Round 7 saw the Brisbane Broncos claim the title of worst team in Queensland and unfortunately there was a plethora of injuries to star players.
The Roosters were rocked with ACL injuries to two of their stars while Cam Munster and Mitchell Moses are also expected to miss some time.
However, the biggest story of the weekend was reserved for the biggest club in the NRL.
The Broncos were under significant pressure heading into the round and a heavy defeat to the Titans saw them claim the title as the worst team in Queensland.
Penrith Panthers 20 – 12 South Sydney Rabbitohs
The Panthers continue their impressive run of form with a controlled display against the Rabbitohs.
The Panthers completed 86% of their sets and looked dangerous when they get good field position.
Halfback Nathan Cleary was on an IV drip in hospital the day before the game after an infection on his face that looked rather interesting. It didn’t deter his performance with Cleary playing a starring role and even scoring the sealing try late in the match.
The Rabbitohs were coming off back-to-back wins but were ultimately outclassed by superior opposition.
They were beaten in the battle of the forwards and, after losses to the Roosters, Storm and now the Panthers, it looks like they just cannot match it with the best teams.
Melbourne Storm 50 – 6 New Zealand Warriors
The Storm were far too good for the Warriors but would be worried about a knee injury to their star five-eighth Cam Munster.
The Storm backline racked up several tries with Suliasi Vunivalu scoring a hat-trick while Ryan Papenhuyzen and Paul Momirovski scored two each.
It’s tough times for the Warriors after being away from home for so long and they appear to be cracking.
In a nice touch, Storm captain Cam Smith and coach Craig Bellamy went into the Warriors rooms and delivered an emotional speech to illustrate their gratitude to the Warriors for relocating. Very classy from the Storm.
Sydney Roosters 26 – 12 St George Illawarra Dragons
The Roosters racked up yet another win but in more significant news have lost Victor Radley and Sam Verrills to ACL injuries.
The Roosters still have enough talent to win the premiership without those two players, but it certainly brings them back to the pack a little bit.
The Roosters put in a complaint to the NRL about the surface at Bankwest Stadium, but it was found to be suitable to play.
The Dragons were in the contest for much of the game but just didn’t have the quality to match it with the Roosters.
North Queensland Cowboys 32 – 20 Newcastle Knights
The Cowboys were embarrassed last week against the Tigers but rebounded with a comprehensive upset over the Knights.
After being behind 34-0 at half-time last week, the Cowboys shot out of the gates in this one and led 26-0 at the break.
Jason Taumalolo was back to his barnstorming best running for 297 metres and wreaking havoc on the Knights defence.
It was a poor performance for the Knights that had built an impressive record on the back of their defence.
Coach Adam O’Brien would be disappointed in his side for leaking 32 points, but they showed some heart to come back in the second half to give themselves a sniff.
Brisbane Broncos 12 – 30 Gold Coast Titans
Once again, the Broncos are in the furnace for yet another horrible loss, this time to the lowly Titans.
Coach Anthony Seibold continues to find himself under the pump and surely if this disastrous loss isn’t enough for him to make drastic changes to his side, I don’t know what will.
The Broncos were trailing 22-0 at half-time and were even booed off the field by their own fans.
The moment that epitomised the loss for the Broncos was with 6 minutes to go when Corey Oates hurled abuse at the referee and was sin binned for it. Pathetic from him and his side.
The once proud club find themselves in 15th spot on the ladder and if they lose to the Warriors next week, look out for the reaction.
The big story may have been the Broncos turmoil, but the Titans turned in a very good performance.
Ash Taylor played his best game for a long time and even crossed for the first try of the match.
They may be inconsistent, but there are signs the Titans are starting to play some better footy under new coach Justin Holbrook.
Parramatta Eels 25 – 24 Canberra Raiders
The match of the round played out at Bankwest Stadium on Saturday night with the Eels winning with a field goal in golden point.
After losing Mitchell Moses early, Clint Gutherson stepped up all game creating numerous chances in attack and ultimately winning the game with a field goal.
The Raiders were outplayed for much of the match but mounted a late comeback through two tries to Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.
Ricky Stuart’s side was picked by many as premiership favourites before the season but will have to improve considerably to match it with the Roosters.
Manly Sea Eagles 22 – 40 Cronulla Sharks
The Sharks turned in their best performance of the season and put on a big score against a depleted Manly side.
The Sharks halves Chad Townsend and Shaun Johnson were at their creative best, setting up 5 tries between them while Sione Katoa continues to find the line with another 2 tries bringing his season tally to 8.
Manly were missing several of their superstars for this clash with Tom Trbojevic, Dylan Walker and Moses Suli all out.
They will have to find a way to win without some of their best players though as they may be missing for quite some time.
Canterbury Bulldogs 6 – 34 Wests Tigers
When the Tigers are on, they can be explosive in attack and rack up points quickly.
They’ve scored 70 points over the past two weeks against some soft opposition, but they will face a bigger test next week when they’re up against the Panthers.
The Bulldogs’ woes continue and they now find themselves occupying last place on the ladder.
There has been mounting pressure on coach Dean Pay, with Wayne Bennett named as a potential successor should they move him on.
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