Minus fellow architect Cooper Cronk put on a 40/20 kick and two try assists in the first eight minutes of the game to take control of the contest and trust that his team's defence could hold the Sharks to a manageable total. Six tackle busts show just how hard he was to contain.
With torrential rain falling all game possession and territory were paramount and no one contributed to that for Manly more than Taupau, who rumbled forward for 235m, almost half of which came post-contact with Newcastle defenders. The Eels might have forgotten not to fall for the Thurston dummy but the Cowboys captain returned with a virtuoso performance, scoring his second try of the season, laying on three others for teammates and kicking six goals from seven attempts, and sending shudders all throughout New South Wales in the process.ĭon't miss out on 2017 Men's Home Jerseys only $110! Also scored a try of his own to add further weight to a permanent shift to five-eighth. Pulled a rabbit out of the hat by orchestrating two tries in the final two minutes to allow Penrith to make a great escape from Bathurst with the two points. Split the Tigers defence with some brilliant footwork for the first of Connor Watson's two tries and then put in a perfectly-weighted left foot kick for Mitchell Pearce to score centimetres inside the dead-ball line. Provided plenty of momentum for the Broncos with some searching runs down Brisbane's left edge, accumulating 194 run metres and four tackle busts. Ran for 128m with four tackle busts and two offloads. Tried to put brother Brett over in the first half and was then Joshy-on-the-spot to back up a break by Will Hopoate to score the first try of the game and put the Bulldogs on the path to an upset win. Enormous literally and figuratively on the left wing for the Warriors, taking advantage of some quick thinking from Kieran Foran to score a first-half try and getting his side on the front foot with strong carries from deep, accumulating 215 run metres with five tackle busts.