt put the Eels ahead with a 40 metre penalty.

Parramatta took advantage of play when Daniel Holdsworth’s restart went out on the full.  Receiving an unexpected turnover, Chad Robinson broke over the line which saw Burt converting yet again.

Eels five-eight Kristopher Keating scored a last minute try and gave Burt a 100% kicking record with 5 from 5.

Parramatta coach Michael Hagan thought Burt returned a week earlier than he should have but Burt confirmed he felt fine after Saturday night’s game.

Burt, wearing protective padding, said he wasn’t 100% sure about how his ribs were going hold up and last 80 minutes but he was very happy with the result.

Eels halfback and motivator Brett Finch said the Eels have been playing with more confidence of late but suffered from the short turnaround from last playing last Monday.

Golden point glory for Broncos

It comes as no surprise that the nail biter between the Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Titans ending in a 25-21 golden point win was thanks to the play maker Darren Lockyer.  The loss tonight means the end of the season for the never say die Titans. Lockyer kicked his 77th field goal giving the Bronco’s a 21-20 lead, however, only minutes later Titans halfback Scott Prince equalised with a field goal of his own.

Field goal attempts from both teams were kick and miss in the first few minutes of golden point before Lockyer’s brilliance handed Greg Eastwood a try in the 4th minute of extra time.

Back in his usual fine form, Lockyer shaped to take a field goal on the last tackle and then dummied to link up with Joel Moon.  Moon managed to off-load back to Lockyer who had the eager Eastwood looming on his inside for the final try.

Coming from behind, Brisbane came back from 6-14 down at half time and led 20-14 just before Titans centre Josh Graham equalled the score at 20-20 with a try in the 67th minute.

In front 39,757 fans, in his 299th game for Brisbane, Lockyer looked to have performed a miracle with his field goal in the 77th to grab the 21-20 lead.

But not to be outdone, Prince answered the call with a field goal from 32 metres out only 90 seconds before full time to tie the scores at 21-21.

Coming up with a big play from dummy half to score the try which put Brisbane in the lead 16-14, Brisbane hooker Michael Ennis was handed man of the match.

Sharks climb ladder with a win

The Cronulla Sharks walk away victorious tonight after an easy 20-0 win over the Sydney Roosters.  The white wash tonight makes the Sharks joint leaders on 34 points with the Melbourne Storm.No different to any other game this season, the Sharks proved their strong defence and only just getting in enough attack to run in three tries to the Roosters nil.

The win proves the Sharks remain hungry for the top two and possibly the minor premiership, while the underperforming Roosters are now still only one point ahead of fifth-placed Brisbane.  The loss tonight is a third loss streak for the Roosters and is a first for their coach Brad Fittler.

The Roosters loss tonight leaves much to be desired for their finals hopes leading into the semi’s.  Their lack of ball control and overall performance was enough to make anyone question whether the Sharks’ attack was still considered the second worst in the NRL.

Early in the match, the Roosters came out hungry knowing a win would see them overtake the Sharks and move into third on the ladder.  Prop David Shillington let fly with a some haymakers inside the opening minute.

The game which unfolded within the first 3 minutes was edge of your seat, unfortunately, it seemed to be only 3 minutes the Roosters were ever in the game.  The final 77 saw very little fight from the tri-coloured team.

After only 7 minutes, Fraser Anderson palmed off Sia Soliola for the first try of the night.  The score moved to 8-0 when Luke Covell soared AFL style into the air to drag in a Brett Seymour kick ten minutes later.

While the Roosters took care of the ball, completing all but one of their sets in the opening, the predictability of their bombs for their wings on almost every fifth tackle meant very little or no threat for the Sharks.

The Roosters had a glimmer of hope when Mitchell Pearce, desperately dived on a loose ball inside his own half, but they couldn’t put together a decent set of 6 to get any points on the board.

Paul Gallen ran over the line just before the hour while Covell assisted Paul Gallen in sealing the deal when tipping back a Kimmorley kick of Amos Roberts’ head into Gallen’s hand and sending him in for try number 3. 

Just before O’Meley was sent to the bin for back chatting in the last 9 minutes, in form Covell kicked three straight penalties.

