Today we take a look at the treatment of tripping in the game, the collapse of the Eels in steamy Darwin, the dramas of a young fullback and an excellent use of the sin bin.
Read on as we take a look back over the weekend at some of the biggest hits and misses.
MISS
Tedesco's trip deserved more than a penalty and a fine
Roosters fullback James Tedesco is a champion of the game and an 80-minute competitor who puts everything he has into every play. With the scores locked at 12 in the 70th minute of the game, he would have been keen to pin the Storm deep inside their own territory as he chased through on a kick.
Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen scooped up the ball, paused a second, and then stepped the charging Roosters fullback who was wrong-footed, stuck out his boot, and collected the lower part of Papenhuyzen's left leg. Papenhuyzen hit the ground protesting the treatment.
On Sunday afternoon we saw Bulldogs halfback Drew Hutchinson do the same thing against the Knights, sticking his leg out after being beaten by an attacking player.
At speed, a trip can end in disastrous results, it is illegal and was once viewed as an instant send-off offence. Today it seems a penalty, being placed on report and given a fine is all it warrants. Going on how the NRL works, I'm guessing it will take a snapped leg before we see tripping treated seriously again.
HIT
Phins are up in steamy Darwin
The big Eels forwards struggled after the break in steamy Darwin as the Dolphins' little men ran rampant up the middle of the park.
Sparked by Queensland Cup superstar fullback Trai Fuller, the Dolphins cut the Eels defence to pieces in the second half. Jeremy Marshall-King, Kodi Nikorima, Isaha Katoa, Fuller and Max Plath left Parramatta's exhausted middle forwards standing as they ran in five tries in a 12 minute period to take a 30-10 lead. The Eels barely touched the ball and when they did they were too exhausted to do anything with it.
With fans hoping for some sign of resolve, the Eels players packed it in and allowed another three tries before crossing late for one of their own. It was an insipid effort that left coach Brad Arthur calling them part-time footballers.
"What's wrong with our season is that we are a part-time footy team at the moment," he fumed in the post-match media conference.
"We pick and choose when we want to play and we pick and choose in the 80 minutes when we want to make a tough choice or a soft choice, because that second half wasn't good enough."
"It just all got too fast for us and too hard and we gave up, simple as that.
"There's only a handful of players at this club at the moment that choose to come every week to play with the right mentality and toughness... and want to be an 80-minute footballer and the want to be an NRL player every week."
MISS
Chevy stalls in first half of clash with Broncos
It was a tough night for Canberra Raiders fullback Chevy Stewart. The Broncos targeted him with their kicking game, and punished him with heavy defence at every opportunity. He made some costly errors in the first half and was folded in half in one particular tackle. Coach Ricky Stuart pulled him aside at halftime to ensure his confidence wasn't completely destroyed.
"My message was, 'you will show me tonight in the next 40 minutes what sort of career you are going to have in the NRL by the way you respond'," Stuart said.
"I said, 'mate, no-one cares about the first 40'. He responded the way we needed him to, and for him, too. We know he is a good footy player.
"If Chevy Stewart wasn't a tough kid, he would have crumbled tonight. At 18 years of age, you remember that.
"I know at 18 years of age I wasn't ready to play NRL. At 18, how he handled the second half showed me has a future in the NRL.
"I don't care about the dropped bomb. I don't care about the try off it because there will be more of that. I have just got to be patient."
Meanwhile, up the other end of the field, Reece Walsh was at his brilliant best in the extremely wet conditions. His footwork, acceleration and ability to be where he is needed at the right time, makes him a tough proposition to stifle. Stewart had a much better second half, but the game was all but over by then.
HIT
Excellent use of the sin bin to quell stupidity
With only minutes remaining in the game and the result well beyond doubt, hot heads Reed Mahoney and Jack Hetherington got involved in a bit of push and shove, with teammates joining in on the usual pack of jersey grabbing inaction.
As the teams were separated and referee Peter Gough was trying to sort the mess out, the two continued to trade insults and verbal threats. There was nothing to be gained in allowing them to line up for the next play and potentially blow the game up again, so Gough wisely sent them both to the sin bin for an early shower.
Gough was obviously listening well at referees school when they covered de-escalating fiery situations, using the lessons learned from the 'Battle of Brookvale' incident, he first sent Hetherington and then waited a suitable amount of time before giving Mahoney his marching orders.
Hetherington should have been well on his way to running the hot water tap, but the officials inexplicably allowed him to hang around in the tunnel for Mahoney. He shaped up and feigned a punch at the Bulldogs hooker, an incident which was caught on camera and will be investigated by the NRL.
MISS
Woeful Wahs disappoint in Wollongong
The Warriors need a lot of improvement in their defensive resolve if they hope to be taken seriously this year. After scoring the first try of the game against the Dragons, they opened up like an overly ripe peach.
The Dragons' third try could not be described in any other way but soft. Ben Hunt charged at the line from 10 metres out with barely a dummy and a step, and fended off one Warriors defender while carrying another two with him over the line. It was pure desire, certainly Hunt had a greater level of it than the Warriors defence.
We saw a similar difference in enthusiasm straight after halftime when Zac Lomax out-leapt Marcelo Montoya to snatch a high ball and run in for the Dragons fourth try of the night.
MISS
Officials are consistently inconsistent
The Sharks first try against the Cowboys on Sunday came from a monumental and uncharacteristic error from fullback Scott Drinkwater. Fielding a Sharks kick five metres in from the sideline deep inside his own territory, Drinkwater, feeling the tacklers were set to railroad him into touch, tried to slip a pass back to a teammate who simply wasn't there. The ball bounced up into the arms of Will Kennedy who threw a big dummy to beat the only remaining impediment to his jog to the line.
Replays cleared the Sharks tacklers of touching the ball as it left Drinkwater's hands, so there was no knock-on. A further replay, however, showed that one of those tacklers, Jesse Ramien, was a half stride ahead of the kicker. Ramien hit Drinkwater as soon as he caught the kick, so he was well within the 10 metres, and yet the try was cleared by the bunker.
What hope do coaches and fans have of maintaining their composure when the implementation of the rules is a weekly lottery with very few winners.
MISS
An injured Ponga is doing more harm than good
Your best player, even if he is the reigning Dally M medallist, really needs to have two fully operational legs to take his place in an NRL game. Knights fullback Kalyn Ponga ran out for the Knights against the Bulldogs on Sunday carrying a hip pointer injury from the week before. He was largely ineffective through the first half where he also picked up a suspected foot injury.
Halftime footage from the sheds showed Ponga clearly in discomfort as he hobbled around the inner sanctum. Back in the middle, Ponga received attention before the second half even kicked off.
He then chased back on a Reed Mahoney grubber kick into the in-goal area, desperately hoping it would run dead as he knew he had no hope of carrying the ball out of there. Bailey Hayward charged through and managed to ground it just before it rolled dead, for another Bulldogs try.
The Knights struggle without Ponga, but they won't do any better dragging him onto the field with one good leg.