Match Review

Trailing 26-12 just seven minutes from fulltime, the Cowboys mounted a remarkable comeback as Reece Robson, Murray Taulagi and Valentine Holmes crossed in succession to shock the Sea Eagles.

The Cowboys did so after losing Queensland forward Reuben Cotter in the warm-up with a hamstring injury that has him in doubt for next weekend's Origin in Perth and they never really looked like winning until the dying stages.

In his second season at the Dragons after 260 games at Brisbane and eight in Newcastle, the 32-year-old got through a team-high 37 tackles and made 38 running metres in his milestone match.

The win was the Dragons' seventh of the season and carries them into the top eight for the time being at least.

The signs were bad for the Rabbitohs early when Lachlan Ilias spilled the kick-off and they continued to make errors through the opening 15 minutes as the Dragons took control.

Two weeks ago, Cutters thrashed JPG Waghi Tumbe 28-0 in Kimbe followed by Sunday's hard fought win over PRK Gulf Isou 10-4 in Port Moresby.

In only their fourth season since entering the Digicel Cup in 2019, the Cutters are slowly but surely finding their feet in the semi-professional competition.

In its second season 2020, the Kimbe team had an impressive run and got the Best Team of the Year award after just falling short of top six in 7^th place.

The Dabaris bravery in their defense had forced the Vipers into many errors. The Central team is not all about skill, speed and agility but with good attitude and having pride in the jersey.

After competition front-runners, Agmark Gurias overwhelmed them the week before. It was a big ask for the Steven Gunua-coached side to regroup quickly for the Round 8 clash against Port Moresby Vipers.

Vipers appeared to be struggling for some midway through the season had all their big guns on deck to intimidate the lighter Dabaris pack but to no avail.

Sitting third on the ladder with a differential of +160, Todd Payten's men have set themselves up perfectly for the demanding State of Origin period, which saw them go in against the Titans without four of their stars but still win comfortably.

A win for the Dragons would serve notice they deserve to be mentioned in the 'contenders' conversation and put a spring in their step ahead of two home games at WIN Stadium against the Rabbitohs and Raiders.

At fulltime, Vipers 16-12 ran home over Mioks who scored more tries then the Vipers, but fell short on the scoreboard due to poor goal kicking and ill-discipline.

Mioks turned up on Sunday with a plan to spoil the party for the Vipers. This was evident in the opening  exchanges when former Lae Snax Tigers veteran and playmaker, Noel Joel busted the Vipers defense through the middle to set up Limbi Henry in (16) to draw first blood on the right hand corner to put them in front by 4-0.

In front of 80,512 fans at Sydney's Olympic Park, the Maroons, led by Munster, Daly Cherry-Evans and debutant Patrick Carrigan, dominated on their own terms with big moment plays helping Queensland to a special win. 

The Blues enjoyed the field possession early to take a 4-0 lead but the injection of Carrigan in the 15th minute swung momentum Queensland's way and from there the visitors came up with points and the defensive efforts late as NSW struggled to take any control in the match. 

In perfect conditions at Tugun RLFC, it was the Hunters who would strike first, capitalising on some early field position to threaten Tweed on both edges before setting up a left-side backline movement.

With Joseph Tapine and Ryan Sutton leading the way up front the Green Machine converted a six-point half-time advantage into their sixth win of the season despite a herculean performance by Roosters fullback Joey Manu (34 runs for 300 metres).

The Roosters got across the stripe in the fifth minute through Sitili Tupouniua but the try was denied due to obstruction by Nat Butcher in the lead-up.

Four minutes later the Raiders got the ball rolling when Adam Elliott powered over from close range off a short ball from dummy half Zac Woolford.

The Sea Eagles dominated every facet of the game virtually from the outset to storm to a 24-0 half-time lead and went on with the job in the second term to achieve their first win during the Origin period since 2015.

While captain Daly Cherry-Evans was the only Manly player on Origin duty, star fullback Tom Trbojevic is out for the season with a shoulder injury but their forwards, led by Haumole Olakau’atu, were too much to handle for the Warriors.