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SuperCoach NRL: 20 Winners and Losers from Bulldogs vs Sea Eagles, Panthers vs Rabbitohs

Reuben Garrick starred with the score of the night as Issah Yeo showed why he is still one of the best in the game. See all the SuperCoach Winners and Losers from Friday Night Footy.

Sean Teuma and Matt Jones
16 min read
August 30, 2024 - 10:46PM
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Bloodied & bruised Turbo badly hurt?

It had all the makings of an exciting edition of Friday Night Footy and it didn’t fail to deliver.

The main attraction was Canterbury and Manly, with the Sea Eagles flexing their muscles in front of a record crowd for the timeslot.

That was backed up with the Panthers getting their season back on track with a win over the Rabbitohs.

Here’s how the SuperCoach world saw tonight’s action:

SUPERCOACH WINNERS

1. Reuben Garrick (130) – One try, two try assists and a handy 21 tackles propelled Garrick to what will turn out to be one of the scores of the weekend. His owners have been begging for him to have a night like this.

2. Isaah Yeo (117) – The Panthers skipper led from the front as always with a fantastic display. He finished with a try and an assist as well as a mountain of base stats to give him a cracking score for the night.

3. Josh Addo-Carr (111) – A brilliant night out for the Foxx that almost never was. Had an assist and a try in the first half, but got up limping after his four-pointer. Played on and added another assist to his tally for a monster night.

4. Paul Alamoti (112) – Great outing from the centre in his return to action. Made a host of points from big runs and line break assists, and his accuracy with the boot helped tip him over the century mark.

5. Jacob Preston (95) – His involvement can never be questioned. Everywhere you looked those flowing locks were somewhere nearby and he was rewarded with a try in the second half to cap a strong night.

6. Lehi Hopoate (82) – This young man is just so exciting to watch. Added another two tries to his tally as his rookie year continues to blossom. Even if there wasn’t injuries he’d be a lock for the finals.

7. Tyrone Munro (72) – To produce the game he did with what he has had to endure over the past 48 hours is nothing short of incredible. The 19-year-old scored a double and showed what an enormous future he has in the game.

8. James Fisher-Harris (79) – Got his night off to a great start with the opening try against the Rabbitohs. His confidence was sky high and a nice little line break assist in the closing stages gave his score a good boost.

9. Jarome Luai (76) – Was given too much room to move by the Rabbitohs defence. They allowed him to skip around and he made things happen, including putting a grubber through for a nice try assist.

10. Reed Mahoney (78) – Scored two tries and both were set up by Addo-Carr, including one in the last two minutes. They all count towards the points tally and he finished with a very nice score for owners.

Top SuperCoach scores from Friday Night Footy
Top SuperCoach scores from Friday Night Footy

SUPERCOACH LOSERS

1. Jack Wighton (19) – He’s one of South Sydney’s key men to making things happen, but it’s fair to say that it just didn’t happen for Wighton tonight. Tried his hand, however it was all for nothing with a very low score.

2. Tom Burgess (12) – Only played 13 minutes so his points per minutes wasn’t bad, but that’s no help if he’s in your team. Looked to be okay on the sidelines so not sure if there’s an injury concern? If not it was a weird usage of him by the coach.

3. Izack Tago (18) – It was a great attacking night for the Panthers, but Tago wasn’t able to get in on the action at all. Missed tackles, a penalty and error helped to keep his score well under par at below 20.

4. Dylan Edwards (32) – Didn’t get a great deal of opportunities to run the ball back with the gusto that we’re used to seeing with the Rabbitohs targeting other players. A rare quiet night from the star fullback.

5. Jeral Skelton (33) – Came onto the wing with Stephen Crichton out and didn’t quite have the same impact we’ve seen him provide earlier in the season. Was beaten for pace badly to concede a try in the first half.

6. Tommy Talau (26) – Made his way back into the side but he wasn’t able to get in on the pointscoring spree that Manly enjoyed. He will certainly hold his spot however with the injury woes of the Sea Eagles.

7. Jacob Gagai (18) – The South Sydney attack was lacklustre tonight so he had limited chances to post anything that resembles a big score, but to only finish with 45m is a pretty rough night for the winger.

8. Jacob Kiraz (36) – Has been a reliable scorer with his workrate out of his own end and the ability to jag a try, but didn’t make either happen to the level we’ve seen from the classy winger.

