MANLY SEA-EAGLES	GAME 2	NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
26	Saturday, 8th of May 1999	22
Tries	Referee : Rod Lawrence	Tries
B Reeves	Venue : Brookvale Oval	P Green 2
D Gartner	Crowd : 7,973	P Bowman
S Menzies	Half Time : 12-8 North Qld.	J Doyle
A Torrens
Goals		Goals
A Brown 5/5		N Goldthorpe 2/2
		G Bourke 1/1
		J Doyle 0/1
COMMENTS : Did I mention that Manly were back? After looking down and out with 20 minutes to play and trailing by 14, the Sea-Eagles decided that they had better start playing like the team they are. Cliff Lyons sparked the comeback that saw the Sea-Eagles score 10 points in 10 minutes and eventually win the game. The Cowboys were playing well, and would be disappointed at letting the lead slip. Manly now look dangerous, but have a long way to go!

MELBOURNE STORM	GAME 3	WESTERN SUBURBS MAGPIES
62	Saturday, 8th of May 1999	6
Tries	Referee : Sean Hampstead	Tries
M Geyer 4	Venue : Lathlain Park, Perth	Kevin McGuiness
R Ross 3	Crowd : 8,236?
B Kimmorley	Half Time : 12-6 Melbourne
A Moule
R Bawden
T Martin
Goals		Goals
M Geyer 9/13		B Hodgson 1/2
COMMENTS : Last week against the Bulldogs, Wests played pretty well in a losing side and they went into this game with the same attitude and were playing well at half time, although their only try had come through an intercept. The second half was a different story. The Storm went into overdrive and SMASHED the Maggies. Matt Geyer had a field day, scoring 34 points for the game. That gives Melbourne the best offensive record in the League, and Wests the worst!

PENRITH PANTHERS	GAME 4	ST.GEORGE-ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
27	Saturday, 8th of May 1999	6
Tries	Referee : Tim Mander	Tries
C Gower	Venue : Penrith Football Stadium	A Mundine
G Alexander	Crowd : 19,133
R Beckett	Half Time : 18-0 Penrith
Goals		Goals
R Girdler 7/8		W Bartrim 1/1
COMMENTS : A huge crowd and a huge win for the Panthers. They did it in style with 3 super tries and Girdler's boot. The Dragons were outplayed all over the paddock by an enthusiastic Panthers team that saw Alexander lead the way. Craig Gower should take the Blues Hooker spot with this display.

PARRAMATTA EELS	GAME 5	AUCKLAND WARRIORS
28	Saturday, 8th of May 1999	6
Tries	Referee : ?	Tries
D Kidwell	Venue : Parramatta Stadium	W Koopu
S Kelly	Crowd : 13,087
D Weston	Half Time : 22-0 Parramatta
I Hindmarsh
L Burt
Goals		Goals
L Burt 4/5		M Ridge 1/1
COMMENTS : Not too tough for the Eels in this game. Auckland were hopeless in the first half, while Parramatta switched off in the second. Parra would have liked to have kicked on though, and I'm Brian Smith will mention it to them. A better team could have taken advantage of Parramatta's relaxes second half. Michael Vella had a top game, while the conductor, Jason Smith had a quality game like usual.

CANTERBURY BULLDOGS	GAME 6	CANBERRA RAIDERS
18	Sunday, 9th of May 1999	14
Tries	Referee : Steven Clark	Tries
B Clyde	Venue : Bruce Stadium	D Furner
G Hughes	Crowd : 12,098	M McLinden
	Half Time : 12-8 Canterbury
Goals		Goals
D Halligan 5/5		L Williamson 3/3
COMMENTS : This is a game that Canberra let get away. As was shown by Coach Meningas frustration after the game. (Didn't he say Truck?) It was a see-sawing game, but Canterbury clung onto the 4 point win after Glen Hughes ran in the easiest of tries with 16 minutes to go. Darren Smith played in the second row for this game, and was impressive. He may push for a second row spot in the State of Origin. Bradley Clyde had a quality game against his former club of 11 years. He showed that he still had plenty left in him.

SYDNEY CITY ROOSTERS	GAME 7	BRISBANE BRONCOS
26	Sunday, 9th of May 1999	16
Tries	Referee : Matt Hewitt	Tries
M Sing	Venue : ANZ Stadium	L Priddis
N Wood	Crowd : 29,273	B Thorn
B Fittler	Half Time : 12-6 Sydney City	B Walker
L Ricketson
Goals		Goals
A Walker 5/5		B Walker 2/3
COMMENTS : Sydney City showed their ascendancy early in this game racing to 20-6 lead, but Brisbane showed great courage to come back within 4 points before a Shane Webcke mistake off a kickoff allowed Luke Ricketson to score the match winner. Ben Walker played well in Langers shoes, while the Lam, Fittler, Ricketson combination worked perfectly. Brisbane remain on the bottom of the ladder, although without a bye yet this year.

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS	GAME 8	NORTH SYDNEY BEARS
32	Sunday, 9th of May 1999	16
Tries	Referee : Brian Grant	Tries
J Moodie	Venue : Marathon Stadium	M Buettner
D Buderus	Crowd : 16,876	B Dallas
A Johns	Half Time : 16-12 Newcastle	N Roy
P Shiels
S Rudder
D Albert
Goals		Goals
A Johns 4/7		J Taylor 2/4
COMMENTS : The Nomadic Bears needed a victory in this game to stem their slide from grace. Unfortunately for them, it was not to be with a slick Newcastle side running away with this game in the second half, but not without some luck! In a highly controversial game, the video ref was called on no less than 3 times to make decisions and some would say that it got them all wrong. It is getting to a situation similar to the NFL where the video ref was abolished after it took too long, and usually got it wrong anyway! Newcastle were lead brilliantly by Andrew Johns, while his brother also had an impressive game. Ben Ikin was the only standout in the losing side.