NRL 2022

Just two competition points separate them right now, with the Storm falling to fourth after their most recent defeat at the hands of the Raiders and South Sydney holding firm in seventh position after picking up their third win in a row on Sunday against the Bulldogs. 

Melbourne have struggled to put it together in attack over the past fortnight and are now without influential fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen (knee) for the rest of the year. 

The Bunnies have had no such trouble with ball in hand and are playing with a newfound confidence, led by star fullback Latrell Mitchell. 

With seven rounds of the regular season remaining Penrith find themselves eight points clear at the top of the ladder, while the Sharks have climbed to third after beating the Cowboys last up. 

Cronulla are riding a five-game winning streak and will be full of confidence, while Penrith should benefit from refreshing a number of their top line stars last weekend ahead. 

The last time they met in Round 14 last year it was Cronulla who came away with a late 19-18 victory, but prior to that the Panthers won the past four head-to-head clashes. 

Ricky Stuart's men will go in as hot favourites but they will be wary of taking the Warriors lightly having gone down by a point in round eight when Shaun Johnson got his team home in golden point.

The Warriors sat two games ahead of the Green Machine on the ladder on the back of that victory but they have won just once more since then to slide out of finals contention.

The Raiders' run home is a relatively friendly one and a win on Saturday can catapult them into the eight for the first time since round three.

With Sitili Tupouniua and Billy Smith gone for the season with knee injuries and Siosiua Taukeiaho out for at least a month with a facial fracture, the Roosters will need every ounce of their renowned fighting qualities to get to the play-offs for a sixth straight year.

The Knights have won just one of five since their round 13 bye and given up 156 points in the process, a worrying sign for Adam O'Brien, although with games against the Bulldogs, Tigers and Titans still to come they could yet get on a late roll.

The Dragons have slipped from eighth to 11th in the past two weeks but with back-to-back games at their spiritual home ground they get an ideal opportunity to put themselves back in the mix.

Manly have won four of their past five games and will look to shore up their place in the eight by taking care of the Dragons (11th) and Roosters (9th) in the next two weeks.

Having conceded 86 points in their past two games the Dragons need to put some steel back in their defence if they hope to subdue a potent Sea Eagles side averaging 35 points per game in the past five matches.

Both clubs sit on 24 competition points leading into round 19 with 11 wins each and are all but bound for the finals after solid seasons so far.

The Eels have still looked a bit wobbly in patches against teams in recent weeks despite wins but remain a threat to any side in the Telstra Premiership. 

Brisbane won a hard-fought Queensland derby against the Titans last start but will want to knock off a top scalp away from home as they look to go to another level in the final weeks of the regular season. 

Mead played 171 NRL games for Broncos and Titans, scoring 75 tries since making his debut in 2009, as well as 58 Super League games for Catalans Dragons scoring 29 tries.

The popular finisher also played 15 Tests for Papua New Guinea and scored 10 tries, as well as captaining his beloved country of birth at the 2017 World Cup.

Mead said: “I’d like to say a big thank you to the Broncos, Titans, Catalans, NRL and Super league for giving me the opportunity to live out my dream since 2009.

Latrell Mitchell starred for the Rabbitohs and provided the game-breaking moment when he sent Alex Johnston over for his second on the left edge with scores locked at 28-28 close to fulltime. 

Johnston crossed for a third two minutes later to ensure the Rabbitohs snatched a win that throughout the evening looked as though the Bulldogs were on their way to causing an upset. 

Both sides traded three tries each in the second half to set up a tied ball game before Johnston crossed for the third hat-trick of his season and 10th of his career.

A potential season-ending injury to Ryan Papenhuyzen compounded the Storm's loss on a day they were poised to threaten with their spine back together for the first time since Round 9.

A frantic finish, which saw the Raiders cross through a superb solo effort from James Schiller, set up a four-point lead with 14 minutes remaining before a try-saving effort from Xavier Savage denied Jahrome Hughes late. 

It was a see-sawing match that the Raiders took advantage of once the Storm lost Papenhuyzen to a serious knee issue. 

On an afternoon where both clubs played for the inaugural Royce Simmons Cup, the former Panthers and Wests Tigers legend was in attendance with future Tigers coach Tim Sheens to show off the new silverware. 

The new trophy appeared to be going into the hands of the joint venture after they grabbed the lead through Ken Maumalo with 12 minutes remaining before a Scott Sorensen line break late set the defending premiers up to score late.