It was another action-packed round of footy with some sensational individual performances producing several upsets.
There are no longer any unbeaten teams after the Broncos were stunned by Ricky Stuart’s Raiders, while the Wests Tigers remain the only winless side.
FOXX INJURY OPENS ORIGIN DOOR FOR SUAALII
Josh Addo-Carr is out for eight weeks with a syndesmosis injury which has saved a tough call for NSW coach Brad Fittler and opened the door for him to make a controversial one.
Fittler infamously axed the Storm-turned-Bulldogs winger last year before Addo-Carr went on to win the World Cup with Australia and finished as the tournament’s top try-scorer.
Addo-Carr’s ankle injury means Fittler won’t have to make a call on 27-year-old for the Origin series opener on May 31 - but he will on Joseph Suaalii.
Suaalii last month made a high-profile switch to rugby union, signing a $5 million deal with Rugby Australia from 2025, which prompted calls to put a representative ban on the Roosters star.
The 19-year-old was picked in the Blues squad last year as a development player behind incumbent wingers Brian To’o and Daniel Tupou.
Addo-Carr was expected to be selected ahead of both To’o and Tupou and there’s an argument Suaalii is also more deserving of a spot based on 2023 form.
Panthers gun To’o has won back-to-back premierships but he hasn’t burst out of the blocks this season, while 31-year-old Roosters veteran Tupou isn’t getting any younger.
Suaalii is playing in the centres for the Chooks this season but 20 of his 29 NRL appearances have been on the wing.
Fittler has vowed to pick the best players available and said Suaalii’s defection to rugby won’t come into his calculations.
That declaration from Fittler will now be put to the test with one of Suaalii’s biggest rivals for a spot scratched.
PONGA BOXING AS PART OF COMEBACK PLAN
Knights coach Adam O’Brien has detailed the club’s return-to-play plan for Kalyn Ponga and said he won’t hesitate postponing the scheduled Round 8 comeback if necessary.
Ponga hasn’t played since he was heavily concussed in Round 2, copping a sickening head knock in his side’s first defensive set of the game.
It was his fourth concussion in 10 months and saw Ponga sent to Vancouver to undergo brain testing.
“We’ve mapped out a bit of a road map,” O’Brien said after the Knights beat the Warriors on Sunday night.
“There’s everything from footy contact, to the type of tackles we think he’ll experience as well as a bit of boxing.
“A lot of thought has gone into it all and we’ve actually started some of it but rather than me going and handing it all over everyone we’ll just go about it over the next few weeks.
“And then we’ll work out whether he’s right to go and if he’s not we’ll wait another week.”
Newcastle have refused to let Ponga’s absence derail their season - they sit eighth after six rounds with three wins, two losses and draw.
Newcastle’s backline hasn’t skipped a beat in Ponga’s absence, Led by new recruit Lachie Miller at fullback, halfback Jackson Hastings and arguably the most in-form wing pairing in the competition in Greg Marzhew and Dominic Young.
The Knights have won three, drawn one and lost one in the five matches Ponga hasn’t featured, including Round 2 when he went down in the opening minute.
O’Brien must next decide whether to keep Ponga in the front line at No. 6 or return him to fullback.
In defence, Ponga would have less tackles to make at fullback, but in a playmaking role his hands are on the ball.
O’Brien didn’t reveal where he’ll play Ponga when he returns against the Cowboys on April 22.
However, Newcastle could switch Ponga and Miller in defence with the former Olympian playing in the front line.
DOLPHINS’ POTENTIAL DYNAMIC DUO IN 2024
Isaiya Katoa has stamped himself as a halfback of the future and with the Dolphins potential addition of Jack Wighton next season, Wayne Bennett could have one of the NRL’s most dynamic duos in 2024.
In his first start at halfback, 19-year-old Katoa showed maturity beyond his years against the Cowboys, displaying a “calm nature” in Friday night’s win.
The Dolphins and Raiders are reportedly the only two realistic teams in contention for Wighton’s signature and chatter is growing that Katoa could be partnering a 2021 Dally M Medal winner next season.
It would leave Sean O’Sullivan, who is contracted until the end of the 2025 season, as the odd man out.
A brilliant ball-runner that possesses the strength and power to always be a threat whenever he has the ball, Wighton would be a huge signing for the Dolphins who, despite their early success this season, lack star power.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart knows the Dolphins are a real threat of snaring the Blues and Kangaroos star Wighton, but he’s made it clear the club are “doing everything we possibly can” to keep Wighton.
