The NRL contenders have made their mark in Round 23, with some downright ridiculous results over the past two days.
After Penrith won a thrilling Thursday night game against the in-form Rabbitohs 26-22, the next five games on Friday and Saturday were won by an average of 45.6 points, with each team victorious by at least 40 points.
The Roosters ended Saturday night with a flamboyant 72-6 win over the Tigers, to go with big wins for the Eels and Sharks, who themselves followed incredibly lopsided scores in favor of the Cowboys and Storm on Friday in night
It means the teams chasing the Panthers (the teams running from second to fifth, plus the ominous Roosters) all gave their pro and con accounts big points injections heading into the final two rounds of the season regular
None bigger than the Roosters, who jumped above Brisbane and South Sydney, the only top eight teams to lose this week, from eighth to sixth by beating the Tigers so convincingly.
Workman Nat Butcher scored a surprise four tries, fellow rower Angus Crichton helped himself to two, as did wing Daniel Tupou.
James Tedesco, Connor Watson and Drew Hutchison also chipped in, while the Tigers’ only try came from a Brent Naden interception when the game was already decided in the 73rd minute.
Already looking set to win the wooden spoon as they sit bottom of the ladder heading into the final two rounds, the Tigers’ job will be made that much harder by an almost guaranteed ban for captain James Tamou.
The prop was sin-binned for dissent in the final minute of the game when he called on referee Ben Cummins to allow the Roosters to continue play after apparent collusion at dummy half, but Tamou step things up when leaving the field. .
Screaming in Cummins’ face that he was “fucking incompetent”, prompting the referee to immediately upgrade the sin to a sending-off, with a trip to the judiciary all but certain and a potentially career-ending suspension.
After the match, Tamou said he wanted to apologize to Cummins.
“[Referees] do a fantastic job. Emotions got the better of me. I will take any criticism. The actions are not acceptable,” he told reporters.
“I probably took the easy way out instead of shaking [the Roosters’] hands and looking into their eyes.”
With all the top eight teams having played this week, here’s how the standings look heading into the final two rounds of the season:
Check out how Saturday’s other games played out below, with the Sharks and Eels recording easy wins.
The Sharks keep pace with the other top four sides
Nicho Hynes crossed twice as the Sharks picked apart the Sea Eagles. (Getty: Cameron Spencer)
The Sharks stepped in with their own dominant performance on the eve of the final, hammering the Sea Eagles 40-6 at Brookvale.
It moved Cronulla past the Storm into third place, just behind the Cowboys on points differential, but with a big home run – hosting the Bulldogs next week and traveling to Newcastle to end the regular season.
It’s a much easier end to the season than any of the other top four contenders (Penrith, North Queensland, Melbourne and Parramatta), who face finals-bound teams at least once in their final fortnight.
With the Cowboys facing South Sydney and Penrith to end the season, the Sharks will be hoping to overtake them for second and get a home final to start the playoffs, especially after so thoroughly dismantling 10th-placed Manly.
The Sharks had already scored 40 points, with halfback Nicho Hynes and late call-up winger Matt Ikuvalu doubling, when the Sea Eagles got on the board.
That came from an opportunistic interception by Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans, but the all-round effort will have pleased Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon as he prepares his side for the finals.
One concern for the rookie mentor is the fitness of leading lock and forward Dale Finucane, who suffered a painful rib injury early in the game.
“It was the first six or seven minutes of the game, I made a tackle and I broke the cartilage in my ribs a bit,” Finucane told ABC Sport.
“As soon as I got the needle, I was good to go again.”
Finucane only played 23 minutes of the game and will be on the lookout this week.
The Eels show against the Bulldogs with the final up
The Eels are firmly in the finals places with two rounds remaining. (Getty: Matt Blyth)
Parramatta halves Dylan Brown and Mitchell Moses had the ball on a string at Western Sydney Stadium as the Eels returned to the winner’s circle with a strong 42-6 win over Canterbury.
After setting up two tries, Brown scored a brace of his own, becoming a constant threat to the Bulldogs defenders.
Moses returned early from finger surgery and Brown must have been happy to heal quickly. The Eels half set up both of Brown’s four points with skilful kicking and the pair also had four line-break assists between them.
It was an eight-try-to-one and must-win affair with top eight teams Brisbane (at Lang Park) and Melbourne (home) as the regular season draws to a close.
“I thought our start was really good, I thought we kept that physicality for 80 minutes. I know what this team can do… but what I need to see is their ‘desire’,” said l ‘Eels coach Brad Arthur.
“The desire was really there today but we have to make sure we do it again next week.
“We’ve shown in the big games what we can do, but it’s that desire and desire to do it all the time.”
Parramatta needed a win to secure their place in the finals with ninth-placed Canberra four points behind them at the start.
They also wanted to erase the memories of South Sydney’s 26-0 thrashing last week.
Scoring some spectacular team tries certainly helped as they leapfrogged the Rabbitohs into fifth place on the ladder.
Canterbury remain 12th, wondering why they couldn’t put up more resistance in the second half as they trailed by just 10 at the break.
“We were impatient. We threw the ball. We didn’t stifle their last plays and we didn’t create any pressure,” Bulldogs coach Mick Potter said.
Canterbury captain Josh Jackson said the way the Eels moved them around and made them defend for long periods would work well come finals time.
“If they play that style of football, they’re going to upset a lot of teams,” Jackson said.