The Broncos’ all star spine is struggling to click amid Reece Walsh’s penchant for errors, while Mitchell Moses’ return proved Jason Ryles’ Eels rebuild is on track.
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Read on for all of the biggest talking points to come out of Round 21.
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BULLDOGS MAKE TITLE STATEMENT IN ROUT OF MANLY
The Bulldogs were brilliant in their 42-4 win over Manly, showing their title bid is well and truly back on track.
Matty Johns believes it was the style of win the Bulldogs needed to have to prove they are the real deal after some growing pains since Lachlan Galvin’s arrival at the club.
“It was the win the Bulldogs needed and what I mean by that is it was a convincing win rattling up the points,” Johns said on Sunday Night with Matty Johns.
“You can see that the new combinations are starting to form.”
Nathan Hindmarsh, meanwhile, said that the final scoreline didn’t show how hard Manly came out of the blocks, making the big win even more impressive.
“The way Manly bashed the Bulldogs early and they needed a tough game like that to prove to people that they are the top dogs,” Hindmarsh said.
“Their defence is still the best. They got four points scored against them in the whole game, so they have definitely got their defence back.
“Galvin has improved again and Matt Burton had a great game and having Bronson Xerri back on that left edge where he and Kikau have been so dangerous for most of the year.”
Centre Stephen Crichton was the only member of the Bulldogs’ back five who didn’t run for 100 metres in the win, but Johns went as far as to declare him one of the club’s best signings ever after their latest victory.
“You have got Steve Mortimer and the Terry Lamb years, but what Crichton has done to help turn this club around is remarkable,” Johns said.
Manly’s finals hopes took a huge hit with Haumaole Olakau’atu suffering a season ending shoulder injury.
Bryan Fletcher believes Manly just couldn’t maintain the rage after their upset win over the Storm last week.
“Whether or not he came back too early we will never know, but it was the same shoulder,” Fletcher said.
“I think Manly put so much into their win last week against Melbourne that a let-down can happen.”
Worrying signs as Olakau’atu injured | 00:35
QUESTION MARKS OVER STORM’S TITLE HOPES AFTER HUGHES INJURY
With Jahrome Hughes facing an extended stint on the sideline, questions have been raised over whether the Storm can go on to win the premiership without him.
Fox League’s Nathan Hindmarsh said he “can’t see them winning the comp without Hughes,” however Matty Johns believes “without a shadow of a doubt” the Storm can absolutely still do it without their star halfback.
Hughes dislocated his shoulder in the second half of Thursday’s win over the Roosters. The Storm medical staff couldn’t get his shoulder back into place so the 30-year-old had to be taken to hospital via an ambulance.
Grant Anderson moved into the halves to partner Tyran Wishart — who was filling in for Cameron Munster — while hooker Harry Grant stepped up tremendously to help steer his side to a 34-30 win.
While some will put a line through the Storm’s premiership hopes with Hughes hampered, Johns is confident they will be just fine without the reigning Dally M medallist.
“If Jahrome’s gone for the season they’re still my competition favourites, I think they can still win without a shadow of a doubt. I just think they can adjust their football and get it done,” he said.
“One thing about them, they can adjust their style. They’ve still got Ryan Papenhuyzen to come back into the side. I think they’ll simplify their game, they’ll build their attack around Harry Grant and Munster will chip away.”
The big decision coach Craig Bellamy will now have to make is on who will step into Hughes’ No.7 jersey. There’s specialist half Jonah Pezet, but the 22-year-old has only played a total of six games across NRL and reserve grade this season after overcoming an ACL injury.
That’s why Johns would go with the versatile and reliable Wishart, who has played 21 NRL games at five-eighth and nine at halfback.
“I’d go Wishart in the seven at the moment. There’s a thought of Jonah Pezet, but I just think it’s a big call to bring Jonah in now coming off an ACL injury. I think Wishart will get first crack,” he said.
Hughes injury sours Storm win | 02:35
BRONCOS HAVE TOO MANY COOKS IN SHOCK UPSET LOSS TO EELS
The Broncos appear to have too many dominant playmakers after their shock 22-20 loss to the Eels that all but ended their top four hopes.
The Broncos have one of the best spines in the NRL on paper, but it backfired against the Eels as Reece Walsh was guilty of overplaying his hand.
“I think they are still trying to find their way,” Michael Ennis said.
“Early in the season they had Reynolds and Hunt there and they developed a combination quickly, then Hunt got hurt, Ezra Mam had to come back into the fold and it worked perfectly for them.
“Hunt was out injured and all of a sudden Mam slotted in after only being in the side for a week. That spine took them to the grand final.
