Dodgy acts expose ‘real worry’ NRL must fix before finals
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Crafty players are outsmarting referees and the Bunker at the business end of the season in a real worry for the NRL.
With so much at stake, gamesmanship has reached an all-time high - and the players are proving too good for the officials.
Stephen Crichton runs into Ashley Klein. Nine
There were three glaring examples over the weekend that the players are winning the battle of wits.
Parramatta skipper Mitch Moses - without doubt the best “milker” in the game - was way too smart for the referee and Bunker to earn his team a controversial victory over the Cowboys on Saturday night.
With scores locked at 30-all and the clock ticking down, Moses dropped the ball and fell to the ground - but copped a totally accidental knock to the head from a defender centimetres from the ground.
He immediately called for a captain’s challenge, the Bunker ruled a high shot - and Moses kicked the goal that won the game and has changed the entire finals puzzle.
On Friday night, we saw one of the most bizarre incidents of the season when Souths forward Lachlan Hubner grabbed a loose ball and had an open run to the try line - until Bulldogs skipper Stephen Crichton intervened.
Crichton bumped into referee Ashley Klein on his left - despite the fact that Hubner was scoring on his right - and Klein ruled that he had impeded the Bulldogs star, inexplicably denying Souths a fair try.
Then in Sunday’s Knights-Titans game, Newcastle half Sandon Smith went to dummy half and cynically threw the ball straight at a Gold Coast forward who was trying to clear the ruck.
The referee penalised the Titans - despite a clear edict from the NRL that players who deliberately tried to milk penalties this way would be penalised.
The refs and bunker need to use common sense - something that seems barred by the NRL - or the players will make fools of them in the finals.
Stat that proves Knights turnaround
Watching the free-flowing, exciting Newcastle backline in action in recent weeks, it’s hard to believe this is the same cub that had such a dismal attack in 2025.
The Knights fumbled their way to just 338 points last season - more than 100 less than any other team in the league.
This season, under new coach Justin Holbrook, they may well end up more than doubling that. The Knights already have 577 points to their name, with two games and at least a couple of finals to play.
With Kalyn Ponga calling the shots, the two Fletchers in top form, veteran Dane Gagai playing as well as ever, Greg Marzhew scoring a try a game and Dom Young always dangerous, the Knights backline totally outclassed the Titans on Sunday.
Fletcher Sharpe and Kalyn Ponga. Getty Images
The only worry for the Knights was letting their guard down late in both halves, which allowed the Titans to score 26 points.
Those lapses in defence will need to be cleaned up if the Knights hope to go deep into the finals.
New tactic firing up the Wahs
A new trend in the game is to move big, mobile second-rowers out wide to the centres, where they have more time and space to do damage.
And there’s no better example of this in 2026 than Leka “The Wrecker” Halasima at the Warriors.
The big man has played four games in the centres this season - the Warriors have won the lot - and he’s scored tries in three of them, including against the Broncos on Saturday night.
A wonderfully gifted athlete, he is one player who could cause all sorts of problems in the finals.
It was another dismal night for the Broncos at home - they have now lost more games than any defending premier since the game was founded in Australia in 1908.
The players just aren’t putting in - they look to be thinking of Bali next month.
Injury that could shape premiership race
Cronulla can win the premiership this season - but they can’t do it without star five-eighth Braydon Trindall.
That was the clear message out of the Sharks’ disappointing display against Canberra on Saturday afternoon.
Braydon Trindall in pain after suffering a shoulder injury. Fox League
The classy playmaker has the most try assists in the NRL in 2026 and got his team off to a great start with a solo try after just seven minutes.
But Trindall dislocated his shoulder as he dived over and took no further part in the game - and a flat Sharks outfit went down to Canberra 24-20 at home in a big upset.
Nicho Hynes took over the playmaking role for the Sharks but couldn’t come up with the big plays and Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon will be sweating on the results of Trindall’s scans.
Rabbitohs have found a home
If you are going to make a ground a fortress, it’s best to pick Accor Stadium, where the big finals will be played - and that’s exactly what Wayne Bennett and his Rabbitohs have done.
The Bunnies have a perfect record at ‘headquarters’ this season - seven wins from as many attempts - and that has played a big role in their unlikely finals berth.
Few rated Souths a chance of finals footy a few months back, especially with the persistent run of injuries to their marquee man Latrell Mitchell.
But the old fox Bennett has managed to get the best out of his players, with Souths set to beat several teams with more fancied rosters to the end of season games.
Fullback Matt Dufty is an amazing Bennett success story - many thought the veteran coach had lost it when he brought the journeyman fullback to the club after an unsuccessful stint in England.
Dufty is still on a NSW Cup contract but was man of the match in Friday night’s upset win over the Bulldogs,
Storm-bound winger’s incredible record
The Dolphins will boast the fastest pointscoring machine in rugby league history when they make their maiden finals appearance this season.
Flying winger Jamayne Isaako broke the 1000 point barrier in Friday night’s 22-0 win over Manly at Brookvale - and did it in just 93 games - quicker than any player since the game in Australia was born in 1908.
The Phins failed to make the finals for their first three seasons yet remarkably, Isaako has still managed a rate of more than 10 points a game.
A deadly finisher on the wing from both short and long range, the former Bronco is also a wonderful goal kicker.
In a flat game at Brookvale, Isaako ran for nearly 300 metres and he shapes as a key figure in this exciting Dolphins team’s premiership challenge.
Jamayne Isaako scored his 1000th point for the Dolphins against Manly. NRL Images
Things just go from bad to worse for the hapless Sea Eagles - they were held scoreless at home for the first time in over 33 years by the Dolphins as they slumped to six straight losses.
Yeo’s absence exposes 13-year feat
The loss of skipper Isaah Yeo has Penrith’s premiership challenge teetering on the brink.
The Panthers - title favourites a fortnight ago - have now lost consecutive games to the Warriors and Roosters.
But more significantly, they have been kept scoreless in the first 60 minutes of consecutive games for the first time since 2013.
They lost Yeo with a pec injury after half an hour in Auckland and have clearly lost their way without the inspirational skipper, who does so much both on and off the ball.
Penrith’s attack was clunky throughout Thursday night’s heavyweight showdown against the Roosters without Yeo’s cool leadership and failed to break the Roosters defence until there were just 13 minutes left on the clock.
The good news for the Panthers is that Yeo won’t require surgery and is hopeful of a return for the finals.
Veteran Daly Cherry-Evans was superb for the Roosters, scoring two solo tries through the heart of the Penrith line - right where Yeo normally defends.
