SYDNEY - The Melbourne Storm and Northern Eagles jumped into the top eight with exciting victories in the NRL yesterday.
The Storm's 34-28 win over St George-Illawarra at Colonial Stadium and the Eagles' 32-22 defeat of the Penrith Panthers at Brookvale Oval were built around strong first-half efforts.
They moved past the Warriors, leaving the New Zealand club ninth after 16 rounds.
The Storm powered to a 30-12 lead early in the second spell when New Zealand lock Henry Perenara scored from the back of a scrum.
However, the Dragons fought back well and pushed hard for an equalising try in the closing minutes.
Kiwis second-rower Stephen Kearney and halfback Matt Orford were outstanding for Melbourne.
The Eagles dominated the first half to lead Penrith 24-6, but conceded four unanswered tries early in the second spell. However, none of the wide conversions was landed by Panthers centre Ryan Girdler and the Eagles held on.
Both teams scored five tries, with the difference being a six-from-six goalkicking record for Eagles five-eighth Ben Walker.
Yesterday's other match saw a huge upset when the Bulldogs thrashed Newcastle 46-18 to hand the Knights their biggest defeat at Marathon Stadium, scoring eight tries to four.
The Bulldogs solidified their fifth placing and have opened up a five-point gap on the sixth-placed Storm.
The return from injury of fullback David Peachey and centre Chris McKenna ended a lean run for the Sharks, who beat the Canberra Raiders 26-12 at Bruce Stadium on Saturday.
They combined well with five-eighth Adam Dykes to win by five tries to two and virtually end the Raiders' playoff chances.
The most one-sided match of the round saw the last-placed North Queensland Cowboys lose 24-50 to the Sydney Roosters at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Five-eighth Brad Fittler was outstanding in scoring two tries.
Parramatta's 28-12 triumph over the Broncos on Friday night lifted the Eels to the top of the table, one point clear of Brisbane.
It was the Eels' 10th successive win, while the Broncos suffered their first defeat in 23 matches at ANZ Stadium.
Parramatta and New Zealand captain Nathan Cayless had his finest game in an Eels jersey, scoring two tries and leading the charge from prop in outplaying the Broncos forward pack.
- NZPA
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