PLAYER OF THE ROUND: Take your pick. Brisbane winger Selwyn Cobbo scored the two tries that sealed a famous defeat of the Dolphins in the so-called Battle of Brisbane. Kalyn Ponga breathed much-needed life into Newcastle's season with three try assists in the 66-0 thrashing of Canterbury. North Queensland duo Scott Drinkwater and Tom Dearden combined to help devastate Wests Tigers 74-0. This was a round with some vital wins, and some equally vital individual showings.
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QUOTE OF THE ROUND: "If you don't want to be on the hard road, then hop off the bus". Canterbury captain Reed Mahoney was none too pleased with Bulldogs fans booing their own team at half-time of the 66-0 capitulation against Newcastle.
TALKING POINT: Are Penrith kicking clear of the rest of the competition? Without injured talisman Nathan Cleary, the Panthers fought back from 14-0 down against the Storm in Melbourne, running in six unanswered tries. We've been told how close the 2023 premiership is all year, but with Brisbane unconvincing over the past month, is a clear front-runner emerging?
MAGIC MOMENT: When Alex Johnston belted through torrential rain in Auckland and latched onto a Cody Walker chip kick, he had South Sydney on the way to an emphatic win over the Warriors and joined Steve Menzies in third place on the all-time try-scoring leaderboard with 180 four-pointers.
STATS THAT MATTER: North Queensland's 74-0 annihilation of Wests Tigers was the third-highest winning margin in Australian rugby league history, and the largest since 1935. The win was the perfect revenge for the Tigers' 66-18 defeat of the Cowboys six weeks prior and confirmed the biggest turnaround in margins for two matches between two teams in a season, at 122 points. With 30, Valentine Holmes broke the record for most points in a game by a Cowboys player.
CASUALTY WARD: Roosters - Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (head knock), Billy Smith (head knock), Jake Turpin (head knock); Dolphins - Felise Kaufusi (head knock), Jeremy Marshall-King (shoulder); Raiders - Pasami Saulo (head knock); Titans - Phil Sami (hamstring); Storm - Will Warbrick (head knock); Rabbitohs - Campbell Graham (sternum); Sharks - Braden Hamlin-Uele (ribs);
JUDICIARY WATCH: Sharks - Dale Finucane (dangerous throw); Tigers - Alex Twal (dangerous contact)
UNDER PRESSURE: Wests Tigers looked lost without injured men Luke Brooks and Api Koroisau and have now plummeted back to the bottom of the ladder. A case can be made that despite their off-season recruitment drive, the Tigers are no better under new coach Tim Sheens than they were in last year's wooden spoon season. Their three wins for the season is as many as they'd had to this time last year, albeit with having played two more games by round 18 in 2022.
Australian Associated Press
