Today we take a look at the inexplicable fall from grace of the New Zealand Warriors, a gritty Sharks victory, the Bulldogs well on the road to redemption, and the Tigers missing opportunities.
Read on as we take a look back over the weekend at some of the biggest hits and misses.
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New Zealand Woe Woes continue awful slump
The Warriors are in an awful slump at the moment. After a Round 6 draw with the Sea Eagles, they have lost to the Dragons, Titans and Knights, without many excuses, and were generally outplayed in each defeat. When you lose to three bottom 8 clubs in a row, you know things are only going to get tougher.
They faced the Roosters in Sydney on Sunday and the time had well and truly arrived for them to put in a display of finals-worthy football. They needed to prove that they had addressed the slide and were ready to start a rebound. They needed a strong start against the Roosters to make a statement. What they gave instead was two tries to the opposition in five minutes, the first after just 40 seconds.
By the tenth minute of the match the Roosters were up 14-0 and would take a 22-0 lead into the break. If there was any positive to come out of the game for the Warriors, it's that they won the second half 18-16. But the loss sees them languishing in 14th position, just three points away from wooden spoon favourites the Rabbitohs. They now face the Panthers and Dolphins in the next two weeks, desperately in need of an on-field miracle or two.
Coach Andrew Webster was just last year praised as the man who had finally found the lost key to success at the Warriors. He had the players enjoying their free-spirited style, but with enough control and restraint built in to make them extremely formidable. Something has changed, something has upset the apple cart, the Warriors have lost their cohesion, lost their discipline.
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Sharks silence critics, for now, with gritty win over the Storm
It was a late and cruel blow for the Sharks to lose halfback Nicho Hynes in the lead-up to their Saturday night clash with the Storm. This game had been built up as the Sharks' first test against a genuine premiership threat, and they were keen to prove that they deserved to be sitting at the top of the NRL ladder.
They were up against a depleted Storm side with both Jahrome Hughes and Ryan Papenhuyzen out injured, but the Storm did have Sualauvi Fa'alogo. The electric young fullback, every bit as exciting and dangerous as Papenhuyzen, setting the crowd alight with every touch of the ball. With the magic and control of Harry Grant and Cameron Munster it was always going to be a tough task for the Sharks.
With four minutes remaining in the first half Harry Grant went to the sin bin for one of the most innocuous incidents we've seen for a long time. Putting pressure on the kicker from dummy half, as he always does, Grant arrived too late to stop the kick but continued on a line which saw him collide with the outstretched leg of five-eighth Daniel Atkinson. It was a very low impact collision and Atkinson was unarmed, but there has been a crackdown ever since Lachlan Ilias had his leg snapped in a similar incident in a lower grade.
To compound the matter for the Storm, the Sharks crashed over for a score-levelling try in the following set of tackles. The teams jogged off locked at 12-12 to a chorus of boos for referee Grant Atkins, only to return after the break to continue the intrigue. The Sharks scored a try through Jesse Ramien ten minutes into the second half to take a 18-12 lead, before the Storm levelled the scores again with ten minutes remaining. The game looked set for a classic late Storm victory, but an Atkinson field goal was followed immediately by a Siosifa Talakai try from the kick-off. The Sharks were able to hold off frantic attempts by the Storm to close the seven-point gap over the closing minutes.
The cynics won't be completely silenced as yet, but the Sharks can only keep beating what is dished up to oppose them each week. Next hurdle, the Broncos in Magic Round.
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Tigers missing the clear opportunities
The difference between competing for a Top 8 position or battling to avoid the wooden spoon can come down to a lot of little things during each game, across the whole season. Mistakes, a lack of vision, wasted opportunities, a missed tackle here or there, little things that the better teams don't do, certainly not as often. Into the second half in Tamworth, with the Tigers trailing the Knights 14-6, we saw a classic example of why the Tigers won't be playing finals football again this year
A brilliant short drop out from Apisai Koroisau found the chest of Jahream Bula on the fly. He cut through the scattered Knights at speed before passing to Brent Naden, as his run came to an end. Naden was dragged down five metres out from the Knights' line. With the Knights defence in tatters and a considerable overlap lining out to the left, Charlie Staines received the ball from the dummy-half and went for a solo run. His failed effort was pulled up five metres short and was followed by a dummy-half charge at the line by Isaiah Papali'i, who was held up over the line. The good teams, the ones who will make the Top 8 will almost always score tries in those situations.
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Bulldogs showing signs of turning the corner
The Bulldogs started with plenty of enthusiasm against the Panthers, and more or less matched the premiers in the early exchanges. What they could not do was capitalise on any errors, unlike the Panthers who made the most of multiple Bulldogs mistakes. The 12-0 Panthers lead at the break was indicative of the gap between the two teams, but the departure of Nathan Cleary right on halftime, was the opportunity the Bulldogs needed.
With the playing field slightly more level after the NRL's best player stepped off for the remainder, the Bulldogs were able to drag themselves into the contest. They scored two tries to Penrith's two penalty goals to finish the game 16-10 down.
The Bulldogs' journey to redemption is well underway, but it is going to take time before they can turn competitive efforts into consistent victories over the better sides. In the meantime, their fans are enjoying getting behind a team that is finally competing.
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Cowboys have made disappointment an art form
The Cowboys bombed enough tries to win their clash against the Titans three times over. They finished an agonising two points behind their Queensland rivals but really should have won, with several blown tries including a late effort which saw the ball knocked from Valentine Holmes arms over the line. In a previous life Holmes would have been awarded a touchdown, but without grounding the ball it was a costly four lost points for the Cowboys.
What's more, two of the Titans tries came from the Cowboys inability to handle kicks. In all it was another very ordinary effort from a team that has made an art form of disappointing its fans this year. For the Titans it was a scrappy, scrambling performance that showed a lot of the grit that Des Hasler would be looking for from his team. The execution still needs a lot of improvement, but the Titans are on their way towards troubling a lot of teams.
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Magic Fuller effort shows why he needs to stay in first grade
Trai Fuller scored a try with three minutes remaining in the first half which emphasised why he needs to be a permanent first grade fullback, somewhere.
He took the ball near halfway in sloppy conditions, bumped off the attempted tackle of Daly Cherry-Evans and set sail for fullback Tom Trbojevic. With his support seemingly covered he opted to chip over his much taller opponent. The ball bounced perfectly up into his arms before he dived over near the posts.
With star fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow likely to return from a hamstring injury next week, questions have been raised as to Fuller's immediate future. He simply has to be in the 17 somewhere and there are sure to be many clubs making inquiries about his future contractual obligations.