“But at the moment it does look like there are too many cooks in the kitchen.”
Former Broncos coach Kevin Walters agreed there are too many dominant playmakers trying to do different things.
“Reece gets a bit excited in games. The plan would be for Reynolds to reign him in,” he said.
“I’m not saying it is not happening, but in that second 40 Reece Walsh was very dominant.
“That’s what he tries to do. He tries to win football games, but they have got to get the balance right. They can’t all star.
“That’s only the second game they have had together and Hunt has played 50 minutes last week and then 50 minutes again. He has only had two games for them in that position so it will be a work in progress, but it is a bloody good spine and it has got lots of points in it.”
Greg Alexander, meanwhile, believes the Broncos need less creativity and more finishers.
“They have too many players trying to create things,” Alexander said.
“I thought Ezra was very quiet tonight. Yet it was only three weeks ago that he won the game for them.”
For Ennis, the solution is simplifying their attack around Adam Reynolds with the rest of the spine as role players.
“Sometimes you need a general and you need other people to just execute and be happy to play their role,” Ennis said.
“Adam Reynolds is that man. I thought Mam was physical at the start and the longer it went he fell away. He didn’t get the ball.”
“We need to play for 80 minutes” | 04:25
‘BITTERSWEET’ WIN SHOWS HOW MUCH EELS HAVE ‘MISSED’ MOSES
You can just see it. The way that the Eels players stand just that little bit taller and run just that little bit harder when Mitchell Moses is on the field.
As Fox League’s Dan Ginnane put it in commentary, it was probably “bittersweet” for Parramatta fans to watch Moses inspire Friday’s upset win over the Broncos.
“As it’s an insight into what they’ve missed,” Ginnane added.
But more than anything, surely it has to be proof that Parramatta’s lowly ladder position this season is far from a genuine representation of the strides this team has made under new coach Jason Ryles.
The development of rookie talents like Isaiah Iongi and Ryley Smith has been a shining light in an otherwise tough season, while even Joash Papalii has given fans a glimpse into their potential future at the five-eighth position.
Ryles called it an “outstanding” first 80-minute stint for Papalii at fullback on Friday night.
But for all the promising young talent at Parramatta, the question is whether Moses — who looks primed to contend for a premiership — would be willing to hang around through the growing pains.
Well, considering the immediate improvement in the team with him back in the side and the way Moses himself stepped up to the occasion, maybe the Eels aren’t so far away after all.
“His presence in the team gives the boys confidence and obviously his game management and kicking game is really important for us,” Ryles said.
Moses finished Friday’s game with three try assists and a whopping 662 kicking metres.
While already regarded as one of the sport’s best long-range kickers, Moses even mixed in some smart options off the boot from close to the line too.
Speaking to reporters after the game, you could sense the frustration in Moses’ voice as he reflected on a lost season — both on a personal front and for the team.
But all of that frustration coalesced into a man-of-the-match performance to make up for lost time, and unfortunately for the Broncos, they were on the wrong end of it.
“For most of the season I haven’t been able to contribute and it has been hard watching from the sideline and seeing how hard the boys have been trying and not coming up with results,” Moses said.
“We have been in games for long periods but probably not 80 minutes. I wanted to make sure I came in tonight and made a difference.
“We just wanted to focus on an 80-minute performance and I thought our young kids were unreal.
“Some of the boys have been under the pump the last few weeks and Rylesy pretty much challenged them and they turned up.”
Ryles chats Moses’ return to the squad | 04:44
RYLES MAKES EELS CRITICS EAT THEIR WORDS
There were doubts around Jason Ryles’ appointment at the start of the season after the Eels got off to a horror start, but the win over the Broncos showed he is the right man for the job.
Ryles has not been afraid to make the hard and at times unpopular decisions but has stuck to his guns on how to rebuild the Eels and the signs are looking good going into his second off-season with the club.
The Eels might be 14th on the ladder and won’t play finals in 2025, but they are not far off being a top eight team next season and one wonders what might have been if Mitchell Moses hadn’t missed most of the season through injury.
Michael Ennis commended Ryles for his conviction in sticking to his plan in the face of staunch criticism throughout his rookie season.
“There was so much speculation about the moving of their captain Clint Gutherson because Gutherson started the year on fire,” Ennis said.
“Parramatta were beaten easily a couple of times in that first month and everyone was thinking that the Eels could do with Clint Gutherson.”
Ennis also noted the knives were out when Dylan brown was dropped in favour of giving young players a chance, but again Ryles’ unpopular call has proved the right one.
