The chaotic nature of State of Origin season created plenty of headlines during round 14.
While some players backed up, Tom Trbojevic didn't for Manly but they still managed to put 50 points on a poor Cowboys side.
St George Illawarra dished up their worst game of the year, handing the Bulldogs just their second win.
Here's what we liked and disliked from every game over the weekend.
MANLY SEA EAGLES 50 - 18 NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
What we liked: DCE's stoic response
People will have forgiven Daly Cherry-Evans for still carrying the mental scars of Wednesday night's horror Origin loss for Queensland going into this game just two nights later.
But the Maroons and Sea Eagles skipper was almost untouchable for his club side in a dominant win over the Cowboys, linking up beautifully with old-time halves partner Keiran Foran.
Cherry-Evans had the Steeden on a string, laying on three try assists and two linebreak assists, while his running game produced 140 metres and 11 tackle breaks in a complete performance from the star halfback.
Cherry-Evans was noticeably disappointed with the Origin loss and in particular his individual performance, but he'll have regained a wealth of confidence from the way he responded against the Cowboys.
What we disliked: Cowboys' right edge
The Cowboys' capitulation in defence after scoring two quickfire tries to start the match was hard to watch.
Todd Paytren's side were loose around the ruck and at sixes and sevens on their edges.
Tom Dearden was in his first game in Cowboys colours playing on the right side in defence and the new combinations were telling with the success Manly had on that edge, as told by Brad Parker's hattrick.
By full-time, after conceding 48 unanswered points, North Queensland wound up with 51 missed tackles, the most of any NRL side this season.
For a side that was beginning to look finals worthy, it wasn't pretty.
CRONULLA SHARKS 19 - 18 PENRITH PANTHERS
What we liked: SJ's game-winner
Shaun Johnson was the man of the moment, steering Cronulla to a brave win over Penrith with a last-minute field-goal to ice a one-point win.
The Panthers were coming home with a wet sail, scoring three second-half tries to level scores at 18-all with five minutes to go and looked the more likely to grab the two points.
After turning them away, Cronulla marched up field with two minutes on the clock, and Johnson slotted the, albeit shakey, drop kick.
In the context of his playing future, it was an important moment and put the finishing touches on what was perhaps his best performance of the season.
Johnson was informed last week by Cronulla he wouldn't be re-signed beyond this season and is on the lookout for a new home for 2022.
What we disliked: Another head concern for Graham
There are major concerns for Wade Graham after the Sharks captain suffered another knock to his head against Penrith.
After getting his head caught in a tackle, Graham limped out of a tackle clutching at his knee but also appeared off-balance to suggest he was concussed.
Trainers brought the Sharks captain off for a head injury assessment, which he eventually passed, but took the precautions to rule him out for the remainder of the game, citing the knee issue.
But Fox League's commentary team weren't convinced, revealing their fears for Graham, who has a long history of concussions and has suffered three already this season.
"It’s really hard to watch as a mate. It’s a huge concern, this concussion,” Graham's former Sharks teammate Michael Ennis said.
"It's sad to watch actually, he's been such a tough player, Wade Graham, over the years," Panthers legend Greg Alexander said.
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 35 - 34 GOLD COAST TITANS
What we liked: Titans entertaining
Ultimately they came up short but, for the neutral supporter, the Titans over delivered in the entertainment stakes.
Down 30-4 early in the second half, a Ben Marschke brain snap earned the Roosters utility 10 minutes in the bin and sent the Titans on a try-scoring spree - notching up five in a row.
It brought out the absolute best in Jamal Fogarty.
Although he spilled the ball which cruelled the Titans’ last gasp field goal charge, Fogarty’s performance - two tries, two try assists and ⅚ with the boot - will give Titans fans hope that the future is bright.
The second half effort equalled Penrith’s 26-point comeback from 1998 but wasn’t enough. Still, they entertained. What an incredibly wild game.
What we disliked: Confusion over high tackles
Kevin Proctor clotheslining Joey Manu was deemed not worthy of a sin bin and we have no idea why.
The 15th minute shot caught the eye of the MRC and, although there’s been plenty of bandwidth - too much, really - already dedicated to policing high shots, the non-action on this makes zero sense.
What particularly aggrieved Roosters coach Trent Robinson was referees factoring in whether the affected player got back up after an illegal hit.
