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ROUND 1

Wests Tigers 24
Tries :Whatuira (3) Laffranchi, Crockett
Goals: Hodgson (2)


St.George Illawarra Dragons 15
Tries:Gasnier (3)
Goals:Naiqama
Field Goal: Barrett

Attendance 25.000

Saturday 11th March

Newcastle Knights v Parramatta Eels
Canterbury Bulldogs v Penrith Cowboys
Manly Sea Eagles v Canberra Raiders

Sunday 12 March

New Zealand Warriors v Melbourne Storm
Brisbane Broncos v North Queensland cowboys
Souths Rabbitohs v Sydney Roosters

Bye Cronula Sharks

Newcastle Knights 25
Tries: Matt Gidley, Adam Woolnough, Milton Thaiday, Brian Carney, Riley Brown
Goals: Kurt Gidley (1) Andrew Johns (1)
Field Goal: Andrew Johns

Paramatta Eels 6
Tries:Michael Vella
Goals:Burt (1)

Attendance 26.198
MOM: Andrew Johns (Newcastle)
Referee Russell Smith
Ground:Energy Australia Stadium, Newcastle
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Canterbury Bulldogs 22
Tries:Hazim El Masri, Mark O´Meley, Luke Patten, Willie Tonga
Goals Hazim El Masri (3)

Penrith Panthers
Tries: Craig Gower, Cross,Nick Youngquest, Lee Hookey
Goals: Preston Campbell (4)

MOM: Craig Gower (Penrith)
Referee: Sean Hampstead
Ground: Telstra Stadium, Sydney
attendance 17.510
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Manly Sea Eagles 14
Tries:Brett Stewart, Steve Bell (2)
Goals: Matt Orford (1)

Canberra Raiders 27
Tries:Todd Carney, Phillip Graham, Adam Mogg, Simon Woolford
Goals: Clinton Schifcofske (5)
Field Goal: Todd Carney

MOM: Clinton Schifcofske (Canbera)
Referee: Shayne Hayne
Ground: Brookvale, Manly
attendance 17.135

New Zealand Warriors 16
Tries:Wairangi Koopu, Jerome Ropati, Manu Vatuvei
Goals:Tony Martin (2)

Melbourne Storm[/b] 22
Tries: Matt Geyer (2), Greg Inglis, Cameron Smith, Steve Turner
Goals:Greg Inglis (1)

Ground: Ericsson Stadium, Auckland
Referee:Steven Clark
MOM: Cameron Smith (Melbourne)
Attendance:10.035
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brisbane Broncos 4
Tries:Darius Boyd
Goals:

[b]North Queensland Cowboys 36
Tries:Matt Bowen, Matt Sing, Jonathon Thurston (3), Neil Sweeney
Goals:Jonathon Thurston (6)

Ground: SunCorp Stadium (Lang Park), Brisbane
Referee: Tony Archer
MOM: Jonathon Thurston
Attendance 46.229
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South Sydney Rabbitohs 22
Tries:Yileen gordon, John Sutton, Ben Walker, Nathan merrett (2)
Goals:Ben Walker (3)

[b]Sydney Roosters 40
Tries: Ryan cross, Brett finch, Anthony minichello, Amos Roberts (29, Iosia Soliola, Jamie Soward
Goals: Craig Fitzgibbon (4), Amos Roberts (2)

Ground:Telstra Stadium
Referee: Jason Robinson
MOM: Jamie Soward (Sydney)
Attendance:16.741
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Again a very unpredictable season awaits as nobody really predicted Wests to beat St.George, Newcastle to hammer Parramatta or Penrith to beat Canterbury away or Canberra to hammer Manly especially at Brooky. North Queensland finally got a win in Brisbane after so many years of trying but the manner of it was very surprizing.Is this Brisbane Supremo Wayne Bennetts last year in charge after nearly 20 years?St.George, Parramatta and North Queensland are still many favs for the title tho.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next weeks Round 2 games are:
Friday 17th March
Canterbury Bulldogs v Wests Tigers
Saturday 18th March
Paramatta Eels v New Zealand Warriors
Cronulla Sharks v Brisbane Broncos
North Queensland Cowboys v Manly Sea Eagles
Sunday 19th March
Sydney Roosters v Melbourne Storm
St.George illawarra Dragons v Penrith Panthers
Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights

Bye South Sydney Rabbitohs

NRL ROUND 2

Canterbury Bulldogs 47
Tries:Hazem El masri (4), Rene Maitua, Willie Mason, Luke Patten
Goals:Hazem El Masri (9)
Field Goal:Brent Sherwin

Wests Tigers 12
Tries:Daniel Fitzhenry, Brett Hodgson
Goals: Brett Hodgson (2)

Ground:Telstra Stadium, Sydney
Referee:Steve Clark
Crowd:32,578
MoM:Hazem El Masri (Canterbury)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Parramatta Eels 22
Tries: Nathan Hindmarsh (2),Ben Smith,Dean Widders
Goals: Luke Burt (3)

New Zealand Warriors 14
Tries:Manu Vatuvei,Evarn Tuimavave
Goals:Tony Martin (3)

Ground:Waikato Stadium, NZ
Referee:Sean Hampstead
Crowd:16.089
MoM:Nathan Hindmarsh (Paramatta)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cronulla Sharks 12
Tries:Adam Dykes, Darren Albert
Goals:Luke Covell (2)

Brisbane Broncos 16
Tries:Casey Mcguire, Brad Thorn, Shane Webcke
Goals:Michael Ennis (2)

Ground:Toyota Park, Cronulla
Referee:Russell Smith
Crowd:14.221
MoM:Darren Lockyer (Brisbane)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North Queensland Cowboys 20
Tries:Matt Sing (3), brett Firman
Goals:Johnathon Thurston (2)

Manly Sea Eagles 16
Tries:Brett stewart (2), Steve Bell
Goals: Matt Orford (2)

Ground:Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville
Referee:Paul Simpkins
Crowd:22.133
MoM:Matt Sing (North Queensland)

Sydney Roosters 18
Tries:Ryan Cross, Amos Roberts, Jamie Soward
Goals:Craig Fitzgibbon (3)

Melbourne Storm 22
Tries:Cooper Cronk, Ryan Hoffman, Greg Inglis, Steve Turner
Goals:Cameron Smith (3)

Ground:Aussie Stadium
Referee:Tony Archer
Crowd:10.841
MoM:Cameron Smith (Melbourne)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
St.George Illawarra Dragons 12
Tries:Reece Simmons (3), Ashton Sims
Goals:Aaron Gorrell (2)

Penrith Panthers 13
Tries:Tony Puletua, Rhys Wesser
Goals:Preston Campbell (2)
Field Goal:Preston Campbell

Ground:WIN Stadium
Referee:Shayne Hayne
Crowd:12.098
MoM:Craig Gower (Penrith)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canbera Raiders 32
Tries:Phillip Graham (2), Troy Thompson, Alan tongue, William Zillman (2)
Goals:Todd Carney (4)

Newcastle Knights 70
Tries:George Carmont(2),Andrew Johns(2),Daniel Tolar,Kurt Gidley (2),Matt Gidley,Reegan Turner,
Todd Lowrie,Anthony Quinn,Steve Simpson.
Goals:Andrew Johns (11)

