NRL

Sitting 14th after 11 rounds with a 4-7 record the Eels have rediscovered the form that carried them all the way to the 2022 decider.

On a glorious afternoon at Sunshine Coast Stadium it was the Dolphins striking first in the fourth minute when debutant Brayden McGrady displayed neat footwork to stand up Will Penisini and plant the ball down for a 4-0 lead.

The Eels hit back in the seventh minute when Andrew Davey powered into a hole after taking a short ball from fellow back-rower J'maine Hopgood.

Both sides will be sweating on the availability of their Origin stars, who will have three days to rest and recover from Game Two in Brisbane on Wednesday night.

Melbourne's depth was on show at Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday night with Jonah Pezet doing a fine job alongside Jahrome Hughes in the halves and winger George Jennings running for 198 metres in his first game of the season.

After playing out a golden point thriller two months ago, the Panthers and Knights meet again after both suffering narrow losses in Round 16. 

The Panthers on the other hand were the competition's hottest team prior to suffering defeat at the hands of the Cowboys in golden point last Friday, in what was their first loss since the end of April. 

Penrith have had it all over the Knights in recent times and haven't lost to them in their past seven meetings, while stretching back to 2014 Newcastle have tasted victory over this week's opponent just twice in 16 meetings. 

Wayne Bennett's men have found themselves languishing outside the eight after being blown off 4 Pines Park by Manly in Round 15 but will be desperate to turn the screws and finish the season the way it started as they hope to welcome back several troops this week. 

Putting his side's disappointing performance in Manly simply down to a "bad day", Bennett will be hoping last week's bye is enough for his Dolphins to regroup and get back to their winning ways at Sunshine Coast Stadium. 

The Warriors' ninth win of the season lifts them into the top four and looking good to play finals footy for the first time since 2018.

Andrew Webster's men opened the scoring in the fifth minute courtesy of a slick right side shift featuring Shaun Johnson and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and finished off by Watene-Zelezniak.

Six minutes later it was the Warriors other winger Marcelo Montoya getting across the stripe but the try was disallowed due to obstruction in the lead-up.

Both sides are coming off big wins in Round 15 before recharging their batteries with a bye last week and while the Warriors go in as clear favourites, the Dragons should have every confidence they can produce an upset after overcoming both the Roosters and Rabbitohs in recent weeks.

With Shaun Johnson back to career-best form and leading the Warriors' charge up the NRL ladder, Andrew Webster's side has been a revelation this season, with fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak capitalising on the form of their veteran halfback.

Following their 26-18 victory in Game One in Adelaide, the Maroons attacked the game with confidence and enthusiasm in front of a crowd of 52,433 at Suncorp Stadium.

Skipper Daly Cherry-Evans played a starring role, fullback Reece Walsh found a new level after his Origin debut in Game One, while centre Valentine Holmes did much of the damage on the scoreboard with a personal double. 

After reverting to the bench before kick-off, prop Lindsay Collins powered through for 135 metres on his way to Player of the Match honours.

Averillo will join Brisbane Broncos and English international centre, Herbie Farnworth as a new signing next season, strengthening their back line.

Averillos has been in terrific form this season and already has an impressive 69 matches of NRL experience to his name, debuting in 2020.

In 14 appearances this season, he has managed to score seven tries, including doubles against the Dragons and Raiders.

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.

As the club celebrated the 40-year anniversary of their 1983 Grand Final win over Manly, the current day Eels produced a dominant first half showing which saw them run in four tries, all of which were converted by Clint Gutherson, to establish a 24-4 lead. 

Brad Arthur's men owned possession of the ball for most of the match and in the end Manly had just 37 percent of the Steeden, which equated to 12 fewer sets than the Eels and forced them to make 120 extra tackles.