SNAPSHOT OF ROUND EIGHT OF THE NRL SEASON
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PLAYER OF THE ROUND: Sydney halfback Sam Walker tore up St George Illawarra on Anzac Day, helping the Roosters deliver an almighty warning shot to the rest of the NRL. He set up four tries and scored himself, and slotted a perfect 10 from 10 off the tee to completely destroy the Dragons.
QUOTE OF THE ROUND: "It was just stupid. Silly things at the moment are really hurting us. Just missed tackles, penalties against us. Can't do that in NRL games, it doesn't matter who you're playing." Parramatta captain Clint Gutherson couldn't hide his frustration with Maika Sivo, after the winger copped a late sin-binning for elbowing Manly's Reuben Garrick in the face.
TALKING POINT: Should kick-off returns be banned to take at least some car-crash hits out of the game? St George lost centre Moses Suli with the opening play of their Sydney clash, cleaned up by Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
MAGIC MOMENT: The Gold Coast Titans are finally on the board under new coach Des Hasler, pulling off a stirring 27-24 win against the Warriors in New Zealand. They look a much better side with AJ Brimson at fullback, who scored two tries after struggling to influence playing in the centres earlier this season.
STAT THAT MATTERS: The Rabbitohs haven't conceded 50 or more points in a game since round 11, 2021. That year's half-century sparked a run to the grand final, although a similar outcome this season seems somewhat unlikely for Jason Demetriou's struggling side.
CASUALTY WARD: Dragons - Moses Suli (head knock); Roosters - Michael Jennings (triceps); Storm - Xavier Coates (hamstring), Nelson Asofa-Solomona (hamstring); Broncos - Jock Madden (pec); Tigers - Api Koroisau (back); Cowboys - Tom Chester (hamstring).
JUDICIARY WATCH: Rabbitohs - Taane Milne (dangerous contact); Sea Eagles - Daly Cherry-Evans (dangerous throw), Haumole Olakau'atu (dangerous throw); Eels - Maika Sivo (dangerous contact).
UNDER PRESSURE: Wests Tigers' back-to-back wins in rounds three and four had fans daring to dream that they'd permanently turned a corner under new coach and club legend Benji Marshall. Since then they've lost four straight games - all by at least 10 points - while sliding back to 14th on the ladder. Upcoming winnable games against Canterbury, Newcastle and the Dolphins will gauge what progress they've really made.
Australian Associated Press