Ground:Canberra Stadium
Referee:Jason Robinson
Crowd:11.606
MoM:Andrew Johns
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...Team...Pld...W...D...L...Bye...For...Against...*/-...PTS
01.Newcastle Knights...2...2...0...0...0...95...38...+57...4
02.North Queensland...2...2...0...0...0...56...20...+36...4
03.Melbourne Storm...2...2...0...0...0...44...34...+10...4
04.Penrith Panthers...2...2...0...1...0...37...34...+3...4
05.Canterbury...2...1...0...1...0...69...36...+33...2
06.Sydney Roosters...2...1...0...1...0...58...44...+14...2
07.Cronulla Sharks...1...1...0...0...1...12...16...-4...2
08.Parramatta Eels...2...1...0...1...0...28...39...-11...2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
09.South Sydney...1...0...0...1...1...22...40...-18...2
10.Canberra Raiders...2...1...0...1...0...59...84...-25...2
11.Wests Tigers...2...1...0...1...0...36...62...-26...2
12.Brisbane Broncos...2...1...0...1...0...20...48...-28...2
13.St.George Illawarra...2...0...0...2...0...27...37...-10...0
14.Manly Sea Eagles...2...0...0...2...0...30...47...-17...0
15.New Zealand Warrior..2...0...0...2...0...30...44...-14...-4

New Zealand Warriors start on -4 after being found to have broken Salary Cap!

ROUND 3 GAMES[i][u][b]
Friday
Newcastle Knights v Canterbury Bulldogs

Saturday
Wests Tigers v New Zealand Warriors (Jade Stadium, Christchurch, New Zealand)
Manly Sea Eagles v Cronulla Sharks
North Queensland Cowboys v Melbourne Storm

Sunday
South Sydney Rabbitohs v St.George-Illawarra Dragons
Brisbane Broncos v Parramatta Eels
Sydney Roosters v Canberra Raiders

Bye (Automatic 2 Points) Penrith Panthers

Cronulla Sharks 24
South Sydney Rabbitohs 22
Att.12.274

Manly Sea Eagles 30
Sydney Roosters 22
Att.17.117

Parramatta Eels 18
North Queensland Cowboys 26
Att.15.131

Canberra Raiders 21
Penrith Panthers 20
Att.9.399

Wests Tigers 30
Melbourne Storm 28
Att.17.803

St.George Illawarra Dragons 26
Brisbane Broncos 12
Att.13.708

Newcastle Knights 22
New Zealand Warriors 26
Att.18.359

TEAM---------------------PL---Won---Draw---Lost---Bye---For------Against---Pts Diff---PTs
01.North Queensland----4------4------0--------0-----0------122------46---------+76------8
02.Newcastle Knights----4------3------0--------1-----0------163------86---------+77------6
03.Penrith Panthers------3------2------0--------1-----1------57-------55----------+2-------6
04.Sydney Roosters-----4------2------0--------2-----0------136------94----------+42-----4
05.St.George Illawarra--4------2------0--------2-----0-------97------63----------+34-----4
06.Canterbury Bulldogs--3-----1------0--------2-----1-------91-------82----------+9------4
07.Cronulla Sharks-------3-----1------0--------2-----1-------54------58------------4-------4
08.ManlySea Eagles------4-----2------0--------2-----0-------80-------87-----------7-------4

09.Brisbane Broncos-----4------2-----0--------2------0------62--------84----------22------4
10.Melbourne Storm-----4------2-----0--------2------0------80--------104---------24------4
11.Wests Tigers----------4------2-----0--------2------0------76--------116---------40------4
12.Canberra Raiders----4------2-----0---------2------0-----100-------160---------60------4
13.Parramatta Eels------4------1------0--------3------0------56---------95---------39------2
14.South Sydney--------3------0------0--------3------1------58--------108---------50------2
15.New Zealand Warri` 4------2------0--------2------0------82---------76---------+6------0

New Zealand Warriors started on Minus 4 Points after breaking Salary Cap
Bye is Automatic 2 Points

Round 8

Parramatta Eels 28-16 Wests Tigers
No Benji Marshall (Broken Cheekbone and dislocated Shoulder Last years Major Premiers are struggling this year. Parra have been poor but are slowly getting going this year. Aussie International Nathan Hindmarsh getting Man of the Match and makinh over 40 tackles again!

New Zealand Warriors 46-14 South Sydney Rabbitohs
Poor tackling and failure to complete most sets of 6 cost Souths dearly and saw them receive yet again a hammering! Veteran NZ International Ruben Wiki led the Warriors in adding more misery to Russell Crowes team. Souths now bottom-yet again!

Melbourne Storm 52-06 Newcastle Knights
By not having the worlds best Rugby player of either code, Andrew "Joey" Jones in the side, saw Newcastle hammered by Melbourne. Newcastle didnt play badly just Melbourne had too much skill and wanted the game more.Melbournes win sees them take over the Knights in to 2nd Place

Cronulla Sharks 24-22 North Queensland Cowboys
Massive Shock as previously unbeaten Cowboys got beaten by a side who have been playing not the best footy so far and heavily criticized after poor shows recently. Adam Dykes was the main inspiration with Johnathon Thurston again in fine form for the Cowboys. Has been tipped to play in the Australian side later this year.

Sunday games
Canterbury Bulldogs - Manly Sea Eagles
Brisbane Broncos - Penrith Panthers
St.George-Illawarra Dragons - Sydney Roosters

Canterbury Bulldogs 14-40 Manly Sea Eagles
The Doggies put in a very poor performance. Highly tipped to smasn the Sea Eagles as before the weekend the Doggies were 3rd the Eagles mid table. Matt Orford finally put a good game together and from that the Sea Eagles caused the Doggies no end of trouble. Sonny Bill Williams was harshly ruled to have knocked on and 2 other decisions went in favour of the Sea Eagles but the Doggies played often dumb footy not the Ref!

Brisbane Broncos 30-06 Penrith Panthers
Panthers poor again but Broncos Prop Petero Civoniceva and Centre Justin Hodges again in fine form. Hodges is likely the best Centre in the NRL at the Mo and Civoniceva grabbed yet another try to get back to back try in games-unusual for a prop!Young New Zealand winger Tame Tupou grabs a further two trys and is tipped for the Kiwi team later in the year. Broncos are now 3rd 2 points behind leaders and Queensland rivals North Queensland!
Teams Name--------P...W...L...D..Bye...PTS
____________________________________
North Queensland...7...6...1...0...0...12
Melbourne Storm...6...4...2...0...1...10
Brisbane Broncos...7...5...2...0...1...10
Newcastle Knights...7...4...3...0...0...8
Manly Sea Eagles...7...4...3...0...0...8
Canterbury Dogs...6...3...3...0...1...8
Penrith Panthers...6...3...3...0...1...8
Canberra Raiders...6...3...3...0...1...8
_____________________________________
Sydney Roosters...6...3...3...0...0...6
St.George--------..6...3...3...0...0...6
Cronulla Sharks...6...2...4...0...1...6
Wests Tigers----...7...3...4...0...0...6
Parramatta Eels...6...2...4...0...1...6
N.Z Warriors---...7...3...4...0...0...2 (Started on -4 after Salary Cap Breaching last year)
South Sydney...6...0...6...0...1...2

Bye is automatic 2 Points

Tuesday
Sydney Roosters v St.George Illawarra

Last years League winners/Minor Premiers (Parramatta), Runners Up (St.George) and Major Premiers/Grand Final Winners (Wests Tigers) are all struggling this year while the Cowboys have again kept up there consistancy. Melbourne and Brisbane are doing well as ever. Still along way to go until the play offs with a further 19 Rounds of Footy to go

Sydney Roosters 12 St.George Illawarra Dragons 22
A crowd of of near 32.000 say this game between two sides struggling to get going this year. Roosters still havent found anybody to replace legend Brad Fittler-nearly 2 years after retireing! Dragons just promise much but fail to deliver often. 2 Wes Naqama tries was the difference-but both surrounded some controvesy. Roosters missing Minicello wont be too disheartened with the loss and their wasnt anything between the sides really except the Dragons took their chances and rode their luck more. Dragons face second placed Melbourne in 3 days and the Roosters face leaders North Queensland also in 3 days and both sides wont be wanting to play either of those at the moment!

