St George Illawara Dragons

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.

Just three days on from the departure of former coach Anthony Griffin, the Dragons looked set to go unrewarded for a brave effort against the Roosters as they trailed 22-18 with seconds to go, before a Hail Mary bomb from Tyrell Sloan ended in Feagai crossing next to the posts and Zac Lomax kicking the Red V to victory after the siren. 

A frantic final half hour saw the lead change four times, with the Dragons ultimately having final say. 

Anthony Griffin's men went toe-to-toe with the Gold Coast for 89 minutes before Jamayne Isaako's try secured a golden point victory for the Titans.

The Warriors were blown off the park in the first half but four tries in 15 minutes dragged them back within two points with two minutes to play but the Bunnies held on.

After the Dragons this week and the Knights in round 12, the Warriors face Manly, Cronulla and Penrith in consecutive weeks so it's imperative they get some confidence and momentum up ahead of that tough stretch.

Fiji secondrower Viliame Kikau was the star of Penrith's win as he celebrated his 100th match with two tries but St George Illawarra were their own worst enemies as they completed just 10 of 19 sets of possession in the first half.

In addition, second-rower Jaydn Su'A and centre Zac Lomax had stints in the sin-bin as ill discipline proved costly for the home team.

The scores were locked at 6-6 when Su'A was given his marching orders in the first half but the Panthers led 20-6 when he returned.

The Red V didn't have it all their own way in downing the Warriors last week but pulled away at the end while the Panthers looked every bit the grand-final winning outfit despite missing star halfback Nathan Cleary as they easily accounted for fellow heavyweights Manly.

The Dragons enjoyed plenty of positive signs from their emerging young-guns, giving them something to build on into the season, but face a big step up against a Penrith side that were absolutely dominant in round one. 

After three tries within 15 minutes, either side of half-time, gave the Dragons the ascendancy as they turned a 14-0 deficit into a 16-14 lead, the Roosters responded strongly to remain in fourth spot on the ladder. 

The win was soured by the loss of Adam Keighran (failed HIA) and Nat Butcher to a suspected serious knee injury. Dale Copley, Sam Verills, Siosiua Taukeiaho and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves were also struggling at different stages of the match.  

Another starring display from James Tedesco got the Roosters rolling in the first half.

The Dragons haven't won at Lottoland since a 20-18 victory in 2008, with the Red V outscored 118-26 in their past four matches at the venue. 

Fantasy guns

Jack de Belin (2RF, $561,000): In NRL Fantasy you always want to get reliable forwards who will give your team good stats week in, week out, and that's exactly what Jack de Belin does. He was the only player in entire league last season who averaged more than 40 tackles *and* 100 run metres per game – which meant he earned 54 points a game from those two statistics alone. His actual season average was 59, and presuming he plays big minutes at lock again this season that's unlikely to change too much.

In front of a season-best 17,444 crowd the Cowboys were given all they could handle early by the typically plucky Dragons, who seemed to drag the usually sparkling Cowboys' attack down to their level.

But after an extended feeling-out period it was Cowboys fullback Lachlan Coote (two try assists, two line-break assists) setting up the huge win with a second-half masterclass.

The Cowboys pressed early, forcing three repeat sets in the Dragons' red zone, but the defensive wall stood firm early on before the contest degenerated into a scoreless error fest.