9. Tom Trbojevic (65) – Now 65 points is nothing to be scoffed at. But the predicted total for Turbo was 128 and it has been confirmed by Anthony Seibold that he will miss next week’s clash with Cronulla.

10. Jason Saab (34) – Went off with an injury in the first half. Made a bad defensive read on Josh Addo-Carr to concede the opening try but made up for it with one of his own before coming from the field.

Isaah Yeo scored huge in SuperCoach. Photo: Matt King/Getty Images
Isaah Yeo scored huge in SuperCoach. Photo: Matt King/Getty Images

PANTHERS TOO CLASSY FOR SOUTHS

Just days after Penrith coach Ivan Cleary questioned his team’s will to win another premiership, his team sent a message to the competition with a comfortable 34-12 win over Souths at home on Friday night.

Cleary wondered if his three-time premiers were prepared to make the sacrifices made in the past to claim a fourth-straight title.

The Panthers players obviously wanted to let their coach know they were keen to continue creating history and dominated the hapless Souths from the start.

During the week Fox Sports expert Matthew Johns said the Panthers had to be more dominant in the opening exchanges and they must have taken that to heart too.

THE Panthers have snapped a two-game losing streak to secure a spot in the top four. Picture: Getty Images
THE Panthers have snapped a two-game losing streak to secure a spot in the top four. Picture: Getty Images

The Panthers exploded out of the blocks in front of 20,176 fans to lead 12-0 after 11 minutes.

Champion captain Isaah Yeo got it all started with a line break and offload to send James Fisher-Harris over.

“When you think he’s going to run he’ll pass and when you think he’s going to pass he’ll run and do things like this,” Fox Sports commentator Cooper Cronk said.

The prop was at it again minutes later.

Fisher-Harris surprisingly kicked in behind the line from 30m out before the Panthers regathered then sent Luke Garner over for a try in his 100th game.

Penrith was looking to avoid a third-straight loss for the first time since 2019 and they got the job done fairly convincingly without chief playmaker Nathan Cleary.

While it was a good performance, you get the feeling the Storm and Roosters are playing like they would’ve put 50 or more on Souths, so the Panthers still have some ground to make up.

The Rabbitohs woes continued, after suffering another heavy loss. Picture: Getty Images
The Rabbitohs woes continued, after suffering another heavy loss. Picture: Getty Images

MORE X-FACTOR

Paul Alamoti’s return from a broken arm was timely.

He ran for 180m with six tackle breaks and a try assist and was threatening all night.

He’s the X-factor player the Panthers have been missing of late and could create all sorts of problems in the finals.

Star fullback Dylan Edwards also looked to be running more freely after injuring his knee in State of Origin three.

GOOD ACTING

The Brian To’o disallowed try in the first half was comical and it’s where the black and white obstruction interpretation fails.

To’o ran through a pack of players which included teammate Liam Martin to score.

Souths forward Siliva Havili knew he couldn’t get to To’o so he did the next best thing to stop the try.

Havili was only keen to run into Martin, but he couldn’t quite get to him in time and took the customary dive before he even came into contact with the Penrith forward.

It was a farcical look but not Havili’s fault. He was just doing his best knowing what the bunker would do.

The good part about it was that Souths winger Tyrone Munro scored in the next set of six.

It was a nice moment after Munro’s mother passed away during the week.

And when he bagged a double after taking an intercept the emotions could be seen on his face as he streaked away to score.

—Matt Jones

FULL-TIME – Panthers 34-12

Isaah Yeo is right in the mix again, taking on the line and barging over the top of three defenders to score.

He’s had a monster game and is given an early mark by Ivan Cleary.

James Fisher-Harris puts Brad Schneider through a gap and he is brought to ground, only to be hit with a high shot from Cody Walker.

Schneider comes from the field with a HIA and the Panthers run out comfortable winners in the end.

Here are the top SuperCoach scores from full-time:

Panthers vs Rabbitohs – top SuperCoach full-time scores
Panthers vs Rabbitohs – top SuperCoach full-time scores

70th minute – Panthers 28-12

The Panthers are on the attack from a 20m restart and its another try-saving effort from Jye Gray.

They attack down the left-hand side but a forward pass from Lindsay Smith ends their hopes of scoring.

It looked like Tyrone Munro was about to have a third after a lovely cutout from Jack Wighton, but it was ruled forward.

Penrith just can’t put the Rabbitohs away – the lead is only 16 approaching the final passages of the game.