Penrith Panthers 12 Cronulla Sharks 40
Injury hit Panthers got smashed by Cronulla who ran in 7 tries. Cronulla ran hot and cold where one minute they was on fire followed by 5 minutes of awful footy-Penrith need the likes of Craig Gower and Luke Lewis back as they was poor for 80 minutes! Cronulla managed to get their first win in 11 away from Toyota Park and sees them just 4 Points behind the leading 3 teams

North Queensland Cowboys 18 Sydney Roosters 22
This was a massive shock! Nobody-not even the bookies ,could see the Cowboys-the early leaders of the comp- lose to a Roosters side having only played 4 days before and struggling to make much progress this year! Brett Finch was the key for the Roosters win in possibly his best game for the club. Both teams had poor completion rates by dropping the ball or playing just dumb footy when a bit of calm was needed not wild passes trying to force a gap to open up.In fact its fair to say it was an awful match to watch! The Cowboys retain top spot for this week-but has the bubble burst?

Melbourne Storm 24 St.George Illawarra Dragons 10
In a game played in Heavy rain and near freezing conditions the Storm claimed another victim in the Dragons at Olympia Park. Reserve Teenage sensation- Fullback Greg Inglis- led the way for the Storm to claim another win over an ill-disciplined Dragons side that saw Justin Poore Sin Binned on the 64th Minute mark as well as Australian International Prop Luke bailey put on report for a late high shot. Australia face New zealand next week and his actions may cost him a place in the Australian side. Half back Cooper Cronk distributed the ball well between the forwards and backs while Cameron Smith, David Kidwell and Michael Crocker caused no end of problems for St.George. St.George with with Internationals Mark Gasnier, Luke Bailey, Matt Cooper etc doing very little again left their fans frustrated by a lack lustre performance

Brisbane Broncos 30 Canberra Raiders 28
Brisbane came back from the dead in a game that saw them 0-18 down at the break. Again a poor second half showing saw the Raiders collapse again as the Broncos managed to pull the victory out of nothing and can consider themselves a touch fortunate! Karmichael Hunt the Young Fullback led the way for the Broncos to claim 2 trys while Darren Lockyer, Justin Hodges and David Stagg claimed the others. One bad news for Brisbane is the retirement of Legendary Prop Shane Webcke at the end of the Season. Webcke has been one of the main reasons both Brisbane and Australia have been very strong in recent years and will be badly missed

New Zealand Warriors 16 Canterbury Bulldogs 30
Both sides showed evidence of playing good footy -but again poor ball control spoiled often the good work they had achieved. The Warriors improved in the second stanza but just couldnt quite match Canterbury who again had Young Kiwi Star Sonny Bill Williams in good Form as well as Hazem El Masri

South Sydney 18 Newcastle knights 24
Despite Andrew Johns coming back after a week out the Knights from Newcastle struggled to beat bottom club South Sydney and were even lucky to get a win. The Knights just had enough class to scrape a win but will need to improve alot for next weekend especially with Johns, Buderus and Simpson playing for Australia on the Friday. Souths can take many positives out of the game and look to get that first win they desperately need.

Manly Sea Eagles 23 Parramatta 22
In front of a near sell out crowd at Brookvale manly grabbed a field goal 2 minutes from time to get the one point that got them a win in an absolute thriller of a game. This game had everything-Big hits, superb support play and passion! Matt Orford finally split the two teams with a late field goal to send the home crowd wild.

01.North Queensland----12 Points
02.Melbourne Storm-----12
03.Brisbane Broncos----12
04.Newcastle Knights----10
05.Manly Sea Eagles-----10
06.Canterbury Bulldogs-10
07.Sydney Roosters------8
08.Cronulla Sharks-------8
09.St.George Illawarra---8
10.Penrith Panthers------8
11.Wests Tigers----------8
12.Canberra Raiders----8
13.Parramatta Eels------6
14.NZ Warriors----------2
15.South Sydney--------2

St.George Illawarra Dragons 22 New Zealand Warriors 16
An injury hit Dragons side scraped a win against the Warriors who yet again were there worst enemys with poor handling and slack defence at times. Clint Greenshileds and Wigan bound Trent Barrett steered the Dragons home with Steven Price the best for the Warriors

Melbourne Storm 18 North Queensland Cowboys 6
Clash of the top 2 and what a battle it was. Olympia Park is proving a graveyard for many a team and so it was for the Cowboys who just couldnt find a way past Melbourne despite Matty Bowen and Johnathon Thurston causing the Storm to make a number of last ditch tackles. Young teenage Queensland star Greg Inglis was again the star at Full back and suspended Billy Slater will have problems getting his fullback slot back after Inglis again picked up man of the match and is wanted by Queensland for the State of Origin clash on the 24th May. Melbourne are looking a good and have a young talented team.

Brisbane Broncos 32 Manly Sea Eagles 10
Brisbane claimed the two points in a superb team effort led by young fullback Karmichael Hunt and Half Back Darren Lockyer. They were always in control of a game that many expected would be close. Wayne Bennett was under alot of pressure last season but he again has shown what a great coach he is and is in his 18th year as head coach at the Broncos. This vital win sees them tied in 2nd spot with 3 other teams

Wests Tigers 16 Newcastle Knights 18
What a great game of footy and a great contest between the magicians of Andrew Johns and Benji Marshall. In a game that had some great flowing moves with Marshall at times just unstopable with his great angles of
running and sleight of hand with the ball. In the end with just 2 minutes left on the clock it was Irish Winger Brian Carney who put a hope and pray kick through and somehow managed to get to it and score wide out. Fantastic game

Canterbury Bulldogs 22 Parramatta Eels 18
Another close game and despite the Eels performing much better than of late they couldnt find the spark to grab the win here. Reni Maitua and Hazim El Masri pulled the win out the hat for the Doggies

Canberra Raiders 28 Cronulla Sharks 38
Poor defending, dropped ball and basic errors cost the Raiders dear again as Cronulla grabbed another win. The Sharkies were always in control of the game after the Raiders were absolutely awful in the first 40 minutes. The Second stanza was better but they left themselves too much to do

Penrith Panthers 32 Souths Rabbitohs 20
Two teams who are struggling with the Panthers having no success in the last four games and the Rabbitohs having lost the opening 9 games something had to give. The Panthers through Preston Campbell got the win. Souths must learn to respect possession and learn how to defend. At times they showed they have the talent but overall lacked the resources to finally claim a win in 2006

Melbourne Storm...Played 9..16 Points
North Queensland...10..14
Newcastle Knights...10..14
Brisbane Broncos...10..14
Canterbury Bulldogs...9..14
Cronulla Sharks...9..12
Sydney Roosters...9..10
Manly Sea Eagles...10..10
St.George Illawarra...10..10
Wests Tigers... 9..10
Penrith Panthers...9..10
Canberra Raiders...9..10
Parramatta Eels...9..6
New Zealand Warriors...9..4
South Sydney...9..2

Round 11

There is nothing between most teams this year-just look at the table with 5 teams equal on 16 Points and another 5 teams equa on 12 Points! A big shock saw previous leaders Melbourne crash 34-12 at Manly while Irish Winger Brian Carney grabbed 3 tries to help his Newcastle team to claim top spot on Points Difference!
North Queensland, St.George-Illawarra and Brisbane all had Byes going into the State of Origin series which sees players from these 3 teams heavily involved.

