Fozball gamble ‘could come back to bite’ stumbling Sea Eagles
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Manly’s move to hand Kieran Foran the coaching reins despite his inexperience could come back to bite the club now coming into the pressure end of the season.
‘Fozball’ has hit the wall in recent games, with the Sea Eagles losing two of their last three games, the other being a convincing win over a second-string Storm.
Sea Eagles head coach Kieran Foran on Thursday night. Getty Images
The two losses have come to the lowly Bulldogs and Eels sides and suddenly the Sea Eagles are in danger of missing out on finals footy.
Manly are hanging grimly to seventh spot but have one of the better draws in the final nine rounds with a bye and winnable games against the Dragons, Titans, Cowboys and Storm - but mixed in with them are tough fixtures against the Dolphins, Sharks, Warriors and Knights.
Against a struggling Eels team on Sunday afternoon, Manly were terrible.
Their completion rate was an embarrassing 66 per cent, they missed 48 tackles and made 16 errors at CommBank Stadium.
They handed the two points to Parramatta on a platter and there will have to be some serious soul-searching at Brookvale this week for the vital games ahead.
Parramatta won ugly but they wanted it more and came up with some great scrambling and effort plays when Manly looked dangerous.
Young fullback Isaiah Iongi was the most dangerous player on the field and is developing into a very handy player at the back.
Broncos break 73-year-old record
In 1953 Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, Edmund Hillary conquered Mount Everest, DNA was discovered and the rugby league premiers, Wests Magpies, lost seven straight games.
Brisbane beat Wests’ record on Saturday and those events from way back when shows just how long it’s been since the NRL champions have performed so poorly.
Yes, they had players missing - but the Broncos never looked in the hunt against a Sharks side that just had to go through the motions to win.
Broncos fans have had enough - the home loss had many fans heading for the exits well before full-time and any hope of defending their title - let alone making the finals - looks lost.
Broncos players look on during the round 18 loss. Getty Images
Brisbane and coach Michael Maguire now have a lot of soul-searching to do in the last eight rounds to win back the fans.
The Sharks were impressive when they needed to be and are looking a big chance for the top four - and a real crack at the title.
Holmes finally back on his feet
Valentine Holmes has been playing with a leg injury for much of 2026 - and he’s copping flak from Dragons fans for his below par performances as a result.
But the problem has finally come good - and the real Val stood up against the Tigers on Saturday night.
The veteran centre turned back the clock to his heyday, proving the difference between two ordinary teams to lead the Dragons to only their second win.
When the game was there to be won or lost in the final 15 minutes, Holmes took control, charging over for two late tries, handing the Red V a deserved win over a poor Tigers outfit in front of the desperate Kogarah faithful.
Add that to the 200 plus run metres, scoring 16 of his team’s 24 points and three line breaks and you can see why Dragons fans were singing his praises when the final siren ended a scrappy affair.
Valentine Holmes celebrates after scoring one of his two tries. Getty Images
Axed NSW star at risk of losing club’s best winger title
Brian To’o was a shock omission from the NSW team for the final State of Origin game, with many believing him to be the best winger in the state.
But as things stand, he may not be the best winger at Penrith.
No disrespect to To’o - he is a champion, but Thomas ‘Milky’ Jenkins is in stunning try scoring form and may well be a NSW Blue in 2027 if he continues to score for fun.
Jenkins grabbed a hat trick in Friday night’s 36-14 defeat of Souths, equalling Rhys Wesser’s club record for 25 tries in a season.
Jenkins is now a huge chance of writing his name into the record books as the greatest try scorer in a season since the game began here in 1908.
Roosters legend Dave Brown holds the record with 38 tries in1935, and Jenkins is well and truly on course to over-take him.
Thomas Jenkins has been a revelation for Penrith this year. Getty
All three tries against Souths required pace, athletic ability and strength - they were class efforts and Souths just couldn’t contain the new Penrith strike weapon.
Lowlight of the game was the brain snap by Souths skipper Cody Walker, who lashed out with his boot on his opposite Jack Cogger in a moment of madness.
The incident resulted in a double whammy for Souths - Walker went to the bin and a try was disallowed… and Penrith never looked back.
