NRL Live scores and SuperCoach analysis: Titans vs. Eels; Broncos vs. Dragons
St George pulled off a stunning win in Brisbane while the Gold Coast made it three on the trot after beating the Eels. Catch up one which players were SuperCoach studs, and which were duds.
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The Dragons pulled off a stunning win in Brisbane while the Gold Coast made it three wins on the trot after comfortably handling Parramatta. Catch up one which players were SuperCoach studs, and which were duds.
SUPERCOACH WINNERS
Christian Tuipulotu (129 pts) – The Dragons’ hat-trick hero easily eclipsed 100 points as his edge tore the Broncos apart. Huge score for anyone brave enough to have brought the winger in this week.
Kyle Flanagan (100pts) – Flanagan orchestrated the Dragons’ terrific win, finishing with three try assists and five goals while making 17 tackles without a miss.
Jayden Campbell (104pts) – The Titans five-eighth was everywhere in his comeback game from a head knock. When the Gold Coast’s attack shines, it’s Campbell that usually cashes in with SuperCoach scoring. The return of AJ Brimson at fullback didn’t seem to diminish Campbell’s impact.
Clint Gutherson (96pts) – Gutherson was valiant in a losing side, scoring a try and assisting another in a big shift at fullback. ‘The King’ almost cracked 100 and is still a great fullback option.
Alofiana Khan-Pereira (82pts) – The electric winger scored twice in the opening stages to give any owners a comfortable watch knowing he’d already clocked up a big score. Came agonisingly close to a third try in the second half.
SUPERCOACH LOSERS
Deine Mariner (27pts) – A quiet night for the young Bronco who played at centre for most of the game before a brief cameo on the wing at the end.
Jordan Riki (34pts) – Low score from Riki despite a decent game in defence. Just didn’t get enough ball with his team on the front foot.
Keano Kini (24) – Got shifted to the interchange with AJ Brimson returning from injury and only played a handful of minutes in the second half. Maybe time to sell now that his job security is gone.
Blaize Talagi (26pts) – Low score from the reliable Eels rookie. Parramatta didn’t get many chances to attack and Talagi’s tryscoring streak is over.
Kieran Foran (24pts) – Foran took the backseat with Jayden Campbell flourishing in attack. That’s all he has to do in the team to keep them in their current good form, but it won’t translate very well for SuperCoach scoring.
FULL TIME – Dragons 30-26
The Dragons have their ninth win of the year after holding on for dear life as the Broncos charged home.
That was a terrific performance from St George who refuse to fall into the mediocrity we have seen in recent seasons. Could they be a finals team in 2024?
It’s looking more and more likely that Brisbane won’t be...
79th minute – Dragons 30-26
Kotoni Staggs is having a fantastic second half.
When he’s in a mood like this he’s impossible to stop and he scored his second try of the night in sensational style.
His sideline conversion didn’t make it, but the Broncos will get one more posession to win the game.
73rd minute – Dragons 30-22
A Kyle Flanagan penalty goal put the Dragons lead back out to three scores, probably locking in the victory.
But Brisbane got the ball back and quickly crossed when Blake Mozer scored from dummy half and Kotoni Staggs quickly converted.
This is shaping up to be an exciting finish.
64th minute – Dragons 28-16
Some Kotoni Staggs brilliance has the Broncos charging home and there’s plenty of time left for them to record an incredible comeback.
The Dragons are falling apart and a huge momentum turner has been the impact of Brendan Piakura and Marty Tapau’s bonecrunching defence.
Staggs misses the kick and it remains a 12-point game.
54th minute – Dragons 28-12
The Broncos finally got ball in good territory and Ezra Mam powered through the defence to stop the bleed.
With 25 minutes still on the clock, and less than three converted tries the margin, St George are probably one of the few teams in the NRL that could crumble enough to lose from here.
43rd minute – Dragons 28-6
A contentious call gave the Dragons a fresh set in attack and Christian Tuipulotu completed his hat-trick with his easiest of the night.
The Broncos would have been desperate to score first but it’s just not their night.
HALF TIME – Dragons 22-6
It started alright for Brisbane but everything quickly fell apart at the end of that half.
They will need to come out as a completely different team to have any hope of salvaging a result from this game.
The Dragons have been clean and clinical, beating Brisbane with a simple power game.
Christian Tuipulotu and Kyle Flanagan have been St George’s main weapons and their SuperCoach scores reflect it.
34th minute – Dragons 22-6
The Broncos are in big trouble and their right edge defence looks abysmal.
Christian Tuipulotu scored his second of the night when he has absolutely no right to, and the Broncos immediately compounded the pressure by giving away a penalty from the ensuing kick off.
Billy Walters and his team are spiralling as they lose control of the game.
Just like that, the Dragons scored again via Jaydn Su’a and the Broncos look doomed for another defeat.
25th minute – Dragons 10-6
Just as Kotoni Staggs was about to re-enter the fray, Moses Suli cut through the defence to put the Dragons back in front.