Penrith Panthers 30-20 Parramatta Eels
NZ Warriors 34-12 Wests Tigers
Manly Sea Eagles 34-12 Melbourne Storm
Newcastle Knights 22-12 Canberra Raiders
Canterbury Bulldogs 32-24 Cronulla Sharks
Sydney Roosters 28-26 South Sydney Rabbitohs

01.Newcastle Knights..11 Played 8 Won 0 Bye 16 Points
02.North Queensland..10 Played 7 Won 1 Bye 16 Points
03.Melbourne Storm...10 Played 7 Won 1 Bye 16 Points
04.Brisbane Broncos..10 Played 7 Won 1 Bye 16 Points
05.Canterbury Bulldog.10 Played 7 Won 1 Bye 16 Points
06.Manly Sea Eagles...11 Played 6 Won 0 Bye 12 Points
07.Cronulla Sharks...10 Played 5 Won 1 Bye 12 Points
08.Sydney Roosters...10 Played 5 Won 1 Bye 12 Points

09.StGeorge-Illawarra.10 Played 5 won 1 Bye 12 points
10.Penrith Panthers...10 Played 5 Won 1 Bye 12 Points
11.Wests Tigers RLFC.10 Played 4 Won 1 Bye 10 Points
12.Canberra Raiders..10 Played 4 Won 1 Bye 10 Points
13.*New Zealand Warriors 10 Played 4 Won 1 Bye 6 Points
14.Parramatta Eels...10 Played 2 Won 1 Bye 6 Points
15.South Rabbitohs...10 Played 0 Won 1 Bye 2 Points

*New Zealand started on -4 after breaking Salary cap in 2005
A Bye is woth 2 Points

St.George Illawarra 8-1 Parramatta Eels
In a game played in torrential rain the Dragons scraped a win against a lowly Eels side who have seen Coach Brian Smith recently resign and problems with Players to boot. With the the driving rain at times making conditions very hard to run in tho there was a period where the weather eased in the 2nd stanza to see 3 Field goals-one for the Eels and 2 for the Dragons until a very late try in injury time by Matt Cooper for the Dragons seasled the win.

Melbourne Storm 20-16 Sydney Roosters
In a great game the Storm again grabbed a narrow win to stay near the top. The Roosters gave everything but the magic of young 19 year old Greg Inglis saw the Storm keep the pressure on Brisbane in the League.

Canterbury Bulldogs 38-22 Newcastle knights
Canterbury are looking again very dangerous and each week they seem to be getting stronger. This time the forwards led the way with Mark O meley and Sonny Bill Williams causing much damage. Sonny Bill Williams pulled of another of his legendary bighits this time on Andrew Johns. The young New Zealander afer missing much of last year is getting back to his best with his great offloads and thundering tackles. Hazim El Masri is now equal top career try scorer for the Doggies and also hit his 600th career goal.


Canberra Raiders 24-22 Sydney Rabbitohs
In freezing conditions the Raiders on their 25th Birthday managed to just do enough to beat the winless Rabbitohs. Raiders keep this year fail to go the 80 minutes and so it happened this week with the Rabbitohs getting a late try to make life difficult for the Raiders-just a conversion was the difference between the two sides.

NZ Warriors 18-23 Brisbane Broncos
Brisbane stayed in top spot with a win in Auckland against the Warriors. The Warriors will take heart from this game as Brisbane are playing really well and the Warriors are doing it tough at the foot of the table. Ruben Wiki again proving a tower of strength for the New Zealand based team.

Penrith Panthers 22-29 Manly Sea Eagles
After 12 years of waiting the Sea Eagles finally won at Penrith and to be honest was always in control against the Panthers who are in a time of rebuilding at the moment with Coach Jong Lang not staying for next year and the last 2 years has seen Martin Lang, Scott Sadler, Ryan Girdler retire and others players move on.

Wests Tigers 24-14 North Queensland Cowboys
A repeat of last years Grand Finalists and again saw the Tigers take the honours. A poor start to the season by the Tigers has seen many write them off but the past month has seen them find some form and are now although in 9th just 2 points off 4th place. Can the Tigers get back to the Grand Final? The Cowboys are going through a run of lossesthat has seen them slip from being 4 Points clear at the start of May to 4th Spot 4 points behind Brisbane and Melbourne at the top

01.Brisbane. Broncos--9W 3L 1B 20PTS
02.Melbourne Storm---9W 3L 1B 20PTS
03.Canterbury Dogs---8W 4L 1B 18PTS
04.North.Queensland--7W 5L 1B 16PTS
05.Newcastle Knights--8W 5L 0B 16PTS
06.Manly Sea Eagles---7W 5L 1B 16PTS
07.Cronulla Sharks----6W 5L 2B 16PTS
08.StGeorge-Illawarra-7W 5L 1B 16PTS
-------------------------------------------------------
09.WestSydneyTigers--6W 6L 1B 14PTS
10.Canberra Raiders---6W 6L 1B 14PTS
11.Sydney Roosters---5W 7L 1B 12PTS
12.Penrith. Panthers---5W 7L 1B 12PTS
13.Parramatta.. Eels---3W 9L 1B 8PTS
14.NewZealandWarriors4W 8L 1B 6PTS
15.SouthSydneyBunnys0W 12L 1B 2PTS

ROUND 18
MELBOURNE STORM 10 BRISBANE BRONCOS 4
Crowd:15.479

State of Origin 3 got massive TV figures and is again the most watched TV programme this week by miles and with even the Australia-NZ Rugby Union game highly unexpected to get near it in terms of people watching the game. With a massive TV deal signed worth over AUD$500 Million (just over €300 Million) over 6 years and with clubs recording record sponsorship deals as well as more younsters than ever before playing the game- things are looking very positive for Rugby League in Australia

A host of signings already made for next year with some names moving and Manly getting the signature of Jamie Lyon who has just spent 2 years destroying the British and French teams. Expected to re gain his place in the NSW and Australia teams next year. Souths thanks to Russell Crowe and his money and power have made a few very good signings already for next year including New Zealand Stars Nigel Vagana, Frank Puletua and Roy Asotasi

Brisbane Broncos
OUT
Shane Webcke (Retiring)
Casey Mcguire (Catalan Dragons, France)

Canberra Raiders
IN
Colin Best (St.George Illawarra)
OUT
Simon Woolford (St.George Illawarra)

Cronulla Sharks
OUT
Tevita Latu (Sacked)
Nigel Vagana (South Sydney)
Phil Bailey (Wigan RLFC, England)