“Isaiah Iongi has been incredible and this guy Joash Papalii has been waiting in the wings,” he said.
“The other story is Dylan Brown walking around in his tracksuit last week in Canberra. He’s on $800,000-$900,000 a year and not playing and this week when they lose Iongi, it’s the perfect reason to bring Brown back but Ryles sticks firm and says, “no we need to know what our future looks like”.
“He’s been brave Ryles. I think we have all admired what they’ve done the Eels.”
Kevin Walters believes the win over the Broncos was Ryles’ best since becoming a head coach.
“He should be very happy tonight sitting in the rooms, that’s his best win as a coach,” Walters said.
Eels hold on to beat Broncos in THRILLER | 02:35
‘SCARY’ PANTHERS REALITY AS HORROR START FEELS ‘A LONG TIME AGO’
If you want an idea of how far the Panthers have come since their horror start to the 2025 season, which saw the defending premiers sit last after Round 12, just look at their defence.
After that 25-6 loss to Newcastle in Bathurst, which second rower Scott Sorensen previously described as a “line in the sand” moment for the team, they were conceding 22 points per game.
The Panthers’ four-straight premierships had been built on the back of their brick-wall defence but uncharacteristically poor effort areas and shaky combinations on the edges had Penrith leaking points galore early in the season.
Then, suddenly a switch flipped and since that loss to the Knights, the Panthers have conceded on average just 10 points per game. They only gave up two to the Tigers.
“It was real frustrating at the start of the year, we knew it was always there but we were just lacking something,” halfback Nathan Cleary, who had three try assists in the win over the Tigers, told Fox League post-game.
“I think a lot of that was just the character of the team to be honest. We weren’t scrambling hard enough, our defence wasn’t good enough.
“Last place feels like a long, long time ago thankfully but there’s still a lot of work to do and improvements to come which is exciting.”
Some of Penrith’s sluggish start to the year can be put down to the new-look edge of Tom Jenkins, Casey McLean and Blaize Talagi still finding their feet on both sides of the ball.
But now Jenkins has emerged as one of the best aerial threats in the league, while McLean’s decision-making has vastly improved in defence.
Talagi, meanwhile, had a few errors early in the Tigers game but is playing with great confidence as evidenced in his silky, no-look try assist to put Jenkins over late.
“To be honest, he’s getting better each and every week. Even at training, the things he can do is unbelievable,” Cleary said of his new halves partner.
“He’s got a lot of confidence, which is something that we probably lacked a bit of at the start of the year.
“We’re starting to strike up those combos with Tom Jenkins and Casey so really enjoying playing with those young guys trying to unlock them and their talents.”
Fox League’s Braith Anasta said Penrith’s latest win was “scary for every other team” in the NRL, while Mal Meninga was full of praise for the defending premiers after their most complete performance of the year.
“They believe in their system and processes,” he said.
“They got into their flow and they just work of the back of great defence and put teams into awkward and uncomfortable positions. Their field position and kick game was excellent. Their ball control was excellent, and defensively they were outstanding.”
“I’d be happy to make the top 8!” | 06:21
THE BIGGEST ISSUE LUAI IS ‘WRESTLING’ WITH AT TIGERS
The Tigers’ attack looks disjointed and uninspired and while star recruit Jarome Luai would usually be called on to change that, the four-time premiership winner seems to be burdened by responsibility at the moment.
Once the perfect complement to Nathan Cleary with his instinctive, off-the-cuff style, Luai has been a far more restrained and restricted version of his usual self in Tigers colours.
A lot of that is by design, as he is being relied on to be the chief playmaker, especially when playing alongside a young halves partner in Latu Fainu who is still finding his way in first grade.
While there is some level of pressure on Luai to meet those expectations given his $6 million price tag, there is also an argument that it is on the Tigers to find the right balance to get the most out of their superstar recruit.
For now, with a finals berth out of the equation, there is some level of freedom that allows coach Benji Marshall to experiment with what works best — as he did on Saturday against the Panthers when he put Fainu at lock and moved Adam Doueihi to five-eighth.
But at the same time, with the prospect of yet another wooden spoon still a distinct possibility for the Tigers, Marshall is still under some level of pressure to deliver results right now.
He preached patience in his press conference though when it came to Fainu’s development.
“Latu has done a great job of putting together a string of games of 80 minutes. It’s the first time he’s done that in his whole career after injury and that,” Marshall said.
“I just felt like I wanted to get some impact on our right edge with putting Adam there and putting Latu back to lock for a little bit. We seemed to get a little bit there, and also just to take some of the kicking pressure off Jarome because he was doing most of it.