James Fisher-Harris is whacked on a kick chase by Keaon Koloamatangi and it is deemed a professional foul, seeing him sent to the sin bin.

60th minute – Panthers 28-12

Jye Gray gets within a blade of grass of scoring. Literally.

He’s tackled and slides close to the line, but the original decision of no try stands. It looked like a try for mine.

Nevertheless the Bunker disagrees and Penrith holds out another charge.

Jye Gray was almost clean bowled with a grubber from Mitch Kenny, but is able to do enough to ground the ball to prevent a certain Panthers try.

Penrith’s attack is thwarted with a lovely defensive read from Tyrone Munro.

He picks off a pass from Izack Tago and races 85m away to claim his second try of the night.

He has looked the only one likely to make something happen for the Rabbitohs tonight and it’s a great sign for their future.

50th minute – Panthers 28-6

A stroke of fortune gives the Panthers another set on the line of the Rabbitohs after Tyrone Munro was ruled to have knocked on.

They don’t need long, spreading the ball out wide and Sunia Turuva is able to stroll in out wide with Souths caught short for numbers.

It was alarming how easy it was for him to score.

They go back-to-back and it is Turuva once again to add a double in the space of minutes.

The lead-up work was all Jarome Luai as he busted through some soft defence and put a pass onto Turuva’s chest, drawing Jye Gray to score.

Souths eventually turn the tide and Fletcher Myers makes a break to give his side good territory.

HALFTIME – Panthers 18-6

Just as it looked like Brian To’o had added another for the Panthers, only for it to be called back for an obstruction.

It leads to a feel-good moment for Rabbitohs youngster Tyrone Munro.

Less than 48 hours after the shock news of the passing of his mother, Munro gets on the end of a nice chip from Cody Walker to score in the corner.

He kisses the messages on his wrist and looks to the skies above.

The Rabbitohs players get around him following an incredibly tough week.

Here are the top SuperCoach scores from halftime:

Panthers vs Rabbitohs – top SuperCoach halftime scores
Panthers vs Rabbitohs – top SuperCoach halftime scores

30th minute – Panthers 18-0

Discipline has been an issue for Penrith early, quite uncharacteristically at that.

They trail the penalty count 5-2 and that has allowed the Rabbitohs to camp themselves on the Panthers’ line.

Penrith is able to hold them out and they need just a small window to further add to their lead.

Jarome Luai puts a grubber through the line and Brad Schneider is there to get on the ball and ground it before the dead-ball line.

Souths really needs to start taking its chances before this gets ugly.

20th minute – Panthers 12-0

James Fisher-Harris scored the first try and now he’s putting the ball on his boot.

A little grubber results in a pinball and Penrith earning another set.

They need just one play with Luke Garner stepping up Jacob Host to grab the second for the Panthers in quick succession.

South Sydney had another good chance with a grubber close to the line, only for Taane Milne to drop the tough opportunity to score.

10th minute – Panthers 6-0

There’s plenty of salary cap on the sidelines in this game, with two of the game’s highest paid players in Nathan Cleary and Latrell Mitchell watching from the stands.

Souths is getting a good run of it early with a set restart and penalty giving them the best of the early chances.

Their best one was when Cody Walker took on the line and through it over the top to Tyrone Munro to score, only for the pass to be called forward.

The Panthers get their first penalty of the game and a piece of brilliance from Isaah Yeo. He takes on the line, throws a dummy that catches out Jacob Host and passes to James Fisher-Harris to open the scoring.

8PM: After a cracking start to Friday Night Footy it’s onto Penrith Park we go.

Will the Panthers get back in the winner’s circle or can Souths cause one of the upsets of the season?

BULLDOGS VS SEA EAGLES

FULL-TIME – Sea Eagles 34-22

It was hyped as a big night for the Bulldogs, but the Sea Eagles handled the pressure better to overcome a horror start and take out a crucial two points.

It’s come at a cost though, with Jason Saab coming off with a syndesmosis injury and Tom Trbojevic hurting his shoulder and suffering a nasty cut.

Their status for next week is a big question mark.

Canterbury gives their fans something to cheer about at the end with Josh Addo-Carr putting a chip over the top and Reed Mahoney capitalising for his second try of the night.

Here are the top SuperCoach scores from full-time:

Bulldogs vs Sea Eagles – top SuperCoach full-time scores
Bulldogs vs Sea Eagles – top SuperCoach full-time scores

70th minute – Sea Eagles 34-16

Matt Burton has been ruled out after failing his HIA.