Gold Coast Titans New Club and some very good signings already in place!
Richie Mathers (Leeds Rhinos)
Brian Carney (Newcastle Knights)
Jake Webster (Melbourne Storm)
Frank Puletua (Penrith Panthers)
Scott Prince (West Tigers)
Luke Bailey (St.George Illawarra)

Manly Se Eagles
IN
Jamie Lyon (St.Helens, England)

Melbourne Storm
IN
Aidan Quinn (Newcastle Knights)
OUT
Steve Turner (Gold Coast Titans)
Jake Webster (Gold Coast Titans)
David Kidwell (South Sydney)

Newcastle Knights
OUT
Brian Carney (Gold Coast Titans)
Aidan Quinn (Melbourne Storm)
Todd Lowrie (Parramatta)

North Queensland Cowboys
OUT
Matt Sing (Hull FC, England)

New Zealand Warriors
IN
Aidan Kirk (Sydney Roosters), Wade Mckinnon (Parramatta)
OUT
Brent Webb, Clinton Toopi (Leeds Rhinos)

Parramatta Eels
IN
Todd Lowrie (Newcastle Knights)
OUT
Glenn Morrison (Bradford Bulls, England)
Dean Widders (South Sydney)
John Morris (West Tigers)
Wade Mckinnon (New Zealand Warriors)

South Sydney
IN
Nigel Vagana (Cronulla Sharks)
Roy Asotasi (Canterbury Bulldogs)
David Kidwell (Melbourne Storm)
Dean Widders (Parramatta)
David Peachey (Widnes Vikings, England)

St.George Illawarra Dragons
IN
Simon Woolford (Canberra Raiders)
OUT
Luke Bailey (Gold Coast Titans)
Trent Barrett (Wigan RLFC, England)
Clint Greenshields (Catalan Dragons, France)
Colin Best (Canberra Raiders)

Sydney Roosters
OUT
Adrian Morley (Warrington Wolves, England)
Aidan Kirk (New Zealand Warriors)

Wests Tigers
IN
John Morris (Parramatta Eels)
OUT
Scott Prince (Gold Coast Titans)
Anthonny Laffranchi (Gold Coast titans)

Sydney Roosters 16-33 Manly Sea Eagles
Parramatta Eels 46-12 Newcastle Knights
Penrith Panthers 24-12 Canberra Raiders
Canterbury Bulldogs 22-18 New Zealand Warriors
Cronulla Sharks 10-22 Wests Tigers
St.George Illawarra 38-28 South Sydney Rabbitohs

TABLE
1.Melbourne 30
2.St.George Illawarra 26
3.Brisbane Broncos 24
4.Canterbury Bulldogs 24
5.Cronulla Sharks 22
6.North Queensland 20
7.Manly Sea Eagles 20
8.Newcastle Knights 20

9.West Tigers 18
10.Penrith Panthers 18
11.Canberra Raiders 18
12.Parramatta Eels 16
13.New Zealand Warriors 14#
14.Sydney Roosters 14
15.Souths 4

#New Zealand Warriors docked 4 points after breaking salary cap in 2005.

Andrew Johns (Newcastle Knights) has broken the record for most points scored in a career-and that is even more remarkable is that he missed virtually 3 years after breaking his jaw, knee reconstruction and then a shoulder reconstruction! Johns is considered by many to be the best ever Rugby League player in History and his stats go along way to agreeing with that. The top 10 Points scorers in History are:

Andrew Johns 2108 *
Jason Taylor 2107
Daryll Halligan 2034
Mick "The Crow" Cronin 1971
Graeme "The Wombat" Eadie 1917
Eric Simms 1841
Hazim El Masri 1730 *
Ryan Girdler 1690
Graeme "Changa" Langlands 1548
Clinton Schifcofske 1545 *

*Current Players

South Sydney continue an impressive recruitment drive for 2007 with the signing of highly rated Kiwi Jeremy Smth from Parramatta. New Club Gold Coast titans have added former Kiwi Junior International Prop James Stosic to their side in a 2 year deal and added Brad Meyer from English club Bradford Bulls and Mark Minichello from Souths.

The State of Origin game 3 was a massive ratins winner with Total Average game audience is 3.395 Million although for some reason the game wasnt telecast in Perth.Brisbane had a increase of 16% of people watching the game compared to last years game 3 while Melbourne which is totally Australian Football dominated 418.000 viewers watched the game-an increase of 49% on the same match last year! With Melbourne Storm topping the NRL table at the moment as well one of the Tri Nation games being played there this year Rugby League has made good progress in the city which in the past hasnt really taken to the game. Also all Victorian Schools have Rugby League as part of the Sports Programme for the kids.

St.George-Illawarra 16-22 Canterbury Bulldogs
New Zealand Warriors 12-20 Parramatta Eels
Penrith Panthers 17-8 North Queensland Cowboys
South Sydney Rabbitohs 20-26 Manly Sea Eagles
Newcastle Knights 16-24 Melbourne Storm
Sydney Roosters 38-32 Cronulla Sharks 22
Canberra Raiders 20-18 Wests Tigers

MELBOURNE 32
CANTERBURY 26
BRISBANE 26
ST.GEORGE ILLAWARRA 26
MANLY 22
CRONULLA 22
N QUEENSLAND 20
NEWCASTLE 20
-------------------------------------
PENRITH 20
CANBERRA 20
WESTS 18
PARRAMATTA 18
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 16
NZ WARRIORS 14
SOUTHS 4

Round 21

Sydney Roosters have seen Adrian Morley hit with a 7 Match ban for using his knees in a tackle last week. This is the end of his NRL career as he goes back to England next year to play for Warrington.
Veteran Jason Smith will join North Queensland Cowboys next year. This likely being his last year in the NRL before retiring.
Braith Anasta (Sydney Roosters) is out for the rest of the season will a groin injury that needs surgery.
Paul Whatuira (Wests Tigers) is likely out for the rest of the regular season with a serious Hamstring problem. The Kiwi should be fit to return for New Zealand in the Tri Nations Series in October if picked.
Brett Finch (Sydney Roosters) who play Origin Footy this year signs for Parramatta for next season

Unfashionable Melbourne Storm look unbeatable as once again they beat one of their rivals and away from home to make sure they have a 4 Point Cushion over their nearest rivals. Plenty of shocks as Brisbane were well beaten at home by lowly Wests, Parramatta an easy win over Manly and Souths who have won only once all year beat Canberra! North Queensland are in a mess and having lost top playmaker and organizer Johnathon Thurston through injury are going to struggle to make the finals for the first time since 2003. Second from bottom Roosters gaining a 40-20 win over them

Cronulla 18-22 Newcastle
Penrith 36-06 NZ Warriors
Parramatta 31-18 Manly
Souths 21-08 Canberra
Brisbane 6-20 Wests
St.george-Illawarra 24-34 Melbourne
Sydney Roosters 40-20 North Queensland

Melbourne 34
Canterbury 30
Brisbane 26
St.George 26
Manly 24
Newcastle 24
Nort Queensland 22
Cronulla 22
-------------------------------
Parramatta 22
Penrith 22
Canberra 22
Wests 18
NZ Warriors 16
Sydney Roosters 16
Souths 6

Fuifui Moimoi copped a 7 week ban for a head high tackle on Manly prop Brent Kite that left him badly concussed. many consider the 7 week ban lucky. Chris Walker has been released immediately by Melbourne due to personal reasons.Australia and Sydney Roosters nightmare season is over after his long standing back injury has ruled him out of the rest of the season.

