Alright, what a crazy week full of upsets…

The Bulldogs lay waste to the unbeaten Penrith Panthers who were on record scoring pace, recording more linebreaks against the Panthers defensive line than their previous 5 opponents combined, all thanks to a gameplan that looked like a revival of the old Dogs of War as their forward pack bashed up their opponents from the mountains…

The Cowboys upend the Broncos in the final minutes, which usually only happens in September or October, the Raiders end their losing run and keep up their perfect record in Western Australia (They are now 6 wins from 6 games dating back to 1989), the Roosters come from 0-16 down (And 6-22) to put the Sharks away 34-22 in the second Perth game…

Then came the second-biggest upset of the weekend as the New Zealand Warriors had a cathartic 38-14 win against the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park, ending a run of 17 consecutive defeats against the Storm dating back to 2015, many of them occurring on ANZAC Day at AAMI Park, and recording their first win in Melbourme since ANZAC Day 2014… which also means after 2 consecutive Grand Final defeats, the Storm legitimately look in deep shit.

Then the Gold Coast Titans, wooden spoon favourites as recently as 3 weeks ago, smacked a half century on Parramatta’s fragile defence as the boos rained down on Jason Ryles in a 52-12 Titans win, which marked only the second ever the Titans had scored 50+ points in a game (66 vs the Warriors in Round 16, 2024), and the Eels’ worst defeat at home since 1995, when the Brisbane Broncos defeated them 60-14 at the old Parramatta Stadium…. fun history lesson, that was Darren Lockyer’s debut game.

Of course, the only results that really went to script were the Kieran Foran Sea Eagles defeating the Dragons 28-18 in Woollongong, despite giving up the lead during the 2nd Half, and finally the Wests Tigers’ magic carpet ride continued with a rather impressive 42-22 win at Campbelltown, which was 42-10 before the Knights got some junktime scores, as not only did Wests finally win at Campbelltown for the first time since 2024, they won 3 consecutive games for the first time since 2018 and are now outright 2nd on the ladder.

We are well and truly through the looking glass.

Anyway, on we rumble to Round 7:

– North Queensland host Manly in Townsville on Thursday night, as the Cowboys start the year somewhat decently sitting 4th after Round 6 and winning games they should be winning (For now), while Manly at this stage are being studied by scientists for the magical effects of Kieran Foran’s coaching on human beings…

– The Canberra Raiders host the Melbourne Storm in Canberra for the 6pm Friday game, as the Raiders ended their own 4-game losing streak last Saturday, while the Storm enter on their own 4-game losing streak, and here’s an amazing stat, would you like to know the amount of times the Melbourne Storm have lost 5 consecutive games in their history?

Twice.

In 28 years.

The first was in 2002 (The only time the Storm lost 6 in a row) when Mark Murray was coach, and the last was 2012, when they lost 5 in a row between Round 16 and Round 21 as Billy Slater was injured during an Origin game… of course, they won their next 15 consecutive games, including the 2012 Grand Final.

So yeah, the only time the Storm lost 5 consecutive games under Craig Bellamy, they still won the premiership.

– The Redcliffe Dolphins come off the bye and take a home game up to TIO Stadium in Darwin to play the Penrith Panthers, and there is some history in this game as it’ll be the first time the Dolphins have played in the Northern Territory, and it’ll be the first time the Panthers have played in Darwin since they played the Gold Coast Titans there in Round 17, 2013… the Panthers won the game 40-18, and a bloke named Cameron Ciraldo came off the bench for the Panthers.

– The New Zealand Warriors host the Gold Coast Titans at Mt Smart, and in theory this game should be more winnable for the Warriors considering the Titans moved on eternal nemesis Des Hasler, but now there’s no certainty with the Warriors losing a few games and the Titans magically coming good, and I would also note that the Warriors haven’t defeated the Titans in New Zealand since 2013.

– The Charity Shield matchup as South Sydney play St George-Illawarra at Accor Stadium, and aside from the Dragons weekly self-implosion getting a spot on every show on Channel 9 and Fox League, there’s another interesting story for this game, that being Matt Dufty returning to Australian rugby league to play his first NRL game since 2022, having last played for Canterbury against the Dragons in Round 12 of that season before he got a release to play Super League for Warrington, after which he returned to the Dragons in January.

– The feature Saturday night game lives up to its billing as the flying Wests Tigers with Jarome Luai back in the team return to Campbelltown to play the Brisbane Broncos, as Benji Marshall was absolutely pissed that his team gave up 2 junktime tries at the end of a blowout win, and he’ll be even angrier if the Tigers don’t turn up against the 2025 premiers, as the Tigers go for 4 consecutive wins for the first time since 2012, while the Broncos haven’t lost at Campbelltown since…. ROUND 15, 1992 against Western Suburbs, having gone 11 wins and a draw in their last 12 games at the ground.

Funnily enough, the first premiership game the Wests Tigers ever played was against the Broncos at Campbelltown in Round 1 of 2000… it was a 24-24 draw and Joel Caine scored 20 out of the Tigers’ 24 points (A hat-trick and 4/5 goals).

– The Sydney Roosters host the Newcastle Knights at Allianz Stadium, and after 4 years this’ll be the first time the Newcastle Knights have played at the rebuilt SFS, as the last 4 games between the teams prior to this one were all in Newcastle, and the Roosters’ last home game against the Knights was at the SCG.

– And the lucky last game of Round 7 has Parramatta hosting Canterbury at Commbank, as the Eels wheel out the heroes of the past and celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1986 Premiership, although I’d imagine most of that team, including Ray Price, Mick Cronin, Brett Kenny and Peter Sterling, will be joining the fans in booing the team and walking out early when they concede another half century to their eternal rivals from Belmore.

You know it’s a worry when I scored 2/8 last week and was still in the top half of tipsters… it was a massacre in Round 6.

Round 6 Score = 2/8

Round 6 Progress Score = 28/48 (58.33%)

And now for the Pick of the Week…. here’s South Sydney’s favourite singer, Eddie Rabbitt!