“I have a very special relationship with Jack from a coaching point of view,” Stuart said.
“He is a Raider, but to answer your question honestly which gets me in a lot of trouble most of the time, I don’t want to lose Jack Wighton the way we lost (Anthony) Milford as a player, to the Broncos years and years ago.”
Ironically Milford is now a Dolphin, and it was his hamstring injury which saw Katoa wear the No. 7 against the Cowboys.
“Katoa is a halfback. We made him play five-eighth but he is a halfback,” Bennett said after the Dolphins Round 4 loss to the Broncos.
Katoa returned coach Wayne Bennett’s faith with a career best performance.
He set up a freakish Jamayne Isaako try with a pinpoint kick to the corner and looked organised when steering his side around the park.
“The thing I like the most about him (Katoa) is his calm nature. He never seems to get flustered,” Dolphins captain Mark Nicholls said.
“He directs the forwards around the field and he’s not afraid to tell us what he wants us to do for him.
“He’s going great for a young kid.”
Roosters star Luke Keary believes the early signs are good for Katoa be a top NRL halfback for the next decade.
“I thought he was outstanding (against the Cowboys),” Keary said on Fox League.
“You could feel the calmness about him when they were in trouble; he just got them down the park, kicked to the corners and controlled things well.
“You could see he has all the skill and the talent and he has set a foundation up he can build up for a long, long time.”
EELS NEED X-FACTOR HELP AND FAST
Mitch Moses was at his brilliant best in the Eels’ 28-22 win over the Tigers on Easter Monday, but if he doesn’t get help soon it’s going to be a long season for Brad Arthur’s men.
Moses equalled his career-best four try assists against the Tigers in a performance that justified the $6 million extension he just signed for the next five years.
But the narrow victory over a winless Tigers outfit remains a concern for the 2022 grand finalists who currently look long odds to make the top eight.
“They’re in a bit of trouble, Parramatta,” Paul Kent said on NRL 360.
The Tigers dominated the field position, possession, run metres and nearly other key metric on Monday, but still couldn’t win.
Both Eels captain Clint Gutherson and Fox League analyst Cooper Cronk believe if it weren’t for Moses, that 1-5 record would be a reality.
“Mitch was outstanding tonight and it probably would have been a different result had he not been playing,” Gutherson said.
“If it wasn’t for Mitch Moses, I think we’d be focusing on Parramatta,” Cronk said.
“The Eels didn’t play all that well but the kicking game of Mitchell Moses won them that contest. He was outstanding.
“If the Tigers win, they’re on the same wins and losses.”
The ‘X-factor’ player the Eels are chasing needs to arrive sooner rather than later, according to Mick Ennis.
“They’re relying a lot on Mitch,” he said.
TITANS YOUNG GUNS CREATE SELECTION DILEMMA
The Titans’ season imploded last year due to an inexperienced spine and now, ironically, they have too much depth in the key positions.
Injuries to fullback AJ Brimson and five-eighth Kieran Foran opened the door for Jayden Campbell and Toby Sexton to star in the Gold Coast’s win over the Dragons on Sunday.
Campbell had 147 run metres, two linebreaks, a linebreak assist and a try, while Sexton had a linebreak, three linebreak assists, a try assist and the match-winning try.
Foran is due back in Round 7 and Brimson in Round 8 and they both will start when they return, but Campbell and Sexton have given Justin Holbrook food for thought.
The Titans could opt to play Brimson in the centres, while Sexton could be an option at halfback and will vie with Tanah Boyd for the right to partner Foran. Boyd can also play hooker, which is handy in the absence of the injured Sam Verrills.
Either way it is a good problem for Holbrook and the Titans to have after they struggled for consistency in their spine last season.
Michael Ennis believes the Titans need to find a spot in the starting 17 for Campbell every week.
“He puts his body on the line too, there is just no fear from him whatsoever,” Ennis said.
“The run right on halftime where he just turned Murdoch-Masila inside out and left him for dead for speed.
“He showed great anticipation and speed to put the kick on the spot.
“His try was another great moment bouncing out and slipping around and staying alive in support over the top of Jack Bird.
“It is good to see him back playing and starting. He is too good to be sitting on the bench.”
