The numbers that matter
The big winners of Round 21
The Canterbury Bulldogs put on a defensive masterclass to stop Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and top-four contenders New Zealand Warriors, who were a top-two side for more than three months before falling below the Roosters with a patchy run of form.
Inspired by new father Stephen Crichton, the Bulldogs are now on the verge of the top-eight - seemingly out of nowhere after a five-game losing streak appeared to have written off their season.
In the last four weeks they have overtaken both Melbourne and Manly to be just one win outside the eight, with a game in hand on seventh-placed Newcastle and eighth-placed North Queensland.
That means the Cowboys and the Knights are going to keep the pressure on at least somewhat when the bye awards them points in Rounds 25 and 27 respectively, but Cameron Ciraldo's side may have entered a new era after making a statement win by keeping one of the competition's highest scoring teams to just six points - the week after they held the Wests Tigers completely scoreless.
It was the fifth time in six weeks that the Bulldogs had kept an opposition to under 13 points, and whilst many of those wins were against lowly opponents such as Parramatta and Wests, this was the scalp they needed to potentially take their belief to the next level.
Next up is a trip to out-of-form Melbourne, where they last won in Round 2 of 2023.
The big losers of Round 21
The honeymoon of new Manly Sea Eagles head coach Kieran Foran is now an enormously long way in the distance, and despite being only two wins behind the top-eight, they're in a similar spot that was faced by the Bulldogs a couple of months ago - with their season having been all but writen off.
The shine of Fozball has well and truly worn off, and whilst they could have defeated the Titans and Cowboys in their current losing streak with a bit more polish, there was nothing ambiguous about their 36-point loss to fourth-placed Cronulla.
They've been hit for 86 points in two weeks, with a similarly leaky defence to the one that saw Anthony Seibold sacked after a 0-3 start to the season.
Following a well-timed bye next weekend, Manly face the formidable task of having to beat the Dolphins, Knights and Warriors and potentially also defeating Melbourne away to stand any chance of the finals football that appeared within reach in May.
A team that missed 42 tackles against Cronulla and are "clearly low on confidence" according to their own head coach aren't going to be capable of doing that. Foran is going to need to find something incredibly special from here.
Team of the Week
Who scored a brace this week?
James Tedesco recorded the fifth hat-trick of his 291-game NRL career and his first since 2022 in the Roosters' one-point win over Newcastle, whilst Raiders back Daine Laurie got his first very unexpectedly.
With their single tries, Tom Jenkins and Alex Johnston moved further ahead in the Ken Irvine Medal race.
Try of the Week
The naughty boys
This could well be the shortest list of the season so far, with almost everybody on their best behaviour this weekend!
Potential suspensions:
Griffin Neame (Cowboys) - Careless high tackle - 1 or 2 matches
Fines:
Nat Butcher (Roosters) - Careless high tackle - $1800 or $2500 fine
Jaxon Purdue (Cowboys) - Dangerous contact - $1000 or $1500 fine
Egan Butcher (Roosters) - Careless high tackle - $750 or $1000 fine
Next weekend's fixtures
Aaron Murphy has been with Flashscore since 2018 and, as the founding editor of the Australian newsdesk, has reported on-site at several major events in Melbourne including the Australian Open, State of Origin, A-League, NBL and international cricket. You can read his pieces here and contact him on X or LinkedIn.
