I’d argue the timing of Bob Fulton’s passing showed just how much he loved Manly….

Leaving us on the same day that the current Sea Eagles were going up against their age old foes Parramatta, just to give Des’ team one last piece of inspiration, which they took with both hands.

I don’t think Bozo forgot those Grand Final defeats.

So on that Sunday evening, I went from staring down 6/8 to scoring yet another 7/8, and thanks to the Silvertails getting up, It appears I’ve shot up from somewhere around 63,000th out of 330,143… to 27,646th!

North Queensland Cowboys 36 defeated Newcastle Knights 20 – Correct

Even after being reduced to 11 players in the 1st Half and losing the 16-0 lead as a consequence, the Cowboys only had a few words to say in the final 20 minutes….

YIPEE KI-YAY, MOTHER F-

New Zealand Warriors 30 defeated Wests Tigers 26 – Correct

You Warriors are good.

Real good.

Cronulla Sharks 13 defeated St George-Illawarra Dragon 12 in Golden Point – Correct

“Sharks and Dragons turn it on in Golden Point thriller”

Based on that scoreline, turn it on is not the way most people who saw the game would describe it, especially when it came to Corey Norman attempting the game-winning drop goal.

The first 2 times he missed it, which is stock standard for most field goal attempts in the NRL, then the third time when they were 20 metres out dead in front, he figured bugger it and didn’t even attempt to kick at all.

Really strange.

Actually, on that note, we can’t say Cronulla haven’t beaten a Top 8 team this year…

They’ve beaten the Dragons TWICE!

Gold Coast Titans 30 defeated Canterbury Bulldogs 30 – Correct

The Titans did exactly what they had to do, which was pretty easy considering their attack is half decent at worst, and Moeaki Fotuaika – He’ll be wearing Maroon in a few weeks, as Sir Joh would say…

DON’T YOU WORRY ABOUT THAT.

Brisbane Broncos 34 defeated Sydney Roosters 16 – Incorrect

It’s like Peter V’Landys tipped the universe on it’s axis with these rule changes.

A game featuring noted loose units Tevita Pangai Junior and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves saw both players behave like good Christian children and give away a combined total of 1 penalty, while Victor Radley managed to suspend himself out of an Origin debut with two sin-binnings and an extra two reports on top, yet he somehow didn’t get sent off after failing to learn his lesson the second, third and fourth times.

Still, you have to think – A guy who gets sin-binned twice and reported two other times for foul play, yet stays on the field, kind of flies in the face of the ALRC’s safety crackdowns.

Anyway, the Kevolution at Red Hill now has Albert Kelly leading the Kelly Gang, and they don’t even need suits of armour!

Melbourne Storm 34 defeated Canberra Raiders 10 – Correct

Another textbook job by the undermanned Storm, even with a halves combination of Andrew Johns’ nephew Cooper and Chris Lewis, and I liked this post-game quote by big Nelson Asofa-Solomona on Fox League, because it perfectly encapsulates what is required by Craig Bellamy of his players:

“My job is to just do my job”

In the United States, they’d call that statement Belichickian.

Penrith Panthers 56 defeated South Sydney Rabbitohs 12 – Correct

Absolutely superb by the Mountain Men in Dubbo, and it was the kind of game that Sir David Attenborough would narrate and describe as:

“Here we see the defenseless rabbit being made to squeal like a pig by the merciless Panther.”

Still, you have to remember that Souths have now conceded a half-century twice in 3 games, yet they’re still comfortably inside the Top 4 and half a chance at making a Grand Final with the double chance in play, because the comp this year is just that utterly crap.

Fun fact – Souths have also now conceded more 50 points than the Bulldogs this season, who are closer to a winning a trip to the moon than winning another game.

Manly Sea Eagles 28 defeated Parramatta Eels 6 – Correct

I had picked the Sea Eagles to do the Eagle Rock on Sunday even before the news dropped that Bobby Fulton bit the dust, and after finding out the inaugural Immortal had left us as I recovered from a 10 hour performance at my neighbour’s 60th that left me with nausea, I felt EVEN MORE confident Des Hasler’s boys were going to get the 2 points over the Eels, because Des bloody loved Bob Fulton, and you could see it reflected in the Sea Eagles’ performance, especially the rookie half Josh Schuster, who got plucked out of the Eels’s junior ranks and brought to Manly as a teenager by Bozo, delivered a fitting performance to Manly’s favourite son, by putting on a show at five-eighth.

At the end of the day, this was like the complete antithesis of Wests Tigers’ performance in the Tommy Raudonikis tribute game a month ago… I suppose it’s because Wests don’t have the luxury of an elite player like Tom Trbojevic in the No.1 who can completely rip a game to shreds just by standing there.