League: Newcastle break NRL scoring record

Knights 70 Raiders 32

Superstar halfback Andrew Johns helped himself to 28 points in the highest scoring NRL match in history.

Everything the former international touched turned to gold as the Knights romped to a 12 tries-to-six victory at Canberra Stadium. It topped a 71-year-old record after St George beat Canterbury 91-6 in 1935.

Newcastle, wooden spooners last season when Johns was absent through injury, showed they will be in the hunt for this year's title with four tries in seven minutes late in the first half to take the fight out of the Raiders.

Johns kicked 10 goals and scored two tries on his big afternoon out.

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Panthers 13 Dragons 12

Five-eighth Preston Campbell broke the deadlock in overtime with a field goal to keep Penrith undefeated yesterday. Earlier Tony Puletua crashed to the line but was ruled short.

The Panthers led until the 80th minute when Dragons wing Ashton Sims scored to make it 12-12.

Panthers halfback Craig Gower missed two field goals in regular time, going too far to the right.

He went too far left with an attempt in overtime.

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Storm 22 Roosters 18

Melbourne produced a workrate that forced errors and engineered tries at Aussie Stadium.

Centre Greg Inglis went high to get a bomb from halfback Cooper Cronk after eight minutes then Steve Turner scored in the corner after the Roosters dropped the ball in their own 20m zone.

A kick to defeat Roosters wing Amos Roberts a second time allowed Ryan Hoffman to score for 16-0 at the break.

The home side gathered 18 unanswered points in the second half and were attacking at the last, their half Jamie Soward better than big buy Braith Anasta.

But they had tackled too much and ran out of steam.

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Cowboys 20 Sea Eagles 16

North Queensland withstood a rugged last 15 minutes at Townsville as Manly attacked their line relentlessly.

The home team led 16-4 at half-time after two tries to wing Matt Sing and a third to halfback Brett Firman. Manly back rower Steve Menzies was sinbinned seven minutes before the break for dissent.

Sing scored first points of the second spell but Manly showed grit and new centre Steve Bell showed class, scoring himself and setting up a try for fullback Brett Stewart. Stewart was still attacking in the dying seconds but his last-gasp kick floated wide.

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Broncos 16 Sharks 12

The Broncos trailed the Sharks at Cronulla until the 70th minute before snatching the win.

In the pre-game build-up former Sharks wing Mat Rogers handed the players jerseys embroidered with the name of his father and club legend Steve who died in January.

It sparked them, five-eighth Adam Dykes scoring after three minutes, then David Simmons fielding a high kick in his in-goal and linking with Darren Albert to score a 102m try.

Brad Thorn opened the Broncos' account, a smart pass from captain Darren Lockyer put prop Shane Webcke over for just his 15th try in 229 games in the 67th minute and utility Casey MacGuire scored three minutes later.

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Bulldogs 47 Wests Tigers 12

The judiciary will do plenty of reviewing of the fiery match that ended an eight-game losing streak for the Dogs.

Willie Mason destroyed the Tigers forwards but went high on Jamaal Lolesi in a tackle that is on report. Also reported by ref Steve Clark were Bulldogs fullback Luke Patten and Tigers prop Todd Payten.

Dogs prop Mark O'Meley took exception to a tackle from Tigers forward Bryce Gibbs and came off the ground swinging. Both were sent to the sin-bin for the 10 minutes leading to half time.

Gibbs was concussed mid-way through the second half following a hit from O'Meley and is in doubt for Saturday's game against the Warriors in Christchurch because of the usual week-long standdown.

Dogs wing Hazem El Masri collected four tries and with nine goals scored a personal tally of 34 points to beat Daryl Halligan's club record of 28 in a game.

Television presenters saw two carloads of Bulldogs fans setting upon Tigers fans leaving the ground.

Three people were badly beaten, prompting the NSW police chief Carl Scully to call a meeting with the NRL.

* Businessman Peter Holmes a Court and Hollywood actor Russell Crowe promised to revitalise the Rabbitohs after members yesterday approved their $A3 million ($3.5 million) takeover bid by the barest of margins. Needing a 75 per cent majority for the proposal to go through, Holmes a Court and Crowe achieved 75.8 percent of the vote.