Rugby league: Hunt equals try-scoring record

By PETER JESSUP and NZPA

Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett kept the gag on New Zealand teenage sensation Karmichael Hunt after he joined elite company with a four-try performance against South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium yesterday.

The 17-year-old's haul in the 48-28 win equalled the club's record, shared by Steve "Pearl" Renouf and Wendell Sailor, and continued his emergence as one of rugby league's hottest young talents.

Souths went down fighting, with late inclusion Garth Wood scoring two tries, the second a strong effort close to the line to get past five Brisbane defenders.

"That was a patched-up team today; we had six blokes out," Bennett said.

He was not interested in talking up Hunt, off limits to the media since speculation began that the teenager could break into Origin football.

He understandably wants to keep Hunt's feet, which did all the talking yesterday, firmly on the ground.

Hunt's confidence and ability to back himself almost cost Brisbane a try early in the game when he ignored an army of support, a point Bennett laboured after the win.

"You [media] all see the good things, I see both sides of it," he said.

"He was involved in a couple of pretty ordinary plays at one stage. One cost us a try and another led to a try.

"He's at the stage where he hasn't got it all together yet, I can tell, but he's a hell of a player."

The Roosters have come through the Origin representative season so far unscathed after a see-sawing match against the Cowboys in Townsville ended 32-22 to the visitors.

Nathan Fien, a Warrior next year, helped the Cowboys to a 12-0 lead when he scored an unusual try, putting up a bomb near the Roosters' line and catching it again himself, grubbering the ball through the defence and getting to it first in goal.

They were still ahead at the break, the score changing a couple of times in the second 40 before wing Todd Byrne regained it for the Roosters with his second try.

Roosters halfback Brett Finch engineered their scoring plays and he sealed things five minutes from time with a try.

The Storm scored their biggest win at Olympic Park after turning around a 10-0 deficit to the Panthers with 11 tries, halves Matt Orford and Scott Hill the destroyers.

Kiwi Paul Whatuira barged over early, Trent Waterhouse had the second try and then it was all the home side.

The Panthers have five first-choice players in the Origin camps and two out injured but didn't use that as an excuse, instead citing Melbourne's complete performance as not giving them any chance.

Fullback Steve Turner, filling in for Queensland's Billy Slater, scored a hat-trick and seven Storm players, including Hill and Orford, got on the board, the halfback kicking 11 of 12 shots at goal.

The Raiders were deserved winners over an improved Wests Tigers at Canberra. The Tigers hadn't scored in their two previous games, but blotted their performance with abuse of match officials and a media ban imposed because of what they thought about ref Shayne Hayne's work.

Hayne had awarded six penalties to one by halftime and it got to 13-3, one of the Tigers' trio coming for a high tackle by Mark McLinden that sent John Skandalis from the field with a cut head.

Raiders' centre/wing Phil Graham broke his ankle in a season-ending injury.

Cronulla held off a fast-finishing Newcastle for a 34-26 win yesterday.

The Sharks led 30-10 shortly after halftime but the Knights were back in the hunt when they scored three tries in eight minutes to trail 30-26 with 22 minutes remaining.

The Sharks sealed the win when winger Matthew Rieck scored the second of his two tries as the fulltime siren sounded.

Cronulla was best served by lively replacement hooker Michael Sullivan, who terrorised Newcastle by grabbing plenty of easy metres from dummy-half. His kicking and passing games were superb and he had a hand in most of his side's tries.

The Broncos beat South Sydney 48-28.