Match Report

The win meant the Rabbitohs kept their stellar Good Friday form intact, with the Bulldogs unable to beat them on the public holiday since 2017.

However, the match started well for the Dogs who scored the first try with a lovely play from the scrum, sending the ball out wide to the right where Jake Averillo ran almost the length of the field, bringing the ball down under the posts to open the scoring. 

While you wouldn't have known it by watching the second half, the game was closely contested through the opening 40 minutes, and the Panthers led by just seven points after a Sunia Turuva double and a Nathan Cleary field goal. 

But after an admirable first-half effort, the Raiders had no answer for what the defending premiers came out of the break with, as the Panthers found their attacking mojo and ran in seven tries to their opponent's one. 

With their side leading by eight inside the final 10 minutes, Grant and fullback Nick Meaney both produced tackles to save certain tries, headlining a gutsy effort from their side across the 80 minutes. 

In a high-quality contest at Accor Stadium, which saw both sides complete over 80 percent of their sets, tries were traded through the opening 10 minutes before the Storm eked out a 12-6 lead at the break.

After shock losses to the Bulldogs and Titans in Munster's absence, Craig Bellamy's men got back on track with a disciplined first half that laid the platform for their first home win since Round 21 last year. 

An offside penalty against the Tigers gave Melbourne the chance to open the scoring in the sixth minute through a Nick Meaney penalty goal.

On the back of a six-again call the Storm worked their way downfield and a couple of handy offloads by Josh King and Jonah Pezet opened the door for Will Warbrick to cross for his first NRL try in the 19th minute.

A second-half double from Paulo helped lift the Tricolours to victory, but only after they survived a wild finish which saw the Rabbitohs score with two minutes to play, setting up a hail Mary two-point field goal attempt from Latrell Mitchell which fell short of the posts. 

Earlier South Sydney raced out to a 10-0 lead after 15 minutes and dominated the opening proceedings at Allianz Stadium.

Toby and Tuaimolo Vaega were among a host of stars for the Sea Eagles, who gave new coach Anthony Seibold the ideal start to his tenure.

The Rabbitohs got the scoreboard ticking in the fifth minute when five-eighth Dion Teaupa grubbered to the left corner for Tom Carr to score. Blake Taaffe's sideline conversion made it 6-0.

Manly hit back in the eighth minute when Cooper Johns set up winger Tuaimolo Vaega with a classy floating pass before the Teaupa returned serve in the battle of the playmakers with a try of his own.

From the opening set it was clear this was going to be a physical contest. Hunters’ forward Sylvester Namo came off the back fence from the kick-off and launched himself into a wall of Sunshine Coast defenders, leaving multiple bodies in his wake including Falcons’ prop Max Bailey who was forced from the field.

With the tone set, both sides got to work as the Sunshine Coast locals watched on.

Just a week after beating the then third-ranked side in Wynnum Manly the Hunters couldn’t back it up against another top team on Sunday in the Capras, who ran in 11 tries to four in a dominant attacking display.
Despite how the scoreboard read at fulltime, both teams started the game with a clear defensive mindset as they traded shots at the other’s line.

The Maroons, ranked outsiders on home turf following their Origin II loss in Perth and reeling from the withdrawals of Cameron Munster and Murray Taulagi, shut the Blues out in the second half. 

Maroons fullback Kalyn Ponga responded to critics to put on a masterclass in the second half and come up with the match-winning play after the Blues held a 12-10 lead after 60 minutes. 

His solo effort, and miraculous performances from Ben Hunt and Daly Cherry-Evans, got the Maroons home. 

The Tigers found the scoreboard early, making the most of some early field position to score through centre Bernard Gregorius.

The Hunters responded well, applying pressure with their defence and working upfield effectively through the middle. On the back of this, in the 17th minute and in his debut appearance for the Hunters, halfback Jamie Mavoko orchestrated PNG’s first points with a perfectly weighted grubber kick that Rodick Tai would fall on to score.