NRL Round 25 results and live updates: Newcastle Knights continue red-hot form against error-riddled Rabbitohs

Liam O'Loughlin

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Mark Molyneux

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Kieran Francis

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Kye Kuncoro

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NRL Round 25 results and live updates: Newcastle Knights continue red-hot form against error-riddled Rabbitohs image

A massive round of footy kicked off on Thursday night with Cronulla making it three wins in a row to climb up into the top four and condemn the Cowboys to a third successive defeat. 

Last year's preliminary finalists are now an outside hope to make the top eight after they conceded 26 unanswered points to leave their finals hopes in tatters. 

Friday night's fixtures saw two sides finals hopes crumbles as both the Eels and Sea Eagles fell out of postseason contention, whilst on Saturday Melbourne claimed a hard-fought win to keep their top four hopes alive. 

The Penrith machine kept rolling on with a comfortable win over the injury-hit Titans, while the Tigers snapped a 10-game losing streak by edging the Dolphins in a controversial thriller. 

South Sydney's finals hopes continued to dwindle with a loss to the red-hot Knights, who proved far too strong in front of a sold-out crowd in the Hunter. 

The Sporting News has all the live updates, highlights, analysis and talking points from Round 25 below. 

MORE: NRL live ladder - Keep up to date with all the latest movements throughout Round 25 

Error-riddled Rabbitohs blown away by red-hot Knights

South Sydney's hopes of making the NRL finals are continuing to fade away, with their 29-10 loss to the Knights on Sunday afternoon at McDonald Jones Stadium. 

With a poor completion rate and 10 errors, as well as a plethora of bombed try-scoring opportunities, the Bunnies were always behind the eight-ball in the Hunter as Greg Marzhew crossed for a hat-trick. 

Latrell Mitchell had a tough afternoon, with two of his mistakes in the second-half leading directly to Newcastle tries before being sin-binned in the final minutes for an elbow on Tyson Frizell, while fellow stars Cody Walker and Lachlan Ilias came up with some poor decisions throughout the 80 minutes. 

With a bye next weekend, Souths will keep themselves just inside the finals picture - but their final-round clash with the Sydney Roosters will likely be a do-or-die scenario. 

For the Knights, their late-season surge continued in style, with star fullback Kalyn Ponga producing two try assists and making three linebreaks in another stellar individual display.

The scoreline perhaps flattered the Rabbitohs somewhat, with the hosts missing three conversions in the first-half. 

- Liam O'Loughlin

Ryan Carr and Ben Hunt praise gallant effort from Dragons

With a host of big names out injured and their season dwindling away, you could have forgiven St George Illawarra for giving up against Melbourne on Saturday night in a high-scoring affair.

But instead, the side gave long-suffering Red V fans a glimmer of hope, producing a gallant effort against one of the competition's heavyweights at WIN Stadium.

Speaking to the media post-game, Dragons captain Ben Hunt admitted not being able to sing the song recently has been tough, but believes the close nature of a lot of their losses in 2023 will build resilience.

“I guess it can become pretty tough just to finish off games," he said.

"I can’t fault our boys at all tonight with how hard we competed and how we played the game... we’re just finding it hard to finish out games.

"My young fella just asked me if we were singing the song tonight, he hasn’t heard it for a while – it’s disappointing. I feel pretty gutted for the boys to be honest, the amount of effort that we put in.

"We’ve got a lot of young guys in there that are working really hard… I want to be able to sing the song for them."

St George Illawarra have now lost 10 games by 10 points or less throughout the year, and will be hoping to finish strong in the final two rounds.

Interim coach Ryan Carr believes the club are building towards something viable with Shane Flanagan coming in for next year.

“We’re still attacking the game right to the death, which is really pleasing," he said.

"There’s been times previously where we probably would have just gone away, and we’re learning to not do that. We’re building a real good attitude and culture around what we’re doing now and we’re gonna be a better team for it.

"We’re doing what we believe in and I’m not gonna waver from that, because it works and you can see that."

- Liam O'Loughlin

Will Warbrick bags a hat-trick as Storm survive Dragons scare

The Storm survived a hell of a scare against the Dragons to record a vital 38-28 win, as they continue to try and lock down a top four spot.

Melbourne, who had yet to record back-to-back wins all season before Saturday night, were ambushed early against St George who raced out to an 18-4 lead.

But the Storm hit back in a nine-minute blitz which included the completion of a first half hat-trick to Will Warbrick and an Xavier Coates try to level the scores at the break.

Warbrick was a late addition to the side after missing last week with a neck injury and immediately repaid Craig Bellamy’s faith in him with an impressive display.

The winger notched three tries, ran for just shy of 200 metres and bust through eight tackles as he proved to be the difference during a tricky night in Wollongong for the Storm.

"Will had a week off last week but I thought he had some real intent with his runs," Bellamy said post-match. 

"He really led the way for us in that area for the whole 80 minutes.

"Will took a little while to get used to our game. Obviously, he came from rugby so it's a bit of a different game. But he's got real size, strength and pace."

Asked whether the bustling winger could be in contention for claiming the Rookie of the Year award at the end of the season, Bellamy was once again effusive in his praise for Warbrick. 

"I'd probably be a poor judge because I haven't seen every game, but I couldn't imagine too many more guys who have made their debut this year being more consistently good.

"He's got the world at his feet. Physically, he has got everything."

-Mark Molyneux

Api Koroisau snaps Wests Tigers’ 10-game losing streak

Api Koroisau stepped up to snap Wests Tigers’ 10-game losing streak in the most dramatic fashion against the Dolphins.