“The issue I have is a head high would have been sent to the bin two weeks ago, but we don’t tell our players to lie down,” Robinson said in his post-match press conference.
“The commentating around it from referees is ‘oh no, they’ve stood up, i’m ok with that,’
“So, what they’re saying is lie down.
“Players aren’t going to lie down, they’re going to stand up and get on with it; they’re going to jump up for the most part..
“Do you want us to lie down? The NRL has put it back on this gamesmanship - the gentlemen’s agreement - just don’t encourage it. It’s not our game. You think if you put it back on the players or coaches...don’t commentate on it in that way.
“It’s really silly; I just can’t believe I heard that out there.”
Angus Crichton will be feeling slightly lucky that Proctor is copping the heat after this premature celebration almost went pear-shaped on him.
SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS 24 - 10 NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
What we liked: Alex Johnston continues to make a mockery of 2020s stalled negotiations
Five tackle breaks and 167 metres on 15 runs isn’t a stat line that make the opposition quiver in fear - even with three tries added in it’s a nice night - but not otherwordly.
But it’s the way Alex Johnston is finishing off sweeping movements on the Rabbitohs left that still leaves fans mystified how close South Sydney came to letting Johnston walk away.
“I reminded myself of that tonight; I thought ‘God, we almost let this guy go,’ Wayne Bennett said in the post-match press conference.
“He’s a 70s and 80s, perhaps mid-90s-type player: wingers were wingers and great finishers. He’s as good as you’re going to see as a finisher.”
Look at these photos: Johnston is criminally underrated every year.
✨ Magic Johnston ✨#GoRabbitohs ❤️💚#NRLSouthsKnights pic.twitter.com/5lZe1yF9LZ
— South Sydney Rabbitohs 🐰 (@SSFCRABBITOHS) June 13, 2021
Somehow, Johnston is still just 26.
What we disliked: The Knights' shell of a spine
Much was expected of the Knights’ in 2021 and, although they’re not the only club to be dealing with an injury crisis, the players missing for the Novacastrians are the link between their top eight potential and current spot in 14th place.
With Bradman Best now sidelined, he’ll join Mitch Pearce, David Klemmer and Kalyn Ponga in hopefully returning for round 15, though with the bye the following week they’re every chance of returning for the round 16 game against the Cowboys.
From there, the Knights have some serious work to do.
CANBERRA RAIDERS 38 - 16 BRISBANE BRONCOS
What we liked: Josh Papalii doing as he pleases
Josh Papalii was nightmare fuel for the Broncos but is shaping up as a dream come true for Maroons coach Paul Green. The Maroons prop was back to his defensive line-bending best, racking up 147 metres from 18 runs with an unstoppable run close to the line delivering his second try of the year.
If he gets the call for Game II - which he almost certainly will - Queensland’s middle suddenly becomes a far more menacing beast for the Blues.
What we disliked: The madness of the Koby Hetherington send-off
He escaped with a fine and policing the new rules is a thankless task but - and it' a significant one - Koby Hetherington's send-off was refereeing gone mad.
Hetherington was controversially sent off for a high shot on Canberra forward Corey Harawira-Naera during the second half, leaving fans and experts in disarray.
Harawira-Naera was ankle-tapped by another Broncos player as Hetherington stood there bracing for contact, and accidentally came into contact with his opponent's head.
Broncos coach Kevin Walters questioned where Hetherington was meant to go, but understands the game wanting to eradicate high contact.
“It’s a bit hard, but that’s the game we’re in at the moment. We’ve just got to cop it the way we have and get on with things," he said.
"When you make contact with the head, regardless of the situation, that’s what we’re trying to remove from the game.
“He couldn’t go anywhere. I’m not sure if it was a send off.
"There’s no intent from Kobe to do anything but make the tackle."
MELBOURNE STORM 42 - 16 NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
What we liked: Brandon Smith is one of the game's great treasures
If Brandon Smith’s not in your shortlist of favourite NRL players,you need to take a good, hard look at yourself in the mirror.
Smith crossed the stripe again - more on that below - and ran for 127 metres in his hybrid role, threatening with ball in hand and in the defensive line - just ask Josh Curran.
It’s not all Doritos and dummy-half runs, though. Smith’s actions have earned the ire of particularly feisty sub-sect of the NRL community.
