Wests Tigers

After a disappointing loss to the Broncos last week, South Sydney bounced back in style at Scully Park, with Johnston's 12th career hat-trick cementing the lead which put the Rabbitohs back in the top eight.

The Wests Tigers were gallant in their defeat, with a second-half surge bringing them within two-points of the Rabbitohs' lead but the Round 22 defeat was costly for the home side with Shawn Blore (head knock) and Dane Laurie (knee) failing to finish the match.

Now sitting four points behind the 16th-placed Bulldogs it seems the wooden spoon is on its way to Concord for the second successive year unless Wests Tigers can spring some major upsets in the run home.

Tim Sheens' men face three of the big guns in the next three weeks with games against the Raiders and Warriors to follow Friday's clash against Souths, who now sit outside the eight after their loss to the Broncos.

Knights star Kalyn Ponga brushed aside a rough night on the goal-kicking front to set up three of the side's seven tries and continue his purple patch of form since switching back to fullback. 

Wests Tigers didn't go away throughout the evening until a try to Tyson Gamble with seven minutes remaining put the Knights ahead by 14 to seal victory.

The Knights survived a horror opening set when the Wests Tigers appeared to have scored from a Will Smith kick before the NRL Bunker ruled Jahream Bula had knocked the ball forward for Tommy Talau to go over. 

The mini-revival that produced three wins in four games against the Panthers, Dragons and Cowboys now seems a distant memory for the Tigers, who have lost four on the trot and conceded 150 points in the process.

The Sharks, meanwhile, have put a Round 15 horror show against the Storm behind them to run up big scores over the Bulldogs and Dragons to sit third on the ladder with nine games to play.

Six of those matches are against teams currently outside the top eight so the Sharks have every opportunity to secure a top-four finish and a double chance in the finals.

After putting 45 points on the Storm in Round 14 the Cowboys outlasted Penrith in a golden point thriller and then piled on five tries in a 31-6 demolition of the Rabbitohs.

With their back three of Scott Drinkwater, Semi Valemei and Murray Taulagi combining for 575 running metres the Cowboys got on the front foot early and dominated the Rabbitohs, but fresh in coach Todd Payten's mind will be the fact the Tigers embarrassed his men 66-18 at Leichhardt Oval just six weeks ago.

With new halves pairing Jahrome Hughes and Jonah Pezet calling the shots and rallying the troops, Melbourne went back-to-back at Campbelltown, despite missing three of their Origin superstars in Cameron Munster, Harry Grant and Xavier Coates.

While the Tigers were able to stay in the contest for majority of the match, with makeshift halves-pairing Brandon Wakeham and Starford To'a struggling to link up in attack and errors cruelling any chance they had of mounting pressure, Tim Sheens' side couldn't inspire a comeback at their spiritual home ground.

but captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui faces a nervous wait after being placed on report for contact on Tigers skipper Api Koroisau.

Koroisau suffered a broken jaw as he attempted to make a tackle on Fa'asuamaleaui with the incident potentially having ramifications for both State of Origin teams. 

The match itself - while entertaining - did have a number of errors, with the Tigers especially culpable with 14 errors and three penalties conceded.

The joint venture may have breathed a sigh of relief when Raiders coach Ricky Stuart decided to rest veteran Jarrod Croker, with the Green Machine guaranteed to have put it all on the field for their favourite son in what would have been his 300th game.

How in-form young guns Junior Tupou, Jahream Bula and Starford To'a rise to the occasion at Campbelltown Stadium on Friday will determine if the Wests Tigers can claim their fourth win of the season and continue their rise up the ladder.

Watched on by family, friends and former team-mates, including Mitchell Moses and Josh Reynolds, Brooks was at his attacking best; running 213 metres with the ball and laying on two tries as Wests Tigers romped to their third win in four weeks.

The win was the first in the history of Wests Tigers or the 1908 foundation clubs who formed the joint venture in 2000, Balmain or Western Suburbs, in which they had scored 66 points.

The 48-point margin was also the heaviest defeat by a Cowboys team since North Queensland joined the premiership in 1995.

The Rabbitohs have now won six on the trot, the best streak by any team in 2023, and move to the top of the NRL ladder courtesy of a superior points differential to the Broncos.

On the back of a six-again call Latrell Mitchell earned a repeat set with a neat grubber and the Rabbitohs threatened to open the scoring but Tommy Talau flew high to defuse a bomb and the Tigers kept their line intact.

Talau then aimed up in defence with a big hit on Michael Chee Kam to force an error but the Tigers lost their way in attack and failed to capitalise.