O’Meley couldn’t keep his mouth shut after the Sharks blatantly knocked on during a play the ball and even after they were penalised which earned him his visit to the bin.   Referee Robinson didn’t hesitate after O’Meley almost begged to be penalised by saying “why don’t you penalise us?”

Impressive Eels rout Tigers again

Michael Hagan and the Parramatta Eels said in the press conference tonight; they would like to play the Wests Tigers every week in the NRL and after a 40-12 hammering at Parramatta Stadium tonight it’s easy to see why.

The Eels launched an all out assault on the back of plenty of possession, rarely letting the Wests Tigers come up for air and scoring at every opportunity.

The win keeps very slim finals hopes alive for the Eels and the Tigers will rue a missed opportunity to sneak up the NRL Ladder after NRL results went their way to some extent on the weekend.

Parramatta played a physical style and their muscle caused the Tigers to panic and fumble their way through both halves of the game, the possession statistic ending up a horrendous 65% to 35% against the visitors.

Not only do the Wests Tigers miss their shot at climbing the NRL ladder, their mental state cops a big hiding only a few days before they need to back up against a hurting Manly Sea Eagles outfit hell bent on correcting their own misfiring against the Bunnies.

The Eels now sneak up to 24 competition points, their points difference also handed a nice piggy back after a high scoring affair, the win against the Wests Tigers the 8th in succession for the Eels - the Tigers not beating the Parramatta side since 2004.

With 3 matches remaining, the log jam on the NRL Ladder means that both sides probably need to win their 3 remaining NRL matches to have any chance of a lower order Top 8 finals spot.

It was a glimpse of what the Eels can do on their night, the home side putting on 7 tries to the Tigers 2 and while their attack was at it’s fleeting best, coach Michael Hagan would have been just as impressed with the muscle and commitment in defence.

The only downside for the locals, prominent playmaker Feleti Mateo walking away with what seems to be a cork to his troublesome knee and in-form centre Joel Reddy leaving the field during the first half with a hamstring complaint.

The match was in the Eels keeping from early on, Wests Tigers outside back Beau Ryan spilling a ball in his own red zone to give the Eels first shot at the Tigers try line.

A rampaging Taulima Tautai grabbed the opportunity to get the Eels on the scoreboard first and secure a confidence boost early on.

It was almost a carbon copy for Parramatta, when soon after - Chris Lawrence spilled it again for the Tigers, the turned over possession allowing a hard running Fuifui Moimoi to barge over from close range - Tigers pivot Benji Marshall no chance of stopping the bullocking bigman.

The Tigers were starting to panic, their poor record against the Eels may have been a factor - discipline going out the window and 3 consecutive penalties eventually resulting in a Krisnan Inu penalty goal before half Brett Finch sent up a towering bomb which bounced well for the hard working Nathan Hindmarsh to duck over and score to get the Eels well on their way.

A sign the Tigers might eventually get some luck came minutes from half time, against the run of play - an Eels attacking bomb blew 20m backwards and Benji Marshall swooped. The attacking Tigers pivot showed good speed to score from a 70m run and get the Tigers within 16 points on the half time hooter.

After the break, the Tigers showed signs they could climb Mt Everest, when crafty half Robbie Farah chipped high from dummy half only 2m out from the Eels line to gift Chris Heighington a real opportunists try, but the Tigers again threw in the towel with Taniela Tuiaki spilling the kick-off only seconds after the try restart.

The Eels remained in an attacking mood despite the rain and attempted Tigers comeback, custodian Jarryd Hayne wrestling 4 Tigers defenders on their line to burrow under and score a benefit of the doubt try, that try ruining any chance Tim Sheens’ men had of a miraculous comeback with backrower Mateo snaring a short ball from Matt Keating to touchdown under the posts before Hayne again went over to score only 5 minutes from time.

Tigers prop Bryce Gibbs was also placed on report after collected Inu with a forearm late in the contest.

The Eels face the out of sorts Bulldogs next week and will look to build on their improved late run as the Wests Tigers do some soul searching before facing the Manly Sea Eagles at ANZ Stadium.

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