The numbers that matter
The big winners of Round 19
The South Sydney Rabbitohs did it for Jai, and for their own finals hopes, and now they three wins from their last four games following a three-match losing streak.
The wider sporting community as a whole rallied around the weekend-long 31st birthday celebrations for former Rabbitoh Jai Arrow, with even several AFL players celebrating goals by pretending to fire a bow and arrow in honour of his tragic MND diagnosis.
Souths were back in the top-eight hunt courtesy of morale-boosting wins over Brisbane and Parramatta a few weeks back, but the terrible second-half fadeout against Penrith meant that they were still in need of a notable scalp to genuinely be back in the finals race.
How sweet it must have been to turn the tables on the Newcastle Knights after a four-point defeat in Round 9 where they scored five tries after half-time to take a narrow lead only to go down in the final minutes.
This time it was the Knights on the second-half charge, with the last three tries of the game seeing them bring the score back from 26-6 to 26-24, but they ultimately fell one short.
It was their first victory over another top-eight side since Round 10 (36-12 Cronulla), and there was special praise from Wayne Bennett for Jye Gray after Gray had been dropped to 20th man only to slot into the wing on matchday because of an injury suffered by initial starter Dayne Jennings.
With just two wins separating second and ninth on the ladder, it could turn out to be an immensely handy victory for sixth-placed Rabbitohs as they head into a potentially tricky period starting off with an away trip to Canberra, who themselves celebrated one of their best performances of the season in Round 19.
The big losers of Round 19
Given the compactness of the battle for the top-eight at present, it is perhaps the worst possible time to endure a worrying losing streak.
Benji Marshall's side found themselves 14-0 down inside 20 minutes at home to the Warriors and there was no turning back from there.
They surprised almost everybody with their 5-2 start to the season but have not been able to sustain it with eight losses from their next ten matches, even suffering the embarrassment of going down to the last-placed Dragons last round for the third of their four-game losing streak.
To make matters worse, the club is threatening to implode following rumours of a rift between Marshall and star half Jarome Luai, who is being let go one-season early ahead of his 2028 arrival at PNG Chiefs.
It's probably entirely coincidental that the side have lost eight of ten matches since Luai announced his future move to Papua New Guinea, but it is nonetheless a very unwelcome distraction for a fanbase looking to find fault and blame for some unacceptable on-field performances.
Amongst the top of the table for unwanted stats such as missed tackles, short dropouts and handling errors, it's clear that there are plenty of skill deficiencies that need to be addressed in the long-term.
Team of the Week
As always, our Team of the Week deliberations are assisted by individual player scores from the official NRL.com fantasy game.
A special shout out goes to young Raiders hooker Owen Pattie, who made a very strong case for selection in the number nine shirt this week.
Who scored a brace this week?
Zac Hosking had never scored more than one try in a first grade game and now he can boast a career hat trick after registering his second, third and fourth tries of 2026 in the Raiders thumping win over the Bulldogs.
But the weekend - at least as far as the try scoring was concerned - was all about Daniel Tupou, who had to wait seven gruelling weeks for his 300th appearance and capped it off in style with his seventh career hat trick.
Amongst the doubles also at the weekend were Alofiana Khan-Pereira (Warriors), Kalyn Ponga (Knights), Jason Saab (Sea Eagles), Braidon Burns (Cowboys) and the Sharks quartet of KL Iro, Nicho Hynes, Jesse Ramien and Sione Katoa.
Try of the Week
The naughty boys
Bunty Afoa faces a one-week ban for a late hit on Warrior Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad unless he can successfully appeal a Grade 2 charge.
Potential suspensions:
Bunty Afoa (Wests Tigers) - Dangerous contact - 1 or 2 matches
Tom Chester (Cowboys) - Careless high tackle - $3000 fine or 2 matches
High-range fines:
Lehi Hopoate (Sea Eagles) - Careless high tackle - $1800 or $2500 fine
Low-range fines:
Cameron Murray (Rabbitohs) - Careless high tackle - $1000 or $1500 fine
Sione Katoa (Sharks) - Careless high tackle - $1000 or $1500 fine
Jake Trbojevic (Sea Eagles) - Dangerous contact - $1000 or $1500 fine
James Fisher-Harris (Warriors) - Dangerous contact - $1000 or $1500 fine
Jordan Samrani (Eels) - Shoulder charge - $1000 or $1500 fine
Oryn Keeley (Storm) - Tripping - $1000 or $1500 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.
