NRL Round 16 Snapshot

Read on for a snapshot of round 16 of the NRL where St George Illawarra, Manly and South Sydney all boosted their finals hopes.

SNAPSHOT OF ROUND 16 OF THE NRL

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MAN OF THE ROUND:

Edrick Lee is by no means the NRL’s biggest star but the winger etched his name into Newcastle’s history with a five-try haul against the Gold Coast on Friday. The likes of Darren Albert, Adam MacDougall, Andrew Johns, Cooper Vuna, Akuila Uate and James McManus have all scored four for the Knights but Lee will depart to the Dolphins at the end of the year with a record of his own.

QUOTE OF THE ROUND:

“Just make your tackles. How many soft tries did they score by just running through us? That’s not good enough” – Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy lays down the law after the Storm lost 36-30 to Manly on Thursday.

MAGIC MOMENT:

The Warriors returned home to Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium after nearly three years on the road. A full house greeted them after ending their 1,038-day exile and they delivered against the Wests Tigers with a 22-2 victory.

STAT THAT MATTERS:

St George Illawarra have won all eight games when scoring the opening try this season and lost all seven when they have conceded first. Talatau Amone scored the game’s opening try in the 18th minute as the Dragons strengthened their bid for a top-eight spot in a 12-10 win over Canberra.

TALKING POINT:

One week Parramatta are hot and the next they are cold. No team has flattered to deceive as much as the Eels this season and Brad Arthur must be scratching his head wondering where his side are going wrong. They have knocked off Penrith and Melbourne this year, but have been defeated by the Wests Tigers and Canterbury and fell to a previously out-of-sorts South Sydney on Saturday. The Eels’ form line this year reads: WLWWWLWLWLWWLWL.

CASUALTY WARD:

Tevita Pangai Junior (Bulldogs) – ankle, Declan Casey (Bulldogs) – concussion, Te Maire Martin (Broncos) – ribs, Mark Nicholls (Rabbitohs) – concussion, Hame Sele (Rabbitohs) – ankle, Mat Feagai (Dragons) – thigh.

JUDICIARY WATCH:

Jarrod Wallace (Titans) – dangerous throw

UNDER PRESSURE:

Gold Coast coach Justin Holbrook gambled on a young halves pairing and will be feeling nervous about his future. The Titans have won just one game in their last 12 outings and are bottom of the ladder with just three wins all season. Holbrook has credit in the bank for for finishing 9th and 8th in his first two seasons but that will only go so far if they can’t turn their fortunes around.

By: George Clarke, AAP