MUNSTER ON FIRE AS BIG THREE SOUND STORM TITLE WARNING
The Storm have now won three straight after their 28-8 victory over the Roosters and they can thank Cameron Munster and their big three for getting their title charge back on track.
Munster missed the Storm’s only two losses this season, but has been instrumental in their revival since his return.
Melbourne may be without one of their big four in Ryan Papenhuyzen, but with Jahrome Hughes, Harry Grant and Munster reunited, the Storm have enough firepower to match anyone in the competition.
Matty Johns believes the Storm are a different beast when the big three and particularly Munster are playing, especially in the wet conditions against the Roosters.
“Hughes, Munster and Harry Grant reunited and they didn’t miss a beat,” Johns said.
“Melbourne play to those conditions perfectly, but they were just so dominant.
“Munster just put in a masterclass.”
Munster had 171 metres, seven tackle busts, a linebreak, a linebreak assist, two try assists and a try in a complete performance from the Storm playmaker.
Gorden Tallis believes it was the best performance by the Storm in 2023 and it had Munster’s fingerprints all over it.
“Best performance of the year for the Storm,” Tallis said.
“Coming up against a side that they have had a bit of trouble with. It has been a great rivalry over the last 10 years. I think they have been minor premiers eight out of the 10 years.
“Melbourne were just so classy and their big players stood up, especially Munster.
“I thought in the first half when the game was on the line, a couple of his plays were all class. Everything he did was first class.
“Look at his linebreaks, I’ve never seen a guy that can just break out of structure like he does. Right at the last minute he can play what he sees in front of him.
“He’s unbelievable. He got a compound fracture a month ago and he has come back in top form.”
Nick Meaney also had arguably his best game in Storm colours and is filling Papenhuyzen’s void with aplomb.
When Papenhuyzen returns the Storm can go to even greater heights and Craig Bellamy is a real chance to go out with a premiership if he hangs up the coach’s whistle at the end of the year.
LATRELL KEY AS SOUTHS CLICK INTO GEAR IN ‘SCARY’ SIGNS
Three-time premiership-winner Luke Keary knows what successful sides look like and he’s dubbed the Rabbitohs a “scary” outfit after their stunning 50-16 display against the Bulldogs on Good Friday.
The Rabbitohs had a bit of a slow start to the game but the floodgates opened as soon as Josh Addo-Carr left the field injured. The Bunnies made the most of the Dogs’ depleted right edge defence as Latrell Mitchell scored two almost identical tries in three minutes.
They then switched their target to the other side of the field when Jacob Preston was sin-binned in the 62nd minute and ran in three tries in the 10-minute period.
While appearing on Fox League’s panel on Friday, Keary said that awareness is a “sign of a team that’s in-tune.”
He also highlighted how this year’s South Sydney side is playing both sides of the field.
“They have turned themselves into a little bit of a multi-dimensional team now,” he said.
“They were basically a left-side (team) last year, this year Ilias and Koloamatangi have really turned that right edge into a force.
“They probably started a little slower than they wanted, but they are one of the premiership heavyweights.
They started the year as one of the premiership heavyweights, and put performances in like that — where they can just turn it on in the space of five or six minutes — they’re a scary side.”
At the forefront of the nine-try haul was star fullback Latrell Mitchell, who bagged a hat-trick and set up two more tries in a sizzling performance to celebrate his 150th NRL game.
It came after coach Jason Demetriou said pre-game that he wanted see the ball more in Mitchell’s hands when he’s in good field position.
A delighted Demetriou reiterated that point after the game.
“That’s what we need to do — get him the ball in the right field position,” he said.
“As a fullback, the things he can do, there’s no other player in the comp can do.
“Tonight he was Latrell Mitchell. And that’s what we want from him every week.”
Keary knows what it’s like to play with Mitchell when he’s at his devastating best given the pair won back-to-back premierships at the Roosters together. He believes Mitchell is key to the Rabbitohs’ success.
“I’ve been lucky enough to see it in his team and I’ve seen it against him and he can change the whole energy of a side,” he said.
“When he starts to go and he starts buzzing around the ball, getting support tries — that’s when you know he’s on.
“He can change the energy of a side, he can bring people with him, he is a special player. If he’s on then Souths are always a chance.”
‘SCARY’ RAIDERS MOMENT THAT SPARKED HUGE TURNAROUND
Things were looking grim in the nation’s capital after a Round 5 flogging at the hands of the reigning premiers.