“But no dramas, he’ll be the seven again next week.”
Marshall went on to add that Finau was moved “through no fault of his own”, explaining that he wanted to see if he could “create something” with the Tigers’ attack otherwise looking toothless.
“We just were going nowhere with what we’re doing,” Marshall said.
“The thing with Latu is it’s not a short-term thing, it’s a long-term development, understanding the position.”
While it makes sense to have Fainu’s development at front of mind, especially after Lachlan Galvin’s mid-season departure left the Tigers looking for a new halves partner for Luai, they can’t afford to leave their chief playmaker out of the picture either.
“I think Jarome Luai is wrestling with trying to juggle both roles but he for me is still the main guy,” Cooper Cronk said on Fox League.
“He should be the guy who is running the ship and I like that Doueihi comes in and helps out at different stages. Fainu needs to improve in a lot of areas for him to be the dominant halfback for the Tigers.
“It doesn’t matter what jersey number Jarome Luai wears. He just needs to be that guy that everyone can bounce around and trust to run the game and come up with the plays needed.”
“We got strangled!” – Benji on Panthers | 04:08
BUNNIES BRAVE AS INJURY WOES DEEPEN AMID WIGHTON BAN
Wayne Bennett was prickly and frustrated after Souths’ brave 14-12 loss to the Sharks that saw them lose Tevita Tatola to injury and Jack Wighton to suspension.
Souths have had a horror year with injuries and now sit dead last with six rounds to play and Bennett was visibly annoyed after his side’s horror run continued with a disclocated shoulder for Tatola.
Braith Anasta noted Bennett was in no mood to entertain the idea of winning his first wooden spoon.
“Wayne Bennett is a man of few words, but it has been one of those years for him with so many injuries,” Anasta said.
“He is frustrated and didn’t give too much to the media there and wasn’t happy with the wooden spoon chat at the end.”
James Hooper defended Souths, who went close to knocking off a top eight side despite most of their star players being sidelined through injury.
“They were brave and gutsy considering they are missing more than $6 million worth of talent sidelined through injury,” Hooper said.
“Wayne has every right to be proud of the performance that his side put in considering some of the players that he has to put in.
“For the Bunnies to show up and put that effort in is strong. Wayne has never had the wooden spoon as a coach and he has coached 950-odd games, so I can understand why he doesn’t want to entertain hat talk.”
Cooper Cronk believes the wooden spoon will come down to Souths clash with the Titans in a fortnight.
“He should be prickly because they are not in good shape at the moment,” Cronk said.
“They are officially at the bottom of the ladder right now. They do have a bye up their sleeve Souths which is a big thing for them because the Titans don’t have a bye.
“In Round 23 Souths play the Titans and that will determine what happens and who receives the wooden spoon.
“Des Hasler and Wayne Bennett have never received one and one of the longest serving coaches in the NRL out of those two is going to receive one, so it is a testy time.”
However, Mal Meninga argued a wooden spoon would not be an insult to Souths given their injury curse and believes things will turn if they keep showing the same fight and heart.
“The Rabbitohs are going through a horrible run with injuries, so I think it can be excused,” Meninga said.
“Even if the Rabbitohs get the spoon I think there is a really good story behind why.
“And if they keep putting in efforts like that, tonight was exceptional. They went into the Sharks attacking zone only three times and scored two tries.
“It was a terrific effort and you can’t blame them for where they are at the moment. The players they are missing are their best players.”
Bunnies last! – Injury toll grows | 01:45
WARRIORS COULD COUGH DOUBLE CHANCE
A surging Panthers outfit should strike plenty of fear into the Warriors, who after a shocking upset loss at the hands of the last-placed Titans, are now in danger of dropping out of the top four.
The Warriors remain on 30 points, with the lurking Panthers three points back in 5th on the ladder.
What’s more is that the Warriors’ next two games are formidable tasks (Dolphins, Bulldogs) while Penrith play the 16th placed Titans and 15th placed Knights in their next two.
So, there’s every chance the Panthers will pass the Warriors into 4th within the next fortnight.
It’s a bit of a grim outlook for the Wahs, who without their two best players in Luke Metcalf and Mitch Barnett for the season, will need all the breaks they can get in the finals.
Fox League expert Cooper Cronk says the Warriors’ top four hopes have taken a major hit given the form of the Panthers and the Broncos also looming as well.
However, Cronk sees a silver lining.
“I believe they need to fight really hard to finish in the top four but having said that, if they finish 5th they get a home final which is a good thing for the Warriors,” Cronk said.
“Not crashing back down to earth” | 06:44
