Another weekend of Australian rugbaleeg done and dusted, and it turned out the only thing separating me from an elusive perfect round was the Canberra Raiders disappearing in the 2nd Half against the Knights in Wagga Wagga.

16-0 up at Half-Time, only to be tramped 24-16 under the weight of horseback…

On the flip side, it is great to see the Raiders continue their commitment to going retro in 2021 – Not only did Canberra Milk return as the major sponsor on the jerseys, they also decided to turn into the Canberra Faders again to celebrate their 40th season.

Melbourne Storm 50 defeated South Sydney Rabbitohs 0 – Correct

I tell you what, my Green Mile prediction of the Storm not wetting the sponge before they electrocuted the Rabbits was surprisingly accurate, because holy moly, that was an utter pasting, capped off by Josh Addo-Carr doing what hadn’t been done since polio was still a thing, and that’s to score 6 TRIES IN A GAME.

Jack Troy of Newtown was the last player to achieve the half dozen prior to Foxx, way back in around 13 of 1950 at the old Sports Ground….. And he could easily have scored more with the way the Storm abused Souths down the left edge for the second time this season.

So a perfect start to the round, even though I only picked the Storm by 10 points, and the Rabbits may as well surrender the season, because they’ve got the dreaded 50 POINT CURSE to contend with if they want to win the premiership, and as everyone knows through the past 112 years, teams that have conceded 50 points in a game during the season have won the premiership a grand total of nada/zilch/duck eggs/null/zero/stuff all times.

Penrith Panthers 48 defeated Cronulla Sharks 0 – Correct

An absolute walk in the park for the big cats, who it made it look like the most comical thing seen involving a shark on television since Adam West’s Batman fought that rubber shark in the 1966 Batman film… obviously the Panthers got their hands on some of Robin’s timeless shark repellent:

In fairness to that rubber shark, it still showed more fight than Cronulla’s defence.

Parramatta Eels 31 defeated Sydney Roosters 18 – Correct

If I wrote the things I’d like to write about the officials running The Bunker, I’d be apologising to everyone with a disability in this country for being compared to a bunch of utterly incompetent idiots.

First of all, Drew Hutchison getting impaled through the back by Dylan Brown’s knees… how the hell can you claim to not notice someone LEADING WITH THEIR KNEES INTO THE BACK OF A PLAYER WHEN IT WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.

IT’S YOUR DAMN JOB TO LOOK AT EVERYTHING.

AND IT TOOK THEM 20 MINUTES TO PUT DYLAN BROWN ON REPORT.

It completely takes the piss out of everything the NRL preach on their pulpit about a crackdown on foul play in the name of player safety, because the Eels should’ve had 2 players in the bin at a time when the game was up for grabs, and for the Chooks to not even get access to their 18th player after Tedesco got shoulder charged in the head for the second time in three games..

Turns out the league office only want to stamp out foul play when it suits them…. who’d a thunk it.

Anyway, the Eels were never losing the game after they successfully ironed out Tedesco, but the fact the Chooks were still in the game with 15 minutes to go shows just how well coached they are by Robbo and his staff.

Newcastle Knights 24 defeated Canberra Raiders 16 – Incorrect

16 nil down, facing their 6th defeat in 7 games, and out of nowhere, in the greatest charge by a bunch of Knights against foreign Raiders since William of Normandy conquered England in the 11th century, the Newcastle Knights rattled off 24 consecutive points to avoid what would’ve been their sixth defeat in 7 games, leaving Sticky’s Green Machine in need of a serious and urgent servicing.

And the Knights cost me a perfect round to boot, those bloody bunch of coal miners.

Gold Coast Titans 36 defeated Wests Tigers 28 – Correct

The Tigers ran out in the old Western Suburbs black & white jerseys in front of the Campbelltown faithful, and it was great to see the merged entity play like Wests did in their last season prior to the merger….

By leaking tries like hemophiliacs leak blood.

North Queensland Cowboys 19 defeated Brisbane Broncos 18 – Correct

GO GO GADGET ARMS

Fantastic game, which we’ve come to expect between the stalwarts of Queensland, and unfortunately the Broncs just couldn’t hold on against the Rhinestone Cowboys.

Manly Sea Eagles 38 defeated New Zealand Warriors 32 – Correct

Tommy Turbo did what Tommy Turbo does best in his 100th game, dishing up line breaks and try assists like they were going out of fashion, although based on his performance on Sunday to seal the win, Jason Saab should change his name to Jason Rolls Royce.

That’s it, that’s all I have to say

St George-Illawarra Dragons 32 defeated Canterbury Bulldogs 12 – Correct

A bloody ruff day for the Doggies, as the Red V kicked the crap out of them, and Corey Allan and Lachlan Lewis ended up in hospital….

Surely given their nickname, the club was better off taking them to the vet?