Round Nine of the 2012 NRL season produced plenty of talking points.
The Eels continue to fail their fans as the Bulldogs tore them apart 46-12. Ben Barba broke through early, and Josh Morris finished off for his 50th career try, and from there, despite even possession, the Dogs ended their own losing streak easily.
The Cowboys smacked the Dragons 30-6. The standout moment of the match was the sending off of Matt Prior for elbowing Johnathan Thurston in the head, leaving the Queensland coaching staff sweating bullets over Thurston’s availability for the upcoming Origin opener.
The Warriors scored first against the Broncos with Ben Henry dotting down after a double round by Shaun Johnson. The Broncos answered with two tries but brutal defense, lead by Ben Matalino, kept the Warriors in control for a 30-20 victory
Hooker Nathan Friend played 75 minutes with a broken jaw, in arguably his best game so far.
The Gold Coast played the Tigers, in a disappointing game. The Tigers were un-deserved golden point winners 15-14 but should have lost to a Titans side that tried too hard to not lose.
Penrith looked good early against Melbourne, but the Storm eventually put the Panthers away easily 44-10 with 8 tries.
Manly beat the Raiders 18-12 at Brookvale in a tight game with plenty of wasted opportunities by both teams.
The Roosters, now in the top eight, won over injury-depleted Newcastle 24-6.
Cronulla captain Paul Gallen had a rough night at the office against Souths on Monday night after a citing for kneeing Souths prop David Taylor, throwing an intercept that led to a try, and leaving the game injured. Greg Inglis proved too hard to handle, scoring and setting up tries to lead the Bunnies to a victory 34-28