The NRL continued with some teams resting their Origin players over the weekend, and others backing up. It made for a confusing round, with teams underperforming and others enjoying the spoils.
Read on as ESPN takes a look back over the weekend at some of the biggest hits and misses.
MISS
'Six again' proves it is clearly league's worst rule
Did anyone else notice what seemed to be an upsurge in six again calls over the weekend? There were several games where the arbitrary tackle count reset greatly influenced the result. The impact on the team forced to defend for long periods of time is often insurmountable. Even if they manage to keep the opposition from scoring, they struggle to have any impact with the ball, as they work their way through the next set, often defending again within a short period of time.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart, who it must be said will often look to offload the blame for defeats, did have a good point about the randomness of it.
"To answer your question, we were on the wrong side of the guessing game again," Stuart said.
"They're just guessing mate. Those six agains, they're just guessing - 'I'll give one away here, I'll give one away there'."
The Bulldogs, Dragons and Panthers to name a few, all enjoyed massive possession runs during their games. Only the Panthers failed to take advantage, with the Cowboys' defence defying logic as they faced a Panthers run that included 11 out of 12 sets, an 8-1 penalty count, 39 tackles inside the Cowboys red zone and back-to-back players in the sin bin.
HIT
Defence sees Bulldogs move into fifth place
The Bulldogs have developed one of the best defences in the NRL and it was put to the ultimate test against the speed and ferocity of the Sharks attack. No team runs the ball harder and straighter than the Sharks, from fullback Will Kennedy right through to the front rowers. It takes a toll on any defence, moving up and getting your shoulders in the way of that relentless ferocity.
The Bulldogs got out to an early 12-0 lead through two sketchy close range tries and then did extremely well to maintain that lead through 63 minutes. But their attack was bland and never really threatened the Sharks' line again, despite having a massive possession advantage. At times as they offered one-out charges at the Sharks line, they looked disappointed to receive six again, as it meant more one-out charges before the kick which seemed to be their best hope of scoring.
Eventually with some ball in hand, the Sharks wore the Bulldogs down and were able to take a 14-12 lead late in the game. The Bulldogs showed plenty of grit to level the scores and eventually win it in Golden Point extra time through Matt Burton's third attempt at field goal for the night.
MISS
Not such a chip off the old Rod
Rod Wishart was a champion winger who played for Illawarra Steelers, St George Illawarra Dragons, New South Wales and Australia. If you admire the way today's wingers run the hard yards out of trouble, Wishart was a pioneer of running flat out into the defensive wall. On top of being one of the best wingers of his generation, he was also one of the best goal kickers as well. Wishart could kick them from just about anywhere. I'm sure he was proudly watching his son, Tyran, who was playing five eighth for the Storm against the Raiders.
With regular goal kickers Nick Meaney and Cameron Munster out injured, Wishart was given the duties. He lined up a penalty kick, just off centre, to take the Storm to a comfortable 18-6 lead in the second half. He moved in and completely shanked it. Luckily for the Storm, Wishart had a great game in general play and the Storm collected the two points.
HIT
Bradman back to this best
If New South Wales weren't already fielding two of the games best centres, they would certainly be looking to squeeze Bradman Best back into the line-up. Best was brilliant against the Eels on the weekend, causing trouble whenever he had the ball as the Knights managed to hold on for a hard-fought victory.
Best earned his pay packet with two length-of-the-field tries on the back of Eels passing errors. It proved to be the difference in the end and Best joked afterwards that he struggled to make the distance the second time around.
MISS
Bad start for Panther Alamoti
With Isaah Yeo being the only Origin player to back up for the Panthers, it was an inexperienced squad that hosted the inconsistent Cowboys. They needed a good solid start to soothe the nerves of those making their first grade debuts and others filling in for the stars of the game.
Alamoti took the opening kick-off and sent it sailing five metres over the sideline with the help of a brisk headwind.
To make things worse the Cowboys marched downfield and looked to score a try off their first possession, but the four-pointer was disallowed on review for an obstruction.
Eight minutes later Kyle Feldt was not to be denied, diving into the corner after a perfect Scott Drinkwater balloon pass caught Alamoti out in defence. The Panthers winger off to an awful start in the Penrith rain.
The Cowboys crossed for another try on the other side of the field before the Panthers enjoyed their ridiculous share of possession. The Cowboys did remarkably well to hold them out.
HIT
Farnworth may be playing the wrong game
With the game all but over, Dolphins' centre Herbie Farnworth put in his audition for a late inclusion in England's struggling Euros squad. The Dragons lost the ball just inside their own half, and Farnworth stormed through and put his toe to it. His dribbling effort ended when the ball bounced up perfectly into his arms with 10 metres to go to the try line.
Summing up the Dolphins' day at Kogarah, a last-ditch effort to stop him by Moses Suli saw the ball stripped from his grasp on the try line. The score remained 26-6 in the Dragons' favour, but Farnworth showed another string to his already talent-filled bow.