The Mole: 'Awful trouble' looms for Maroons as out-of-form Munster causes unlikely selection headache

Cameron Munster's poor start to the season isn't just a worry for the Storm - it's a major concern for the Maroons coming into Origin.

Munster was again almost unseen as the Rabbitohs celebrated an historic 48-6 win over Craig Bellamy's team in Melbourne - a result that would have been unthinkable a year or two ago.

The Storm have now lost six in a row and also lost their fear factor - the Bunnies went down to AAMI Park and gave them a thrashing to record their first win down south in 28 years of trying.

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Munster struggled in defence, missing five tackles including a couple on the rampaging Tallis Duncan that led to tries.

And in attack, he barely troubled Souths. In seven games this season, he has just four try assists and scored none himself - a clear sign he is struggling for confidence.

Billy Slater will pick him - but unless he finds his best soon, Queensland could be in awful trouble.

JOURNEYMEN PROVES THE GENIUS OF CLEARY

The "next man up" mentality Ivan Cleary has instilled into the Panthers during their dynasty is perfectly illustrated in back-up hooker Freddy Lussick.

When the Panthers lost the reliable Mitch Kenny for two months through injury, there were fears they would lose a lot of their go-forward out of dummy half.

But enter Lussick, a 25-year-old journeyman playing at his fourth NRL club.

Lussick isn't a speedy runner around the rucks - he had just four runs for seven metres in Sunday's 44-12 defeat of the Knights - but he is a genuine hooker with good hands and the ability to get his team on the front foot.

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A reliable defender, Lussick also bagged a solo try in the impressive win in Newcastle and the Panthers have lost little with him working the ball from dummy half.

Lussick has now played five games for the Panthers this season - and has a perfect record with five wins.

DOLPHINS STAR HAS 'GONE OFF THE BOIL'

Isaiya Katoa is one of the brightest young playmakers in the league - but he's gone off the boil in the past month and the Dolphins have gone down with him.

The Phins have lost four games on the bounce, and in that time Katoa has produced just one try assist.

The 22-year-old playmaker started the season strongly as the Redcliffe lads won two of their first three games, laying on five tries.

But it's been slim pickings since then and Katoa was very quiet in the scrappy 20-18 loss to the Warriors on Saturday night.

If the Phins are to get back into the finals race, Katoa needs to find his mojo again - and quickly.

The Warriors were below their best and can thank two tries to scoring machine Alofiana Khan-Pereira for the two premiership points.

The flying winger, who was strangely unwanted by the Titans at the end of last season, bagged his second double in as many weeks and has now scored 57 tries in 57 NRL games.

BLUNT ROBBO MESSAGE THAT SEALED DRAGONS' FATE

Trent Robinson had one message to his Roosters players last week - be better in the first half.

In consecutive games against the Sharks and Knights in the previous two weeks, the Roosters were dreadful in the first half, giving away big leads before storming home to produce great escapes after the halftime break.

The message clearly got through - the Roosters charged out of the blocks against the bumbling Dragons on Anzac Day, roaring to a 34-4 half time lead.

It's the most points in the first half by any team this season, and set the platform for the Roosters' huge 62-16 victory.

Sam Walker and James Tedesco were superb for the Roosters, who only added to a miserable week for the Dragons.

Young halfback Kade Reed had a lively debut in attack for the Dragons but had six missed tackles - several leading to tries.

Many critics thought he should not have been thrown to the wolves in such a big game by interim coach Dean Young - and their fears were proved correct.

WHERE IT'S GOING WRONG FOR THE DOGS

The Bulldogs need to launch an immediate internal inquiry into where things have all gone wrong.

Top of the table this time 12 months ago and one of the bookies' favourites for the title a few months back, Canterbury have won just four of their last 13 games.

They were hot favourites against an injury-ravaged Broncos team on Friday night yet never looked in the fight.

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To me, the problem is obvious - the spine.

The Dogs have a good roster with class players in the outside backs and back row.

But the all-important spine is letting the team down and struggling to get the attack moving.

Lachlan Galvin is still learning the subtle points of halfback play and his decision-making in Brisbane was poor.

Matt Burton tried hard at five-eighth but couldn't get the team moving either.

Connor Tracey has had a couple of good games this year at fullback but doesn't have enough consistency and wouldn't be in the top 10 fullbacks in the league.

And Bailey Hayward is a makeshift hooker who lacks the dummy half skills or speed to get the team going forward.

Cameron Ciraldo realised that in the lead-up to the game, benching Hayward and starting with Jake Turpin at No.9 but he too struggled.

Until the spine gets its act together - and it may not be able to - the Bulldogs will continue to have problems putting points on the board.

The wounded Broncos were superb, with Ezra Mam leading the way with arguably his best game in the NRL.

IS NEW DRAGONS RECRUIT A BARGAIN?

Before Friday night's memorable 80-point shootout in Townsville, it seemed the Dragons were paying overs for dynamic Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater.

But after the veteran custodian scored a try, had a hand in three others and terrorised Cronulla with his attacking skills in his team's 46-34 win, they may well have snared themselves a bargain.

Drinkwater gave a performance as good as any fullback in 2026 - a display the likes of Reece Walsh, James Tedesco or Dylan Edwards would have been proud to hand in.

With all eyes on him following his decision to quit the Cowboys, Drinkwater delivered a classic game and was the difference between two teams that scored tries for fun as they racked up a point a minute.

Drinkwater is just what the Dragons need - a playmaker with pace and skill - and it may well be the best $900,000 the club has ever spent.

The game highlighted the changing face of rugby league - for a team to score 34 points and lose would have been unheard of just a few short years ago.

'ALARMING PICTURE' FACING RAIDERS

On the face of it, a 33-14 loss by Canberra to the rampaging Tigers at Leichhardt doesn't seem such a bad result - especially as the Raiders were missing their two form players in Hudson Young and Simi Sasagi.

But unpack the game a little further and it paints an alarming picture for the struggling Raiders.

When it was 13 v 13 for 70 minutes, excluding the Api Koroisau sin bin, the Tigers won 33-2 and always looked well in command.

Ricky Stuart's men have now lost five games this year - as many as they lost in the entire 2025 regular season.

There is no doubt the Raiders over-achieved last season but this year they are struggling to get it all together.

The Tigers, meanwhile, made a real statement after the heart-breaking loss to the baby Broncos a week earlier.

With Adam Doueihi calling the shots in superb fashion, they looked every inch a top four team and Benji has his boys playing some great footy… and didn't the huge crowd at Leichhardt love it.