Haumole Olakau’atu rings Kurtis Morrin’s bell with one of the best tackles you’ll see all year, forcing him from the field for a HIA.

The injuries keep coming with Tom Trbojevic coming from the field with a nasty gash over his left eye that resembled something out of a horror movie.

It happened after a tackle on Jacob Preston went wrong. He was clutching at an arm as well. Safe to say he won’t be back tonight.

It’s Preston in the thick of things again, this time scoring a try that was the first of the second half for the Bulldogs.

They trail by 18 with 10 minutes to play, so they’ll need a miracle from here.

60th minute – Sea Eagles 34-12

The blows keep coming for Canterbury with Matt Burton coming off the field for a HIA.

Moments later Manly runs in their second try of the half to make the task for the Bulldogs very hard from here.

Reuben Garrick gets through some pretty flimsy defence to score far too easily.

Luke Brooks is on report for an ugly lifting tackle on Jacob Preston.

There were ‘mitigating’ factors as the officials like to say these days, preventing him from being sent to the sin bin.

Two penalties in a row gave Canterbury a set on Manly’s line, but Toby Sexton throws an intercept straight on the chest of Daly Cherry-Evans for the easy intercept.

50th minute – Sea Eagles 30-12

Canterbury has come out of the sheds with a good intensity as they get the best of the chances early in the second half.

Eventually it proves too much for Manly to handle as Viliame Kikau bursts through the defence from close range to score, and Tom Trbojevic is left clutching a knee in the process.

That was until the Bunker stepped in to rule an obstruction with Bronson Xerri deemed to have obstructed a Sea Eagles defender.

Tough call for the Dogs.

Daly Cherry-Evans shortly after kicks a 40-20 to give Manly a set on their line but the Bulldogs hold solid.

A Bulldogs error gives them another chance and they take it this time.

Reuben Garrick is able to get a lovely offload away to Lehi Hopoate for the young gun to score his second of the night after stepping past Connor Tracey.

7PM: The Rabbitohs have been forced into a late change with the suspension of captain Cameron Murray.

Keaon Koloamatangi (2RF $613,200) moves into lock with Jacob Host (2RF $292,200) coming off the bench and into the second row.

Liam Le Blanc (FRF $204,300) is the new face on the bench.

Penrith is opting to start Liam Henry with Moses Leota coming off the bench. Matthew Eisenhuth comes into a bench spot.

Latrell Mitchell has been spotted at Penrith, on hand to support his team.

Latrell Mitchell spotted at BlueBet Stadium to support his Rabbitohs teammates against the Panthers.
Latrell Mitchell spotted at BlueBet Stadium to support his Rabbitohs teammates against the Panthers.

HALFTIME – Sea Eagles 24-12

What a pass from Luke Brooks.

He hits the Bulldogs with the no-look pass to Karl Lawton to completely leave the defence bamboozled.

The second rower waltzes in without a hand being laid on him to score Manly’s fourth try of the half.

A controversial call has the crowd up in arms with Tom Trbojevic taking out Reed Mahoney. They wanted a sin bin but it wasn’t forthcoming.

From the penalty it looked for all money like Jeral Skelton would score, only for Tolutau Koula to produce an incredible try-saving tackle.

Here are the top SuperCoach scores from halftime:

Bulldogs vs Sea Eagles – top SuperCoach halftime scores
Bulldogs vs Sea Eagles – top SuperCoach halftime scores

30th minute – Sea Eagles 18-12

Jason Saab has come from the field with a lower leg complaint. It happened after a dangerous tackle from Bronson Xerri who was subsequently put on report.

Just as it looked like the Bulldogs might be able to make something happen down the touchline with Josh Addo-Carr, a great tackle from Lehi Hopoate brings down the Foxx.

They get a penalty from the play and don’t have to wait long to hit back with a shift to Addo-Carr seeing him speed past Reuben Garrick to score.

He looked injured after putting the ball down and limped to the team huddle,

20th minute – Sea Eagles 18-6

Just like that Manly has gone back-to-back.

An offload from Haumole Olakau’atu goes to ground, is grubbered ahead by Luke Brooks, the bounce goes his way and he passes inside to Tom Trbojevic to give Manly the lead.

That was a spectacular piece of play.

You got the feeling after the hot start from Canterbury that they could post a few early, but to Manly’s credit they’ve fought back beautifully.