ROUND 22
A few shocks this week as the regular League season starts coming to an end. Many teams are still fighting for one of the top 8 spots and others fighting to keep the season alive.

Parramatta Eels continued there unbeaten run when defeating the St George Illawarra Dragons 28-6. The Dragons are in poor form at the moment and the defeat sees them slip down the table. 8 weeks ago the Eels was fighting to not be wooden spoonist-now they are looking to make the playoffs and stand a good chance of doing so and now for the first time are in a play off position being in 7th. Since jason taylor has been coached the form of the Eels has changed completely. The Dragons have alot to work on to say the least!
New Zealand Warriors have gained another win at the expense of Cronulla Sharks but with only a couple of rounds left Play off Footy is not for them this year and the 4 point penalty hasnt helped them. Poor crowds dont help the warriors but worse is the infighting at the club which has seen fans not wanting to be involved.
Melbourne Storm are unbeatable at the moment and hammered Wests 46-4-but at halftime it was only 16-4. Wests just self exploded by poor tackling, poor discipline and giving the ball cheaply away. The Storm made them pay and will now be likely crowned Minor Premiers (League Champions)
North Queensland Cowboys went down to another defeat against a team running in good form. The Canterbury Bulldogs ran away with this game. Young Kiwi Superstar Sonny Bill Williams, Andrew Ryan, Roy Asotasi all having strong games. Lebanese born Hazem El Masri who is the best Goal kicker in either code of Rugby again achieved a 100% goal kicking rate by slotting over 9/9 and then also scored a try!
Canberra Raiders are the comps most unpredictable team! having lost last week against bottom team Souths, you wouldnt get much for them beating the 3rd placed Brisbane Broncos. But Canberra not only beat them but beat them in Style with a 30-18 home win! But also the Broncos are in a typical slump in form that seems to happen each year after the State of Origin series. 4 Straight losses now leaves them fighting to keep in the top 4.
Newcastle knights are in 4th after defeating a poor Sydney Roosters side who are a team still looking to rebuild after the retirement of legend Brad Fittler a couple of seasons ago. They lack confidence and leadership and again it was in evidence against the Knights who were again led superbly by Andrew Johns and Danny Buderus.Knights 18-32 away win could of been alot worse for the Roosters as well.
Finally South Sydney Rabbitohs have picked up another win having beaten Penrith Panthers and following another poor season they seem to be getting things together-but sadly its too late for them to not be wooden spoonists for another year! However it gives them much hope for the next year with the NRLs leading try scorer Nathan Merritt again grabbing 3 tries in the game and the team working more together. A number of new signings for 2007 should see them not be last in 2007

Parramatta 28-6 St.George-Illawarra
Melbourne 46-4 Wests
New Zealand 12-10 Cronulla
Nth Queensland 14-54 Canterbury
Canberra 30-18 Brisbane
Sydney 18-32Newcastle
Souths 32-26 Penrith
Manly Bye/week off

1.Melbourne Storm... 38 +185
2.Canterbury Bulldogs. 32 +147
3.Brisbane Broncos...26 +34
4.Newcastle Knights...26 +29
5.Manly Sea Eagles...26 +26
6.St.George Illawarra..26 -10
7.Parramatta Eels ...24 +26
8.Canberra Raiders ...24 -47
----------------------------------------
9.Cronulla Sharks ...22 +11
10.North Queensland..22 -16
11.Penrith Panthers...22 -17
12.Wests Tigers...20 -78
13.New Zealand Warr..18 +57
14.Sydney Roosters...18 -82
15.Souths Rabbitohs...08 -265

My dragons have fallen in a bit of a hole. I think thats 4 losses on the trot after a run of 8 or so wins on the trot.

Do you have any info, links on where I might be able to download the finals series Dally M ? Currently, with the trinations rugby, i have a site where i can download the games for about 4 euros a game and was wondering if there is a similar site for league? It would be noce seeing all the finals games and not just the Grand final.

The Arc can usually record games even if not show them live but try www.nrl.com and click on Big Pond TV as they usually have highlights if not every game from each round on show-usually after 2 or 3 days. Doesnt cost me anything!

www.leagueunlimited.com post 2 minute updates on scores / incidents from each match as well.

Not sure there is much SKY TV, Channel 9, FoxTV or Setanta TV in places like the Arctic Circle etc where you keep popping off to tho!

Setanta have won the rights to show the NRL on British TV for 2007 which also means in Germany as well. Sky will continue to show the European Super League but ALL Australian Footy (Rugby League) including State of Origin , Aussie v NZ games and the NRL and playoffs as from next year will be on Setanta. Whether the games will be shown live like Sky have shown them is still not clear. The Arc WILL continue to record/Show games next year as spoke to Jason about it already!

Gasnier was injured with a calf muscle on Friday and didnt play.The team look to be lacking belief-similar to the Broncos as they also have lost 4 in a row as well. Maybe they just freeze coming up to Playoff footy as similar pattern over a number of years with the Dragons who promise much but then fail to deliver! They honestly should have been in the Grand Final last year and both them and the Eels blew it big style.I will say Melbourne v Canterbury Grand Final going on current form and Melbourne are more or less unbeatable at home.

Your next few games will be interesting and should win the last 3 The Doggies feel you will be smashed as they are in form

Canterbury Bulldogs (Away) Saturday 12th August
Wests Tigers (Home) Sunday 20th August
Cronulla Sharks (Home) Saturday 26th August
Sydney Roosters (Away) Saturday 2nd September

With Barrett and Luke Bailey leaving alongside highly rated back Clint Greenshields at the end of the season for next year things will be quite different as well. Think Gasnier will be playing 5/8 and not centre in 2007-mistake in my opinion.

Rugby League in Australia looks like securing a Sponsorship deal worth 60.million Aussie Dollars (Over €37.5 Million!) for the sponsorship of the NRL over the next 6 years-this is DOUBLE the current deal! And it could get higher with Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Telstra and Mcdonalds amongst others interested in sponsoring the best comp in the game.

Brisbane Broncos Neville Costigan has been caught drink Driving -and the Broncos have find him 5000 Aussie Doolars and may even sack him!

The Doggies and Dragons game looks like it could be a very passionate physical game already with strong words coming from both camps! Mark Shrek O Meley giving Mark Gasnier a blasting already.

St.George Illawarra Dragons coach has just been fined AS$15.000-for having a rant about Refs!

