round 18

With a four-way logjam around eighth spot on the Telstra Premiership ladder, Manly have proven there's still life without Tom Trbojevic, stringing together three wins in their past month to remain in finals contention. 

The Knights are coming off a high-scoring 40-28 loss in round 17 and look like a team who aren't completely on the same page despite several stars in their line-up. 

Manly got the victory in the corresponding match in round five, a 30-6 win in Newcastle, and will be looking to make it two from two in 2022 on Saturday.

For most of the season Parramatta have followed up a win against a top team with a loss to a bottom-placed side and after their homecoming win against Wests Tigers two weeks ago the Warriors played with confidence and energy.

However, the New Zealand-based team conceded too many six-again calls, while the Eels playmakers Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown forced four goal-line re-starts to put the home team in a strong position.

The 26-12 triumph was Cronulla's fifth in a row and moved Craig Fitzgibbon's men into equal second place with North Queensland on 26 points.

The Cowboys were without Origin stars Valentine Holmes, Tom Dearden and Jeremiah Nanai but remained in the contest until midway through the second half after a controversial disallowed try to star forward Jason Taumalolo.

Cronulla scored two late tries to seal the win and set up a top-of-the-table clash with premiers Penrith next Friday night. 

Match snapshot

The Eels got back on track with a sound 28-20 victory over the Wests Tigers last week but their final 15 minutes of the match proved they're still not quite at the ruthless premiership-winning level they were when they started the season. 

Parramatta have gone W-L-W-L-W in their past five matches with their clash against the Warriors a chance to break the unwanted trend. 

The Warriors broke a seven-game losing streak with victory over the Wests Tigers in round 16 before enjoying a bye round.

A Johnathan Thurston-led Cowboys got the chocolates in round one that night but since then it's been all one-way traffic with Cronulla racking up wins in both Sydney and Townsville. 

Cronulla's big win over Melbourne in round 17 has them in the top four while the victory against their rivals has helped the Cowboys move to second on points differential. 

With both side's looking for their fifth win in a row, the top four battle is set to be one of the matches of the round.

The Hunters were brutal in both defense and attack in a match which had a finals feel.

The boot of Hunters Captain Ase Boas was the difference as he slotted in two conversions and three penalty goals for a 10-point win.

It was a physical encounter from the get go with both teams testing each other’s defense and attack.

It wasn’t until the 26th minute when Adex Wera scored off a fifth last grubber from Watson Boas.

The Pride would hit back 7 minutes later when an unmarked Brett Anderson catches a Jack Campagnolo kick to score.

The home side hit the front after eight minutes when quick hands allowed an unmarked Paul Wawa to dive over on the wing.

An error by the Hunters in their own half cost them.

The Bears made them pay through hooker Patrick Politoni who caught the defence napping and burrowed his way over the line to score.

Jamal Fogarty added the extras to put his side in the lead at 6-4 after 16 minutes.

The Bears further extended their lead in the 23rd minute courtesy of Matt White's barnstorming run to the try line carrying over four defenders with him.

Korave was placed on report during last Sunday’s match against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls for a reckless high contact tackle.

But Korave will be free to play this weekend after the Queensland Rugby League judiciary found there was no case to answer.

Amean is also set to make his return after passing a medical test. Amean has been out for the past three weekends after suffering a concussion.

The injured Ishmael Balkawa will miss this Sunday’s game and will be replaced by Edward Goma.