Gold Medals at the Paris Olympic Games: City of Penrith 3, Spain & Brazil 2

The Fox family, displacing the Cleary family as Penrith’s royal family until the first weekend of October.

Well friends, on we go down to the last 4 games of the home & away, and the minor premiership race is well and truly alive again, after St George-Illawarra pulled the boilover of the year by defeating the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne for the first time since 1999 (Having lost on 16 straight attempts), which back then was a Qualifying Final at Olympic Park, played only a few weeks before the Storm won the 1999 Grand Final against the Dragons.

Saints may not get that far this year, but they are in the Top 8, and that was a performance that Shane Flanagan, who is no stranger to pulling the wool over Craig Bellamy’s eyes, will never forget.

Still, it wasn’t the first time the Dragons have led the Storm after 80 minutes in Melbourne since ’99 – They were ahead 24-22 when the bell sounded in 2014, then Young Tonumaipea finished off a last-second Storm relay with a try to win it 28-24.

Of course, the other piece of news this week is the NRL have continued to expand on the 2024 Hall of Fame class to be announced next, with the first coaches to be inducted into the Hall being Wayne Bennett and ‘The Super Coach’ Jack Gibson, the two pre-eminent coaches in the history of First Grade rugby league, and the first referees to be inducted being Col Pearce and Bill Harrigan, with Harrigan being a natural choice seeing as he still is the most recognisable referee in First Grade history, 21 years after he officiated his last game.

Naturally, Wayne was thrilled to find out he’d been inducted into the HOF:

So, looking at Round 23, as the Sydney Roosters get the bye, a crucial one which will keep them in 3rd spot.

– Souths host the Melbourne Storm at the Olympic Stadium, the rematch of the ANZAC Day massacre at AAMI Park, and no doubt Craig Bellamy murdered 3 players in the sheds after the loss to the Dragons on Saturday night.

– The Gold Coast Titans host Cronulla in the early Friday game, as the Titans are not without a hope of making the Top 8, while Cronulla need another win to stay 4th spot, as Des Hasler’s first season on the Glitter Strip is ending the way plenty of Titans fans wanted it to start… extremely well.

– The clash of the Westies is the feature Channel 9 Friday night game as Parramatta host Penrith at CommBank, with the Eels now held together by sticky tape in their bid to avoid the wooden spoon in 2024, as Penrith start to surge in pursuit of the fourpeat.

– Canberra host Manly in the nation’s capital on Saturday afternoon, a rivalry that at times has resembled the hammer and the nail, which is how it looked in Round 9 when Manly led 20-0 and 24-6 in the 2nd Half, only for the Raiders to score 4 tries in the last half hour to win 26-24 at Brookvale.

– The biggest Queensland Derby of them all as the North Queensland Cowboys host the ailing Brisbane Broncos in Townsville, and the Broncos are just praying for December 31 as Ezra Mam and Payne Haas have their seasons ended by injury, and Reece Walsh is a serious option to play in the halves, such is the state of the Broncos.

– A clash of the former old rivals as St George-Illawarra host Canterbury at Kogarah, one of the most meaningful games between the Dragons and Bulldogs since at least the last game of 2017, or even the 2015 Elimination Final.

– After last week’s shootout in Perth ended in defeat to the Roosters, the Redcliffe Dolphins have fallen out of the Top 8 and host the New Zealand Warriors at Suncorp, another team praying for December 31 after getting defeated by Parramatta in Auckland, although this should feel like another home game with the amount of Kiwis in Brisbane.

– And the lucky last game of the Round, the Channel 9 Sunday game, has the Newcastle Knights host the Wests Tigers in the Hunter, and the Tigers were bad enough without having players sent off, a theory Justin Olam confirmed last Thursday when he was sent off for a high shot to open the floodgates for the Cowboys.

And now for the Succinct Round 24 tips, here we go….

Round 22 Score = 6/8

Running score after Round 22 = 102/164 (62.1%)

Lock of the Week

Because when you’re wrong 48% of the time, you’re right 52% of the time

Alright, the Lock for Round 23…

GIVE YOUR LOVE TO A COWBOY MAN, HE’S GOING TO LOVE YOU, AS HARD AS HE CAN, CAN.

North Queensland in the northern edition of the Queensland Derby.