Cameron Smith of the Storm is acknowledged by coach Craig Bellamy. Photo / Getty Images
Cameron Smith of the Storm is acknowledged by coach Craig Bellamy. Photo / Getty Images
Round 21 in the NRL season saw a couple of the chasing teams move closer in the fight for a playoff spot while the Warriors and Titans were essentially eliminated from Finals footy.
Melbourne captain Cameron Smith celebrated his 350th first grade game as the Storm beat the Sea Eagles. Heis set to become the game's most capped player by the end of the year.
Kiwi Watch Kiwis winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak had a night to forget despite his Penrith team winning. He made five handling errors in an uncharacteristic showing. Warriors outside backs David Fusitua, Solomone Kata and Ken Maumalo had games of varying quality - Fusitua was strong in the loss to the Sharks but the other two had off nights.
Bryson Goodwin was strong in a losing cause for the Rabbitohs while Joseph Tapine (Raiders), Jason Taumalolo (Cowboys) and Tui Lolohea (Tigers) also impressed.
Chad Townsend had a good night against the Warriors. Photo / Getty Images
Best Performance Melbourne's demolition of Manly not only honoured skipper Smith in his milestone game but it also underlined their title favouritism and sent a warning to the other teams.
Standout Player NSW and Tigers fullback James Tedesco was electric as the Tigers got a rare win over the Titans. He scored a try and had another one disallowed and was dangerous whenever he touched the ball.
Key Moment The second half performance from the Knights gave them a much-needed win but it also meant the Dragons lost some vital points to the chasing teams. Penrith and Canberra would have been rubbing their hands together as the Knights broke their run of fading in the second half of matches.
The Knights got a much-needed win. Photo / Getty Images
Controversy Refereeing was once again at the forefront with a number of bizarre decisions from officials. Dragons coach Paul McGregor and Souths coach Michael Maguire were unhappy with the officiating in their matches while there were some other poor decisions made. It needs to improve before the finals.