Found in Dressing sheds after Storm v Titans last weekend 😱@bryceegibbs pic.twitter.com/t5MqsVJal6
— Joel Caine (@JoelCaine) June 13, 2021
He also got flattened by a half - but who hasn’t?
"Can we not play this please" 😂#NRLWarriorsStorm
— Fox League (@FOXNRL) June 13, 2021
📝 BLOG https://t.co/hSKrEEmEWk
📲 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/Zv66IWlzWQ
📺 WATCH via @kayosports https://t.co/pYqBaZAoTm pic.twitter.com/gCD0TqhFmd
What we disliked: The Warriors’ popgun attack
It’s only going to get worse with Harris-Tevita’s suspected torn pec calling curtains on his 2021 and Wayde Egan heading to hospital with a head knock, but the Warriors have some serious attacking obstacles to clear to be a top-eight contender.
“I thought our energy and our physical presence in the first 25 minutes...I don’t think there was a lot in it, but we just played no footy,” Warriors coach Nathan Brown said in the post-match press conference.
“We just wanted to hit it up, hit it up, hit it up and they just ran us off our legs and then when the game was over in the second half we decided to play a bit of footy.”
“I thought we took a step backwards today.”
With no Harris-Tevita, Egan long odds to play and Reece Walsh a chance of returning, Brown ruled out putting his 18-year-old emerging star in the halves - instead indicating he’ll likely call on Sean O’Sullivan and keep Walsh at the back.
PARRAMATTA EELS 40 - 12 WESTS TIGERS
What we liked: Mitch Moses throwing his weight around
He bombed one of the easiest tries you’ll ever see but aside from that the Eels No.7 was a force against his old club.
He didn’t miss his new club, either.
Moses got fired up 👀#NRLEelsTigers
— Fox League (@FOXNRL) June 13, 2021
📝 BLOG https://t.co/gITgypkREE
📲 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/mpVkkEOOwn
📺 WATCH via @kayosports https://t.co/w77mMZW3Ar pic.twitter.com/GKRlIzHa3V
Yes, that was one of the capital F rude words and, with your side in an attacking position, you want the halfback screaming for the ball and backing his call.
Play on, we reckon.
“I like that from Mitchell Moses he’s the halfback of the team,” former Sharks coach Shane Flanagan said on Fox League.
“They’re in a good ball zone and he wants to take control. I love that.”
(Also, you need to be able to pull off plays like this one below to qualify for blowing up at your captain.)
Mitchell Mosesssss! ✨ #TelstraPremiership #NRLEelsTigers pic.twitter.com/yX9VNAeGX1
— NRL (@NRL) June 13, 2021
What we disliked: Wests Tigers' lack of resilience
Wests Tigers were absolutely in the game until the 43th minute when Shawn Blore got sin-binned. Down by eight, they then leaked three tries in four minutes on three consecutive sets.
Game over.
That's' the third time in two months the joint venture has leaked tries on three consecutive sets. They were down a man, this is true, but other teams regularly face the same predicament.
"The last two weeks we are talking about our resilience,” coach Michael Maguire said in the post-match press conference. “This is a game where we lost a player and had three tries scored against us (in that bin time).
"We have spoken in the past couple of weeks how we are heading in the right direction.
"We probably took a couple of steps back today."
CANTERBURY BULLDOGS 28 - 6 ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
What we liked: Jake Averillo finds his mojo
It has been a tough year for the young playmaker, but he turned it on for the Bulldogs on Monday afternoon.
The 20-year-old scored a double, made two linebreaks and ran for 117 metres in the comprehensive victory.
Averillo's strength has always been his running game, but he has had to take plenty of control of his side while playing in the No.7 jumper since Kyle Flanagan was dropped.
The return of Jeremy Marshall-King made a huge difference for Averillo and the rest of the Bulldogs side, in what was their best attacking performance of the season.
What we disliked: Dragons showing a lack of hunger
This was a horrible performance by the Red V, clearly out-enthused by a much hungrier outfit in Canterbury.
St George Illawarra were beaten on effort throughout the entire 80 minutes, highlighted by a disappointing period when their opposition were down to 12 men.
Anthony Griffin has his work cut out for him if he wants to keep the Dragons in the hunt for the finals.