The Panthers piled on seven second-half tries to seal a 53-12 win at GIO Stadium, embarrassing Ricky Stuart’s team.
The experienced coach said he was “disappointed” with his team’s performance post-match and warned his playing group a tough week was coming.
It would take a lot to scare Josh Papalii, but he was terrified when he saw Stuart’s face at the post-match video session.
“It was one of the scariest moments of my life walking into that video session and seeing Ricky was not happy,” Papalii said after his side beat the Broncos.
The Raiders sat above only the Tigers in 16th place during the week after making the second week of finals in 2022.
Something had to give, and it took an honest conversation between the players, led by the senior group, to spark what was an all-time ambush at Suncorp Stadium.
“I thought I’d take over among the other leaders and I thought we got it done tonight,” Papalii said.
“I think we just had too many excuses last week, you know the second half and that video session we just talked about coming up with a lot of energy and just playing footy.
“That’s what Canberra do well when we are on top.”
“I definitely did (feel a difference to last week), it was just a different feeling when we turned up and I think you are always going to roll your sleeves up when you are missing big Joe (Tapine) and Jacky legs (Wighton).”
Veteran halfback Jamal Fogarty was also honest in his appraisal of the Raiders’ defence in Round 5.
The 29-year-old also spoke of the tough conversations that were had during the week and signalled a shifting of attitudes in the nation’s capital that could see the green machine make another finals charge.
“I think our defence, last week we let in seven tries in 40 minutes, that’s not NRL standard, that is reserve grade kind of stuff,” Fogarty said.
“We had a very honest conversation with ourselves this week making sure we look that guy in the mirror, we wanted to do our job.
“The way we played tonight that’s the Raiders way and that’s the way that has been ingrained in the club, so that has been a big push this week.
“Obviously we have got a senior leadership group that go for brekky post-game every week with Ricky, we had a chat and said if we want the young boys to really speak up and be themselves we think it’s best for the coaches to be out of it.
“Us senior players will drive it, we will rip into each other and make sure we are doing our job first... in rugby league we can be so energetic and think about everyone else’s job, but we need to focus on our own patch first.”
PRESSURE BACK ON HOOK
Seven days is a long time in footy and the Dragons thumping win over the Dolphins in Round 5 is now a distant memory.
The pressure gauge will again be turned up on St George Illawarra coach Anthony Griffin after his side’s 20-18 loss against an understrength Titans on Sunday.
It was the Dragons third loss of the season and one that went begging against Justin Holbrook’s outfit missing Kieran Foran, AJ Brimson, Jojo Fifita and Sam Verrills.
Griffin’s future at the club has been on shaky ground since it was revealed the club were beginning the process to interview candidates for the head coaching role in 2024.
The 56-year-old was told he would also have to reapply for his own job.
After the
The smart money says Griffin is a dead man walking as the uncertainty around his future continues to strangle the club’s ability to recruit.
“There’s no energy at the club... there’s nothing that pulls you towards St. George and makes you look at them fondly,” Kent said on NRL 360 on Monday night.
“I don’t know if Jack Gibson could make this St. George team much better at the moment.
“The problem is how are they going to try and sell the club (as a destination) with the coach under a cloud as well as no clear direction of what they’re trying to do.
“They have multiple problems, especially their roster ... They need significant changes in that roster but how can they get players to the club or be in the market for players with so much uncertainty?”
Kent pointed to the Raiders’ upset win over the Broncos which came after Canberra’s senior players took over the video review meeting following their heavy loss to Penrith.
“It was good to see that come from senior players, coaches have become such dominant figures in clubs now. There was a time where the captain basically ran the club, many years ago,” Kent said.
“The good clubs have strong leaders and everyone now and then the leaders have got to say ‘we’re the problem here’ and St George could do something similar.”
Dragons captain Ben Hunt tried in vain in Sunday’s loss and according to Fox League’s Michael Ennis was “the best player on the ground.”
Earlier in the week, Hunt threw his support behind Griffin, claiming that the Dragons “need to ride this out” instead of making a switch at coach.
Griffin’s position will come under review in a month, according to The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield.
“To take pressure of Hook, he had to win that game yesterday,” Rothfield said on NRL360.
“They played really well in the second half against the Dolphins and they needed to back it up but they didn’t play well enough to beat a side who will be at the lower end of the ladder.
“I made a couple of inquiries and I think they’ll at least wait another month until round 10 to see what happens.”