Another Manly spread catches the Bulldogs out for speed on the flanks and Lehi Hopoate is the latest to cross the line.

He put the burners on Jeral Skelton who had no answer.

10th minute – 6-all

WOW.

Absolute scenes at Homebush with the Bulldogs shifting the ball off a penalty tap, Josh Addo-Carr shrugs off Jason Saab like he wasn’t there and passes inside to Reed Mahoney to score the opening try inside 90 seconds.

It sends the home fans into raptures.

Just when it looked like Manly had hit back after a brilliant leap from Haumole Olakau’atu, the Bunker stepped in and ruled a double knock-on.

The Sea Eagles get the scrum and score from the first play, with a backline movement finding Saab in the corner to get it down.

This has all the hallmarks of a classic.

6PM: The match of the round is underway in front of a big crowd at Accor Stadium.

Can the Bulldogs continue their march towards the top four or will the Sea Eagles cause the minor upset?

5.30PM: If there’s ever a case for flex scheduling, tonight’s games are a perfect example.

There’s no doubt that Penrith vs Souths had more appeal at the start of the year as the main game, but now it’s one of the least anticipated games of the weekend.

If you shifted the two games tonight, you would still get a big crowd at Penrith – their biggest home crowd of the year has come in the Friday 6pm timeslot – and the conditions were poor that night.

It would also allow a lot more people to make their way to Homebush and avoid the horrors that is trying to get to Accor Stadium during Friday peak hour.

Let’s get the best games in the best timeslots and allow as many fans to get in the gates as possible – bring in the flex.

Panthers vs Rabbitohs – top recent SuperCoach scores
Panthers vs Rabbitohs – top recent SuperCoach scores

5PM: The biggest game of the round is an hour away with Canterbury hosting Manly, and that means the final teams are in.

Manly has dropped Ben Trbojevic to 18th man with Karl Lawton (2RF/HOK $426,500) starting in the second row.

Matthew Lodge (FRF $349,500) will start at prop and Nathan Brown (2RF $387,300) coming off the bench.

Stephen Crichton is a huge out for the Bulldogs after being slapped with a one-game suspension for his controversial tackle on Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.

Kurt Mann is also out with Jeral Skelton (CTW $416,400) and Josh Curran (2RF/FRF $534,000) coming into the 17.

Tommy Talau (CTW $504,600) returns for the Sea Eagles in a big boost for their outside back stocks.

Bulldogs vs Sea Eagles – top recent SuperCoach scores
Bulldogs vs Sea Eagles – top recent SuperCoach scores

EARLIER: A big win by the Bulldogs over Manly in our first game of the evening would catapult the club into the top four on the ladder.

The stay could well be a brief one though with Penrith in action in the second game of the evening and a win for the Panthers would relegate Canterbury back to fifth place.

There is a veritable plethora of SuperCoach relevant players in action tonight with these being the pick of the bunch:

Matt Burton: Canterbury’s super boot has been in fine form of late scoring 70+ in his past three games including a fine 101 against the Warriors last week. Burton does not often go large in games, but his ability to score in multiple stat areas means he rarely goes missing either.

Jacob Kiraz: The suspension to Stephen Crichton sees Kiraz shift into the centres. And while that’s not great in terms of try scoring opportunities (Kiraz has scored eight tries from 13 games as a winger this year compared to two tries from eight starts at centre) the extra work afforded by the change in position means his average at centre (73.1PPG) is pretty much identical to his season average across all positions (75PPG). Play him with confidence.

Tom Trbojevic: Three scores of a 100+ on the trot make Trbojevic a tempting captaincy option this round. Turbo Tom also likes playing the Bulldogs with a stellar career average of 100.6 against Canterbury from ten starts.

Jarome Luai: Penrith star Luai jinked, he jived, he led the team without Nathan Cleary and yet he also ended up on just 24 points after the Raiders brought Penrith down to their level last week. I’m expecting a big bounce back from Penrith in general and Luai in particular this week.

Brian To’o: Speaking of caged Panthers, To’o has had a very quiet fortnight. Rookie Casey McLean was filling in at centre inside To’o over that period and the young fella was clearly told to get the ball, run the ball. He almost never looked for his winger. However, Paul Alamoti returns form injury this week and in the three games he has played inside To’o this year the Penrith winger has scored 171, 104 and 86 points.

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Originally published as SuperCoach NRL: 20 Winners and Losers from Bulldogs vs Sea Eagles, Panthers vs Rabbitohs

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