Last couple of rounds and some interesting results. The big battle of the weekend went the way of Canterbury Bulldogs as they recorded a 26-10 win over the St.George-Illawarra Dragons. The Doggies were always in control and the defeat sees the Dragons down to 7th-although having the same number of points as 4th placed Parramatta Melbourne grabbed a tough win after being 10-0 down at Brisbane. Infront of over 40.000 Queenslanders Melbourne fought back superbly in the second stanza. Michael Crocker (Melbourne) was put on report for a dangerous tackle and he will have an anxious couple of day before finding out if he is banned for next week or more.
Manly upset Newcastle in front of 26.000 Novocastrians as they defeated the Knights 14-16. In a game that was poorly reffed and saw some strange decision and also saw Andrew Johns blast the official after missing an obvious knock on from Manly near their own line. He is likely to be fined for4 this outburst and could pick up a ban as well
The New Zealand Warriors hammered the Poor North Queensland Cowboys 26-0 in very heavy rain in Auckland. The crowd was under 6000 which is disappointing but with such poor weather not too surprizing!
Penrith got an allmighty shock getting hammered at home by next to bottom Sydney Roosters. The 20-40 home loss is a big blow for the Panthers play off hopes
Parramatta Eels hammered the Cronulla Sharks away 14-34-but was losing 12-8 at the break! Whatever Coach Jason Taylor said worked as the Eels totally dominated the second half. The eight win in a row sees the Eels up to fourth in the table.
What a game at Cambletown. Wests 18 Canberra Raiders 19! A game that saw Wests grab a 78th minute Penalty to tie the game 18-18 after the 80 Minutes. This meant Golden Point time. A further 10 Minutes saw no change in the score until the last few seconds of the Golden Point which looked to be heading towards a draw saw Canberras Todd Carney (Not related to Newcastle Knights Irish Winger, Brian Carney) drop an amazing 40 metre field goal that sailed through the posts and likely eliminate North Queensland, Penrith, Wests and Cronulla from the Finals.

Round 23
Wests 18-19 Canberra Raiders
New Zealand Warriors 26-00 North Queensland
Brisbane Broncos 12-18 Melbourne Storm
Penrith Panthers 20-40 Sydney Roosters
Canterbury Bulldogs 26-10 St.George-Illawarra Dragons
Cronulla Sharks 14-34 Parramatta Eels
Newcastle Knights 14-16 Manly Sea Eagles

Bye (Automatic 2 Points) South Sydney Rabbitohs

Melbourne Storm---- 21 Played 40 Points
Canterbury Bulldogs- 21 Played 34 Points
Manly Sea Eagles-- 21 Played 28 Points
Parramatta Eels----- 21 Played 26 Points
Brisbane Broncos--- 21 Played 26 Points
Newcastle Knights-- 22 Played 26 Points
St.George Illawarra--21 Played 26 Points
Canberra Raiders---22 Played 26 Points
----------------------------------------------------------
Cronulla Sharks---21 Played 22 Points
Penrith Panthers----21 Played 22 Points
North Queensland--21 Played 22 Points
New Zealand Warr-21 Played 20 Points
Sydney Roosters--21 Played 20 Points
Wests Tigers-------21 Played 20 Points
South Sydney-----21 Played 10 Points

After last weeks shock home loss to the New Zealand Warriors the Melbourne Storm managed a close win away at Canberra. Leading 22-6 after 64 Minutes the last 16 beloned to canberra as they scored 12 points but it wasnt enough to gain a win over the Minor Premiers.

In the game of the weekend before a sell out 20.000 crowd The Manly Sea Eagles grabbed a late win over second placed Canterbury Bulldogs in the pouring rain.Matt Orford dropped a towering Field goal from 40 Metres out with just 1 Minute left on the clock.The win sees the Sea Eagles climb to 3rd spot.

Brisbane Broncos fresh from the surprise hammering they gave Canterbury last week, ended Parramatta Eels 8 game unbeaten run-and how! Having nilled the doggies last week they did the same to the Eels and the Broncos could be dark horses for the Grand Final and may be worth a bet for the Premiership.

New Zealand Warriors smashed the Sydney Roosters of the Park in Auckland. The score was kind to the Roosters who have been a massive disappointment all year. The crowd of over 12.000 watched on as the Warriors coasted to a victory that had they not taken the foot of the gas could of been alot higher.

Newcastle Knights-minus Andrew Johns after he picked up a ban for abusing a Touch Judge smashed a very poor Penrith Panthers side of the Park. The forwards created much of the damage which allowed the Knights to create much and have time to do what they wanted.

St.George Illawarra Dragons took the spoils at home against the Cronulla Sharks. The game was a fiery encounter which saw Paul Gallen and Ben Pomeroy (Cronulla Sharks) and Shaun Timmins (St.George-Illawarra) sin binned. Dean Young (St.George-Illawarra) was stretchered off with a broken leg late in the game. Cronulla couldnt match the St.George Forwards especially Luke Bailey and Jason Ryles.

In an eventful week for the North Queensland Cowboys, which saw Mitchell Sargeant sacked after being found to have used cocaine in a randon club drug test, the Cowboys grabbed a win finally at bottom club South Sydney. South Sydney created their own problems by again missing tackles and giving the ball away cheaply. The Cowboys welcomed the victory after a long run of losses.

Manly 21-20 Canterbury
Canberra 18-22 Melbourne
Newcastle 40-4 Penrith
St.George-Illawarra 18-4 Cronulla
New Zealand 42-16 Sydney Roosters
Souths 12-34 North Queensland
Parramatta 0-23 Brisbane

Melbourne Storm.Pl 23 40 Pts
Canterbury Doggies.23 34
Manly Sea Eagles...23 32
Brisbane Broncos...23 30
Newcastle Knights...24 30
St.George-Illawarra.23 30
Parramatta Eels...23 28
Canberra Raiders...23 28
-----------------------------------
New Zealand Warr..23 24
North Queensland...23 24
Penrith Panthers...23 24
Cronulla Sharks...23 22
Wests Tigers...23 22
Sydney Roosters...23 20
South Sydney...23 10

Challenge Cup Final (Twickenham, London)
St.Helens 42 Huddersfield 12

In a hard physical game which saw 2 players knocked out and another with a broken nose, the Saints showed the class that has seen them not just win the Challenge Cup but sees them on top of the League at the moment in Super League. Hero was Jon Wilkin, who despite receivinga badly broken nose early on, that was taped up to stop the flow of blood, grabbed 2 tries and Sean Long who became the first man to win the Lance Todd Trophy (for man of the match in the Final) 3 times. The game was close upto half time with Saints leading 12-6. Then infront of over 65.000 crowd the Saints played the football they are known for with great offloading and support play which saw them ease to a 42-12 victory. The game had to be switched in May after Wembley wasnt going to be finished. Its hoped the Final will go back to Wembley in 2007 after having a few Finals in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Twickenham. With Russian and French along with Welsh, Scottish and Irish team involved in the Cup these days the Cup is more a European venture than in its previous years.

Rugby League celeberated its 111th birthday last week after breaking away from Rugby Union in 1895-this weekend is 100 years since the number of players in each team is 13, having previously been 15 like Rugby Union. This weekend in the NRL saw the last round of League matches-with still many teams looking for wins to get a good position in the top 8 play offs.

