NRL key takeouts: Round 12

Melbourne Storm 28 bt Manly Sea Eagles 8

Melbourne found their mojo after a couple of off-colour weeks, but there were still some bizarre breakdowns in attack during the first half. Cameron Munster’s continued justification of his seven-figure asking price ensured they always had Manly’s measure, with big names Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Harry Grant due back after next week’s bye, and Ryan Papenhuyzen a week behind them. No such luck for the Sea Eagles. Losing Dylan Walker – their most threatening player on Thursday – to a concerning knee injury on top of Tom Trbojevic’s absence has Manly in danger of losing touch with the top eight. Their defence held up for a while under stern examination but has now leaked 20-plus points in six consecutive games – hardly a welcome record in the club’s long history.
Dan Walsh

Penrith Panthers 22 bt North Queensland Cowboys 0

Penrith are humming and easily accounted for yet another heavyweight. Viliame Kikau aimed up in defence, and the premiers had the game in the bag by half-time as they enjoyed plenty of possession in good field position. North Queensland did well to defend the line the way they did, but coughed up the ball too often when they looked ready to mount a second-half fightback. Valentine Holmes won the head-to-head battle with Stephen Crichton. Dylan Edwards is a brilliant fullback who has picked the worst era to excel in the No. 1.
Christian Nicolussi

Brisbane Broncos 35 bt Gold Coast Titans 24

Serious questions will need to start being asked about Justin Holbrook and the Gold Coast Titans after they blew a 20-point lead to get blitzed by the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium. The visitors had the game well in hand as they took a 24-4 lead into the break before they fell apart to lose by 11 points. Halfback Toby Sexton went off with a shoulder injury for a long stretch and the Titans lost all cohesion. By the time he returned late in the second half, it was all over. All credit to the Broncos. They looked vacant for 40 minutes before blowing the Titans off the park, all without the services of Adam Reynolds. The good news is that young playmaker Ezra Mam looks a terrific prospect. The longer he can learn from a veteran general like Reynolds, the better.
Phil Lutton

New Zealand Warriors 16 lost to Newcastle Knights 24

Warriors coach Nathan Brown spoke after this defeat to say he took full responsibility for the hiring of Matt Lodge, who in turn walked out mid-contract and earned himself a payout of around $700,000. He said he would reflect on recruitment strategies but was convinced it had little impact on their loss to a Newcastle side who scrapped hard for its first victory in 10 rounds. There was little to report from Redcliffe other than the injury to Knights prop Daniel Saifiti, with a knee concern (MCL) ruling him out of Origin I. The halves combination of Jake Clifford and Anthony Milford showed some promise for Newcastle but both of these clubs are well off the pace when it comes to the better outfits in the NRL.
Phil Lutton

South Sydney Rabbitohs 44 bt Wests Tigers 18

Good chance to run the rule over these teams now that we’re at the halfway point of the season. It’s taken longer than expected, but South Sydney appear to be warming to their task. They were slow out of the blocks again in this one, but blew the Tigers off the park with six unanswered tries. There’s every chance they will have Latrell Mitchell back after the bye and can still make a run if they reproduce the football they played in the second half. As for the Tigers … this will now be 11 years without a play-off appearance. Now the club is going to conduct a mid-season review and we all know where the focus of that will land. Given that Canterbury are looking for a new head coach, if the axe is going to fall on Michael Maguire, the Tigers will want to do it soon so they get the first crack at a replacement.
Adrian Proszenko

Cronulla Sharks 16 lost to Sydney Roosters 36

If the NSW Origin side was announced on Friday, the selection of Daniel Tupou would have baffled the punters. However, the Roosters winger looks to have earned himself a shock selection for the Blues and his impressive performance against the Sharks showed why. He scored two tries, set up another and didn’t slip defensively. It was another showcase of the consistency and class the 30-year-old has become synonymous with over the years. That, and his combination with fullback James Tedesco, was a highlight of the Roosters’ 20-point win. Tedesco was at his best, scoring one, providing two and was also brilliant in defence. It was a display that allayed many concerns over NSW’s depleted fullback stocks with Tom Trbojevic and Latrell Mitchell injured.
Dominic Bossi

Canterbury Bulldogs 24 lost to St George Illawarra Dragons 34

Cody Ramsey continues to look the goods in the red and white No.1 while Ben Hunt remains in some of the best form of his career. Andrew McCullough added plenty in a 20-minute cameo from the bench too, bagging his own try and laying on the match-winner. For the Bulldogs it was one step forward with ball in-hand, two stumbles in the opposite direction without it. Mick Potter was justifiably ropeable at some soft-serve defence on their own line and two uncharacteristic lapses from Josh Addo-Carr that led to direct tries. Tevita Pangai jnr (back spasms) is at least expected back for Friday’s trip to Penrith.
Dan Walsh

Canberra Raiders 20 lost to Parramatta Eels 28

Sometimes it feels easy to forget Dylan Brown is still only 21 years old.

The Parramatta five-eighth scored two tries and saved one at a crucial moment when he plucked the ball from Elliott Whitehead‘s grasp late in the game.

The Eels are one win off second place with only points differential keeping them out of the top four, and more outings like this from Brown will change that. The Raiders’ three-game winning run was snapped, but they will not lose any admirers after a clash that started in frantic fashion and turned into a gritty battle. Coach Ricky Stuart looks at a Parramatta side tipped to feature heavily in the business end of the season and says “we’ve shown we can match it with them. We’re certainly not intimidated by any team”.
Caden Helmers

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