The skipper, who filled in at halfback after Luke Brooks’ late withdrawal, was involved in everything all afternoon. So, it was only fitting that he was the man to step up and nail a penalty from the sidelines with only a few minutes remaining on the clock.

After Jamayne Isaako had inched the Dolphins ahead, it looked like yet another story of the Tigers being so near yet so far from claiming a win. But Koroisau produced two big kicks in quick succession to get his side over the line.

First, his short kick off won the ball back for the Tigers, who were then awarded a penalty by referee Ben Cummins much to Wayne Bennett’s chagrin.

MORE: Wayne Bennett launches attack at officials after controversial call in Dolphins loss

The skipper immediately pointed to the sticks as he eyed kicking his team to a rare win from his boot.  

Off the tee, it appeared as if it was going to fall agonisingly short in true Tigers fashion. But instead it took a lucky bounce off the top of the crossbar to sneak over and hand Tim Sheens and Benji Marshall just their fourth win of the year. 

They are now two points behind the Dragons on the ladder and are in hot pursuit as they look to avoid back-to-back wooden spoons. 

-Mark Molyneux

Roosters finals hopes remain alive at the expense of the Eels

The Roosters were exceptional against the Eels after a slow start as the their star backs Tedesco, Manu and Suaalii shone.

Teddy was the sides best, going over for two tries and combining with Manu for his first, a sumptuous team try.

The Roosters celebrations were slightly dampened by the category one concussion to Tedesco which rules him out against the Tigers, a must win for the Chooks if they are to continue their push towards finals footy.

Parramatta in contrast, said goodbye to their finals hopes with their poor display against the Roosters typifying their disappointing season.

The Eels become the first side in five years to miss the top eight after appearing in the grand final the previous year.

- Kye Kuncoro

Shaun Johnson magic sees Warriors win six on the bounce despite controversial Manly try

The Warriors have made it six wins in a row and solidified their top four position with a fighting 29-22 victory over the Sea Eagles on Friday night.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scored a hat-trick but it took some magic from Shaun Johnson to get the Warriors over the line.

With the scores tied at 22-apiece with seven minutes remaining, a brilliant Johnson pass allowed Marata Niukore to unlock the Manly defence and cross for the winning try.

The result has all but ended Manly's season, who will need to win both their remaining games and have many results go their way to make the top eight.

There was controversy just before half-time as Jason Saab's second try as it appeared Haumole Olakau’atu got a finger on the ball in the lead-up and knocked the ball on.

You be the judge.

- Kieran Francis

Connor Tracey awarded the Paul Green Medal after Sharks win

Connor Tracey was awarded the Paul Green Medal after Cronulla's 32-12 win over the Cowboys on Thursday night. 

The medal was devised to honour the memory of the late, great Paul Green who was a former Sharks player and premiership-winning coach with North Queensland. 

Earlier in the season, Nicho Hynes claimed the inaugural medal after he led his side to a 44-6 victory back in Round 9. 

The halfback once again went close to claiming the win, but Tracey was awarded it instead after also playing a starring role in the rout. 

Filling in for injured fullback Will Kennedy in recent weeks, Tracey has been a standout performer and once again showcased his quality. 

His 21 carries were more than any other player on the field, while his 204 run metres were more than any other Cronulla player by a considerable distance. 

The 27-year-old linked up with Hynes in a sweeping move to put Ronaldo Mulitalo over in the corner for Cronulla's first try. 

Tracey then proved to be a constant menace all evening with his powerful and elusive runs as the Sharks cruised into the top four with a big win. 

- Mark Molyneux 

NRL GAMES THIS WEEK (Round 25)

Date Match Time (AEST) Stadium
Thurs. 17th August North Queensland Cowboys 12 def. by Cronulla Sharks 32 7.50pm Queensland Country Bank Stadium
Fri. 18th August New Zealand Warriors 29 def. Manly Sea Eagles 22 6pm Daniel Anderson Stadium
Fri. 18th August Parramatta Eels 12 def. by Sydney Roosters 34 8pm CommBank Stadium
Sat. 19th August Wests Tigers 24 def. Dolphins 23 3pm CommBank Stadium
Sat. 19th August Gold Coast Titans 14 def. by Penrith Panthers 40 5.30pm Cbus Super Stadium
Sat. 19th August St George Illawarra Dragons 28 def. by Melbourne Storm 38 7.35pm WIN Stadium
Sun. 20th August Newcastle Knights vs. South Sydney Rabbitohs 2pm McDonald Jones Stadium
Sun. 20th August Canberra Raiders vs. Canterbury Bulldogs 4.05pm GIO Stadium
BYE BRONCOS    

Liam O'Loughlin

Liam O'Loughlin Photo

Liam has been with The Sporting News since 2019, helping lead both NRL and cricket content, as well as delving into the world of combat sports and NFL. A true rugby league tragic, he has spent the past 20 years playing, coaching and volunteering for his beloved junior club, Penshurst RSL. 

Away from work, Liam has a lifelong passion for all things pro wrestling and has travelled abroad to attend showcase events for WWE, AEW and NJPW. 

 

Mark Molyneux

Mark Molyneux Photo

Mark Molyneux is a freelance writer covering the NRL and UFC for Sporting News Australia. He has previously worked in the music industry and as a teacher around the world.

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis Photo

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.

Kye Kuncoro

Kye Kuncoro Photo

Kye is a content producer for Sporting News Australia.