NRL round-up: Dragons top the ladder & concern for Jonathan Thurston
Sunday 9 April 2017 17:02, UK
The Dragons pushed themselves to the top of the NRL ladder while there was a concern for Johnathan Thurston after he left the field late at the 1300SMILES Stadium.
With Australia's Test against New Zealand less than a month away, the results of the scans on Thurston's calf injury will be eagerly awaited for by both club and country.
The injury compounded a torrid round for the North Queensland Cowboys as they lost 16-26 to the Wests Tigers.
The Cowboys trailed by 6-20 at the break and while they hit back through a Coen Hess try, it wasn't enough and the match ended with injury woe due to Thurston's calf.
Round 6 of the NRL had started in Brisbane as the Broncos beat the Sydney Roosters 32-8, handing the Roosters their second straight loss after they opened the season with four wins.
The Broncos took an early 8-0 lead after the Roosters missed 18 tackles in the first 16 minutes, and 46 overall, a statistic that didn't impress Roosters' coach Trent Robinson.
"That comes down to the Broncos playing really well and us being unacceptable the way we went about our tackling," Robinson said.
The Newcastle Knights couldn't see the game out against the Bulldogs as they went down 12-22 at the McDonald Jones Stadium.
The Knights were 6-0 up approaching the break but a costly error handed possession back to the Bulldogs who went the length of the field to score.
The visitors pressed on after the interval thanks to Matt Frawley as the 22-year-old scored a 40-metre solo try shortly after he arrived on the field.
He also provided an assist on another head-turning outing a week after his debut.
In the final Friday game there was drama at the Pepper Stadium as the South Sydney Rabbitohs earned a hard-fought 21-20 victory over the Panthers.
Adam Reynolds delivered the match-winning field-goal with just 39 seconds remaining on the clock.
In the other matches Saturday, the Canterbury Raiders ran riot against the Gold Coast Titans and Jordan Rapana scored a hat-trick against his former club in their 42-16 win.
The St George Illawarra Dragons also impressed as they scored six tries to the Manly Sea Eagles' two and their 35-10 win pushed them to the top of the NRL ladder.
Josh McCrone set up four of the Dragons' tries and Gareth Widdop scored 19 points in total.
Finally on Sunday the defending champions the Cronulla Sharks handed the Melbourne Storm their first loss of the season with their 11-2 victory at AAMI Park.
James Maloney kicked a field goal in the 70th minute to break a 2-2 deadlock before James Segeyaro swooped on a kick that was mishandled by Billy Slater to touch down under the posts and seal the result.
In the only other match on Sunday, the New Zealand Warriors beat Parramatta Eels 22-10 and Bodene Thompson scored a first-half double.
