It was the best of NRL Round 6 and the very blurst of the NRL round 5, and who is best qualified to sort the lamb from the mutton? We are of course, having somehow watched every minute of every game this weekend that we stayed awake for, and our weekly review is here for the very many of you that are interested.
As ever we have our debatable NRL Round 6 Team of the Week, point out the things that made us love Rugby League this weekend, some things that gave us the irits, plus a few choice things from each game.
Way too much information? Never fear, we won’t go into too much details. We’ve watched all the games so you didn’t have to. Feel free to use our review as the dot point plan for those workplace discussions over the coming week.
NRL ROUND 6 TEAM OF THE WEEK
Who were the star performers this weekend, worthy of a spot in our Team of Week. Check out our wonderful list below. It is hard some weeks with so many great performances in the same positions, but we manage to cram in the best 13 by positions, and a bench of four of the best after that.
1 – Matt Dufty
2 – Corey Oates
3 – Euan Aitken
4 – Esan Marsters
5 – Jamayne Isaako
6 – Benji Marshall
7 – Luke Brooks
8 – Tom/George Burgess (since we can’t tell them apart)
9 – Damian Cook
10 – David Klemmer/Aaron Woods (why not another band of brothers)
11 – John Sutton
12 – Raymond Faitala-Mariner
13 – Jason Taumalolo
14 – James Maloney
15 – Tyrone Peachey
16 – Corey Harawira-Naera
17 – Jack de Belin
PEACHES OF THE WEEK
TEAM OF THE YEAR – THE MARVELLOUS MAVIN MEDAL
| Player | Total |
| Benji Marshall | 19 |
| Kalyn Ponga | 11 |
| Tom Trbojevic | 11 |
| James Maloney | 11 |
| Nathan Brown | 10 |
| Shaun Johnson | 10 |
| Gareth Widdop | 9 |
| Anthony Milford | 8 |
| Viliame Kikau | 8 |
| Cameron Munster | 7 |
| Daly Cherry-Evans | 7 |
| John Sutton | 7 |
BEST OF THINGS FROM NRL ROUND 6
WORST OF THINGS FROM NRL ROUND 6
A GAME BY GAME GUIDE of the GREAT, GRIPE, and GRAPE FROM NRL ROUND 6
RABBITOHS 26 ROOSTERS 14
10 / 10 – from a Souths fan point of view
TALKING POINTS
1 – Easily the best performance from Souths in 2018, and all without Sam Burgess. The other Burgess boys turned back the clock.
2 – Adam Reynolds bombs are great, but overused and predictable.
3 – Great to see Greg Inglis smiling in a Souths jersey again.
Winners- John Sutton
Losers – Ryan Matterson
STORM 40 KNIGHTS 14
7 / 10 – Friday timeslot still sucks
TALKING POINTS
1 – With an early short, sharp try, it was always going to be hard for the Knights against the Storm machine
2 – Did Newcastle have just 3 sets in the first 20 minutes? If so, the 40-14 margin could have been worse.
3 – Mitchell Pearce’s pass for the 2nd try was contender for best assist of the season so far.
4 – The Quick Tap Euro Football style flop is not funny. Is 10 minutes in the bin for that the same kind of offence than an act which goes on report but flattens another player so they can’t play again that game. Perhaps the Sin Bin should be reduced to five minutes, and includes anyone who goes on report for foul play.
5 – Who doesn’t love a Sam Kasiano try?
Winners – Billy Slater
Losers – Kalyn Ponga
DRAGONS 40 SHARKS 20
9 / 10 – Good finish
TALKING POINTS
1 – Dragons are looking very, very good.
2 – Paul Gallen shouldn’t kick grubbers
3 – Why aren’t there more short kick offs. The pioneers Ipswich Jets get around 50% of the ball back.
4 – Fifita was best Sharks players despite missing a lot of the game through injury.
5 – Is Matt Moylan truly invested in the Sharks?
Winners – Matt Dufty
Losers – Andrew Fifita
BRONCOS 27 WARRIORS 18
8 / 10
TALKING POINTS
1 – Losing at home to Broncos after 5 game unbeaten run was such a past Warriors thing to do.
2 – Corey Oates is a winger, as much as he probably doesn’t want to be. A move in the forwards could see him in the Intrust Super Cup.
3 – Talking of Intrust Super Cup, Kodi Nikorima could also be heading there given how good the Bird-Milford alliance went.
4 – More on intrust Super Cup – Sam Tagataese was rewarded for a solid season for Norths with a Broncos bench spot.
5 – Maybe the Broncos played better as it was impossible to hide in those yellow jerseys.
Winners – Jamayne Isaako
Losers – Blake Green
BULLDOGS 27 COWBOYS 10
7 / 10
TALKING POINTS
1 – It hurts to see the Cowboys playing so badly.
2 – You’d think the Cowboys have learned that its best to attempt to catch the ball and drop it than letting it bounce.
3 – Is there anything sadder than a fan with Face Painting looking glum when their side is struggling.
4 – Is Jake Granville looking more like 80’s Warren Boland every day.
5 – A great response from Bulldogs after being so awful in Round 5.
6 – First decent game from Aaron Woods this season.
BEST PLAYERS
Losers – Jason Taumalolo
RAIDERS 18 EELS 2
3 / 10
TALKING POINTS
1 – The Eels truly suck, not even Gutherson’s return can save them. They simply offer nothing.
2 – Ricky Stuart is worth watching alone, not even rain bothers him.
3 – Is this the start of a Canberra revival. The recent form turnaround of 2017 disappointments Leilua and Papalii is a good sign.
Winners – Blake Austin
Losers – Clint Gutherson
PANTHER 35 TITANS 12
8 / 10
TALKING POINTS
1 – What a second half from the Panthers.
2 – James Maloney must be NSW half option. His combination with Tyrone Peachey more than covering for Nathan Cleary.
3 – Bryce Cartwright sin bin was one for the fans.
Winners – James Maloney
Losers – Michael Gordon
TIGERS 38 SEA EAGLES 12
7 / 10
TALKING POINTS
1 – Wests Tigers have added great attack to go with their rock solid defence.
2 – Luke Brooks finally showing that he earned the tag for being one of the ex Top 4 in 2017.
3 – Manly have gone backwards, since their flogging of the Eels. Not so sad about that.
Winners – Luke Brooks
Losers – Tom Trbojevic