That whole attack came from a sloppy error from Ezra Mam, who passed forward out of dummy half as the Broncos were trying to work the ball out of their half.
16th minute – 6-6
Billy Walters and Tyrell Sloan are having a personal battle and the Broncos hooker has landed the first body punch, burrowing over the line under the posts to put his team on the board.
It followed an altercation between the pair down the other end of the field and Walters made sure the Dragons fullback knew who scored after diving over.
Kotoni Staggs’ simple conversion sailed through.
Bothe teams have scored with their first opportunities, so this game could go anywhere.
Just minutes after nailing his kick at goal, Staggs was sin-binned for not being sqaure at marker, and St George tied it up at 6-all.
8th minute – Dragons 4-0
Dragons winger Christian Tuipulotu was far too strong for Brisbane’s right edge defence, powering through the attempted tackles of Tristan Sailor and Josh Rogers to score.
Kyle Flanagan’s conversion attempt narrowly missed to the left.
KICK OFF
Brisbane is without its Origin stars but the Broncos will be optimistic about their chances against the struggling Dragons.
FULL TIME – Titans 24-16
It wasn’t the blowout it threatened to be in the early stages, but Gold Coast fans didn’t need to break a sweat during that victory.
That’s three wins on the trot for the Titans and with AJ Brimson and Phillip Sami returning to the starting side this week things are looking good.
Parramatta go into the bye, but after copping their 13th defeat of the season they can say goodbye to finals – especially considering their nightmare run home.
65th minute – Titans 24-16
The Eels aren’t giving up and Clint Gutherson has given them a chance with a powerful try under the posts.
If Parramatta can make it back-to-back tries, things could get interesting.
59th minute – Titans 24-10
Will Penisini has kept Parramatta’s faint glimmer of hope alive with a strong try through some admittedly soft defence.
Daejarn Asi’s conversion attempt skewed to the right of the posts.
David Fifita has left the field to undergo an HIA.
55th minute – Titans 24-6
It took them a little while to warm up but the Gold Coast has picked up where it left off with the first try of the second half.
This time Jayden Campbell kicked for Brian Kelly who scored an easy one after a good kick-chase.
HALFTIME – Titans 18-6
The Eels managed to stabilise after a shocking opening quarter but the writing is still on the wall that they’re about to suffer their 13th defeat of the season.
The Titans are buzzing and the left edge in particular are benefiting with high SuperCoach totals.
Alofiana Khan-Pereira leads scoring with 79.
31st minute – Titans 18-6
You don’t see that every day.
A brainsnap by Gold Coast custodian AJ Brimson gifted the Eels the simplest try of the game when he threw the ball away on tackle one.
Luca Moretti is the winner, scoring the second try of his young career.
20th minute – Titans 18-0
It’s coming all too easy for the Titans who are in again through late inclusion Phillip Sami.
Jayden Campbell’s goalkicking has been on point as the scoreboard threatens to blow out.
12th minute – Titans 12-0
Things are quickly unravelling for the Eels.
Alofiana Khan-Pereira is in for his second try in as many minutes as the Parramatta defence crumbles .
A Jojo Fifita break got the Titans deep in attack and they were able to capitalise through left winger Khan-Pereira.
The Gold Coast didn’t take long to strike with their first real opportunity of the game.
The Eels have been running hard but lack the polish to break through an active Titans defence.
TEAM NEWS
Gold Coast fullback AJ Brimson has been cleared to make his NRL return at the back, shifting livewire youngster Keano Kini to the interchange.
Phillip Sami has also come into the starting side with Beau Fermor returning slightly infield to the backrow. Klese Haas also drops to the interchange with Joe Stimson dropping out of the 17.
Tanah Boyd has been named as the Titans’ reserve.
Parramatta enter the clash 1-17.
Hello and welcome to our coverage of a Super Saturday of rugby league action.
As it is the final major bye round of the season, there are just the two games today. The Gold Coast are up first playing host to the Eels and it’s safe to say there is plenty of SuperCoach interest in the match.
Livewire Jayden Campbell is the second most popular buy of the round and 14,000+ SuperCoaches are on tenterhooks.
Campbell was superb at five-eighth prior to being injured and with a BE of -44 he is set to make big money.
We just need Des to co-operate for once and play the team as named on a Tuesday.
Over to you Des.
Other players of note to watch are:
David Fifita: Billy Slater may not love the big unit but SuperCoaches do. A popular C and VC option this round who should not be lacking for motivation after his Origin snub.
Dylan Brown: With Mitch Moses out for Origin the keys to the Paramatta attack are well and truly in Dylan Brown’s hands. The Kiwi playmaker averages a stellar 71.5PPG against the Titans (six games) but would do well to reach that mark today.
Blaize Talagi: The rookie Eel has scored at least one try in his last seven straight games. The Titans, in a big change from year’s gone by, are actually defending pretty well in the outside backs. Can they break the streak.
Xavier Willison: With Origin players absent it’s pretty hard to find much of SuperCoach interest in the second game of the night. Willison should play plenty of minutes tonight, he might be the best of a bad bunch.
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