Luckless Warriors half Luke Metcalf has suffered yet another injury in a 40-6 defeat of Brisbane, who lost their own superstar Reece Walsh to a possibly season-ending ankle issue.
The third-placed Warriors drew level on competition points with Penrith in second place, but are now poised to lose another playmaker on the run to the NRL finals.
Metcalf clutched at his right hamstring after landing the conversion for the Warriors’ third try, and cut a devastated figure leaving the field in Brisbane on Saturday night.
Overlooked for most of the season, Metcalf had been playing only his second game since April after starring in last week’s defeat of the Panthers.
But the St George Illawarra recruit’s dream of leaving the Warriors as a premiership winner is now in doubt, just when he appeared back in favour at the Kiwi club.
It is the latest injury blow for Metcalf, who returned from his second anterior cruciate ligament rupture earlier this season, only to suffer a hamstring injury two weeks later.
Minutes before Metcalf’s new injury, Walsh was crunched in a hip-drop tackle that landed Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad in the sin bin.
Walsh initially attempted to play on, but in his next involvement he threw an intercept that allowed winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira to streak away and score.
He left the field as Khan-Pereira’s try put the Warriors up three scores and on the way to a fifth victory in six games.
Brisbane’s finals hopes are well and truly over, but Walsh’s injury may also impact his hopes of playing for Australia at the World Cup from October.
Earlier, the Warriors made a fast start and scored first as Jacob Laban grabbed Wayde Egan’s pass and snuck outside Ezra Mam to the tryline.
Metcalf batted the ball on for five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita to step twice through traffic and nab the Warriors’ second try.
The Warriors took a 20-0 lead into half-time and never looked likely to be chased down.
The Warriors’ Maori stars electrified after the break in Indigenous Round, with Nicoll-Klokstad touching down from a kick and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak finishing acrobatically in the right corner.
Left centre Leka Halasima crossed in the final five minutes to put the icing on the cake as the 16th-placed reigning premiers dropped a 12th game from 13 starts.
The Warriors may need to call on Luke Hanson for a second NRL game next week, given fellow halfback options Te Maire Martin (hamstring) and Tanah Boyd (knee) are both out.
Another option is to shift Nicoll-Klokstad from fullback and into the halves until Martin returns in coming weeks.
Cowboys lose to Eels after late penalty
The race for the NRL’s top eight is still alive after a controversial late penalty consigned North Queensland to a 32-30 loss to Parramatta at CommBank Stadium.
With a chance to lock in a finals spot beckoning, the Cowboys’ defence crumbled on Saturday night, allowing in six Eels tries.
The defining moment then came with four minutes to play, when Mitch Moses set up for a Parramatta field goal with scores locked at 30-30.
The Eels halfback eventually ran it on the last, was ankle-tapped by Heilum Luki and spilled the ball forward while falling.
But Moses reviewed the call, and the bunker found he had been collected in the head by Tom Chester while just inches above the ground.
The result means Canterbury are still alive in the race for the finals, albeit still two points behind the Cowboys and with North Queensland having a bye next week.
Manly also remain in the hunt, but would need to win their last three and have the Cowboys drop their final two games at home against Wests Tigers and Canberra.
As tough as the late penalty may have been for North Queensland, their defence remains a massive issue just weeks out from the finals.
A fortnight after leaking 82 points to the Sydney Roosters, it was poor again on Saturday night.
The tone was set when Parramatta winger Brian Kelly went 60 metres from the opening kick-off, while the Cowboys also conceded six first-half penalties.
The Cowboys lost to the Eels at Commbank stadium. (Getty Images: Darrian Traynor)
Luki could also find himself in trouble with the match review committee, after being sin-binned in the opening half for a high shot on Luca Moretti.
There is no doubt North Queensland’s attack has the spark to put points on, with halfback Jaxon Purdue again impressing.
He put on a long cut-out ball for a Braidon Burns try in the first half, then stepped Teancum Brown and fullback Apa Twidle for a second-half try of his own.
Reed Mahoney also starred out of dummy-half, burrowing over for the night’s first try, before going short to Reuben Cotter and putting him over after the break.
The Cowboys also put on one of the tries of the year with scores locked at 24-24, with the ball going from right to left and back to the right through five passes and two kicks before Chester crossed.
Not to be outdone, Parramatta also had plenty of attacking flair.
It was big prop Junior Paulo who responded to level the scores at 30-30, with a lofted 35-metre cut-out ball in the lead-up to a Jordan Samrani try.
Moses also had three try assists and broke through the line in the lead-up to a Tallyn Da Silva penalty try.
And his off-contract halves partner Ronald Volkman again pushed his case for another deal, scoring one try and putting a grubber-kick in for a Josh Addo-Carr four-pointer.
Sharks stumble as Dolphins stay in NRL’s vital top four
Cronulla have blown a huge opportunity to move back into the NRL’s top four with a painful and potentially fatal 24-20 loss to lowly Canberra.
Star Sharks playmaker Braydon Trindall also suffered a dislocated shoulder as the Dolphins held on to the all-important fourth spot with three rounds remaining before the finals.
Cronulla will rue not finding a match-winner despite being camped on Canberra’s line, set after set, for the final 10 minutes.
But the Sharks’ mounting injury toll will be of equal concern for coach Craig Fitzgibbon, who has now watched his faltering side fumble and bumble their way to consecutive losses to sides well out of finals contention.
Trindall lasted less than 10 minutes before trudging off.
Initial reports were promising, with the shoulder quickly put back in.
But with the Sharks leading 8-0 and looking strong, Fitzgibbon opted not to risk their key playmaker any longer.
It may have been the wrong move as the Raiders wrestled back control and momentum.
Already without suspended forward enforcer Addin Fonua-Blake and injured centre Jesse Ramien, suddenly the Sharks were looking significantly understrength and vulnerable.
The afternoon had started brightly enough for Cronulla, with a Nicho Hynes penalty preceding a lovely chip-and-regather try for Trindall in the fifth minute.
But from 8-0 up, the Sharks lost their way after Trindall was forced off.
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First, winger Xavier Savage steamed on to a beautiful long ball from Kaeo Weekes, then Owen Pattie wriggled his way over to suddenly put Canberra ahead 12-8 after 15 minutes.
Things were looking grim for the Sharks when winger Jed Stuart collected a double cut-out pass from Ethan Strange to stroll over and extend the Raiders’ lead to 10 points.
But with their top-four hopes — and history would suggest — title prospects on the line, the Sharks regrouped with a much-needed reply from Teig Wilton off a short ball from Nicho Hynes.
The hosts should have snatched the lead after the half-time siren, only for Briton Nikora to ignore a three-on-one overlap on the right edge.
The Sharks, though, were first to score after the break when Will Kennedy swooped to score, before handing the momentum back to Canberra through a soft Joseph Tapine try under the sticks.
There was a huge moment with seven minutes remaining when video replays looked to have shown Ronaldo Mulitalo contorting his body and planting the ball down for a match-levelling try.
But The Bunker went with referee Gerard Sutton’s on-field “no try” call.
The near-miss proved Cronulla’s last chance as consecutive defeats to last-placed St George Illawarra and now Canberra leave the Sharks likely needing to beat Gold Coast, Parramatta and Melbourne to earn a double-chance in the play-offs.
No team has ever won the premiership in the NRL era from outside the top four.
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