North Queensland Cowboys 22-8 Parramatta Eels
Massive shock as the Cowboys have been in freefall since May. However after picking a win up last week they beat the Eels with ease in the second stanza. Whether the Eels are thinking on the playoffs who knows but they were very poor after the break.Half time saw the Eels leading 8-6 but the heavy rain showers didnt help the near 20.000 crowd see too much open footy. Matty Bowen was the main player causing pronblems for the Eels but Australian test halfback, Jonathon Thurston first game back from injury also showed how much the Cowboys have missed his direction. Nathan Hindmarsh was again as per usual doing a near Superman effort with again over 40 tackles and some strong running. He is simply a machine!
Cronulla Sharks 24-26 Canberra Raiders
Another game of two hales as the Raiders just hung on to a win.0-26 at the break it looked like the Raiders would hammer the Sharks. How things changed! 24 unanswered points saw the Sharks nearly snatch a share of the spoils as in the last minute Luke Covell had the chance to level the scores with a penalty-but missed condemning the Sharkies to 10 straight losses! They will need to regroup and likely a change in Coach over the off season. The Raiders season continues but will have to improve to progress in the playoffs next week.
Sydney Roosters 16-36 St.George Illawarra Dragons
The first half belonged to the Chooks with them taking a shock 16-8 lead in to the break. Ben Hornby and Clint Greenshieds along with forward Jason Ryles helped get the Dragons back on course and in the second half the Chooks had no answers to the Dragons. The Dragons dont look likely of making the Grand Final as they are too inconsistent. They have the players but just dont seem to perform when the pressure is on-as was seen last year in the play offs when as favourites for the Grand Final they imploded in the semis!
Melbourne Storm 30-20 Manly Sea Eagles
This game was billed as first v third-and the game lived up to the hype as it was fast, tough and no questions asked by both sides. Again hooker Cameron Smith for the storm caused many problems for the opposition but with the speed of Billy Slater, Matt Geyer and young gun Greg Inglis the storm took the win in the last 15 minutes after a titanic battle. Melbourne are Minor Premiers (League Champions) but the question is will they make the grand final and be crowned Major Premiers?
Brisbane Broncos 36-12 New Zealand Warriors
In front of 47.000 fans the Broncos claimed a win that sees them finish up in third place. This was legendary prop Shane Webcke´s last home game in the regular season-and his teammates made sure he went with a win. Justin Hodges, Darren Lockyer and Shaun Berrigan were the top players and the Warriors threatened briefly early on then the Broncos went away with the game with some good tries. The Broncos are at home next week against St.George-Illawarra in the playoffs and its likely a near 50.000 crowd will be packed into Lang Park-sorry Suncorp Stadium( Will always be Lang Park for me.)
West Tigers 52-18 South Sydney Rabbitohs
The Tigers went on the rampage against the poor Bunnies who were never at the races. With players like Prince (Gold Coast), Elford, Skandalis (Europe) leaving the Tigers played a very open game throwing the ball about in front of a packed Leichhardt Oval. 7 different players scored tries with Daniel Fitzhenry and Chris Heighington both grabbing a brace. The season is now over for both teams and the Tigers after last years shock Grand Final win are back to where they always seem to be-just outside the play off places. The Rabbitohs with new owners in actor Russell Crowe and a couple of Business friends will look for a better season in 2007
Penrith Panthers 22-30 Canterbury Bulldogs
The Panthers came close to upsetting the Doggies but the Power and Pace finally saw the Doggies home. The Panthers missing as ever through injury, halfback Craig Gower, matched the Canterbury side most of the match but didnt have the firepower to take the game. In a game that started out in hot sunny weather it ended in heavy rain played in a humid temperature and thus didnt help contribute to a game full of mistakes.

FINAL TABLE
Melbourne 44
Canterbury 36
Brisbane 32
Newcastle 32
Manly 32
St.George 32
Canberra 32
Parramatta 28
-----------------------------------
North Queensland 26
New Zealand 24
Wests 24
Penrith 24
Cronulla 22
Sydney 20
Souths 10

FINALS SERIES WEEK 1
Friday 8th September
Newcastle Knights V Manly Sea Eagles
Saturday 9th September
Brisbane Broncos V St.George Illawarra Dragons
Canterbury Bulldogs V Canberra Raiders
Sunday 10th September
Melbourne Storm V Parramatta Eels

The Arc will be showing on Saturday and Sunday The Finals games allö the way through to the Grand Final. Details of which match they will show will be posted later in week. But its likely the Brisbane-St. George and Melbourne- Parramatta game will be the ones shown

The Main season is at an end so here is a video and some facts from the regular season-The finals start at the weekend.

NRL Hits 2006 rounds 1-10

NRL hits from round 11-26

The Dally M award (Dally Messenger is credited as being the first Australian Rugby League star back in 1907 when League started in Australia. Was a player way infront of any other at the time even when playing against the British where Rugby League had been going since 1895) for player of the year has gone to Melbourne Storms Hooker Cameron Smith. Its the first time ever a player from the Melbourne club has won the award.

2006 recorded the second highest crowd average in the games history. The 2006 crowd average was 15,308

The initial release of tickets for the up and coming NRL grand Finals havesold out in one day-thats a first ever in the NRL

The Brisbane Broncos are the best supported club averaging over 30.000 crowd a game

Melbourne Storm has seen an increase of 19.5% on crowds compared to 2005

In Brisbane the top 3 most watched programmes are Rugby League games

10% increase in NRL sponsorship on last year

Rugby League provided the most watched programme of any type on subscription TV in 2006 as well as six of the top 7 and 78 of the top 100

More than 35.000 players participated in School and Club comps in Victoria, Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia which are not strongholds of the game like New South Wales and Queensland

Junior registration is up 5% nationally -thats a 25% increase since 2002

Melbourne Storm merchandise sales between July and August 2006 exceeded the total sales for the entire 2005 Season. Reebok sold 2000 jersey in this time!

Newcastle Knights 25-18 Manly Sea Eagles

What a start to the Finals! first up was Newcastle and Manly and what a game it was. All in brawl, Sin binnings, Players put on report and a last gasp win by the Knights. Andrew Johns was the man who caused the Sea Eagles to lose this game but are fortunate to stay in the comp. Joey weaved his magic to get his team over the finish line and to cap it all irish Winger Brian Carney who was voted the best Winger in Australian Rugby League this past week scored a try at the death to add more pain to Manly after Johns had slotted over a field goal to give the knights a one point lead. Danny Buderus was put on report for a dangerous tackle while Ben Kennedy was sin binned for questioning the Ref over the incident.All this in front of a sellout 26.000 crowd

Brisbane Broncos 4-20 St.George Illawarra Dragons
In front of over 50.000 fans the dragons again beat the Broncos. The Broncos were forced to make late changes when Fullback Karmichael Hunt damaged his hamstring. The Dragons had control of the game right from the 7th minute. Jason Ryles and Luke bailey were awesome both in attack and defence. The brioncos stay in as one of the two best losers but face Newcastle next week in a tough game. The Broncos could be seeing a massive change in the fact that strong rumours are going around that Wayne Bennett the Coach of the Broncos since they were formed 19 years ago is ready to leave for Sydney Roosters. He has apparently been offered a 3 year deal worth well over 2 Million Aussie Dollars-Thats double what anybodyelse is on! Will he go is still unsure but it would be a massive change

Canterbury Bulldogs 30-12 Canberra Raiders
Canterbury finally overcame the Raiders as well as the heavy rain in Sydney. The raiders battled away but with big Willy Mason back the Doggies were´nt going to be denied a hard fought win despite the scoreline suggesting an easy win. The raiders lose a number of players and will have to do a lot of rebuilding. The Doggies earn a week off

Melbourne Storm 12-6 Parramatta Eels
Strong defence was the key in this game and Parramatta just couldnt seem to find a way through for long periods of the game. The Storm will be very pleased with this display and the way they soaked up all the Eels could throw at them. The Storm now like the doggies earn a week of having been one of the two top teams in the League.

Friday 15th Sept
St.George Illawarra Dragons v Manly Sea Eagles (Aussie Stadium, Sydney)
Saturday 16th Sept
Newcastle Knights v Brisbane Broncos (Aussie Stadium, Sydney)

Canterbury bulldogs and Melbourne Storm earn right to have a weeks rest and will face the winners of the 2 games.