THE SHARKS	GAME 2	MANLY SEA-EAGLES
32	Saturday, 19th of June 1999	4
Tries	Referee : Bill Harrigan	Tries
S Ryan	Venue : Shark Park	A Frew
N Graham	Crowd : 13,164
B Howland	Half Time : 16-4 The Sharks
C Best
S Donato
A Ettingshausen
Goals		Goals
B Stanley 4/6		A Brown 0/1
COMMENTS : The Sharks powered to the front of the competition with a dominant display over the depleted Sea-Eagles. In ET's 300th game (being only the 4th ever player to reach the mark) he scored a try in the 2nd last minute to fulfil the perfect script and to give the Sharks an easy victory. Other than ET inspiring feat, Nick Graham had a solid game from lock, and Colin Best, with an impressive solo try was also a stand-out.Manly missed their Origin players and are 99% certain to miss out on the finals. The Sharks, even without several leading players, played excellently and will want to carry their form through to next weeks vital clash against the Eels.

PARRAMATTA EELS	GAME 3	CANBERRA RAIDERS
12	Saturday, 19th of June 1999	4
Tries	Referee : Steven Clark	Tries
C Schifcofske	Venue : Bruce Stadium
D Kidwell	Crowd : 14,541
	Half Time : 4-0 Canberra
Goals		Goals
C Schifcofske 2/2		L Williamson 2/2
COMMENTS : I attended this match on a 'fine' Canberra winter evening. It was also my first time in the 'New' Bruce Stadium. I was impressed with the facilities and the view, and the game was even better. You might have though otherwise after the first half though. In a try-less dour struggle the only points came from some Oscar award winning acting from Brett Mullins. During 2 high kicks from the Raiders, Mullins claimed to be taken out for each one when he was given a bump..... if that! His theatrical falls to the ground gave the Raiders 2 penalty goals from almost right in front. Mullins almost dived pover for a 4 pointer in the first half as well, but was centimetres over the in-goal line. The second half started well for the Eels, and the first 10 minutes set the tone for the rest of the game. A perfectly placed and timed kick from Dean Schiffiliti was taken by, Man of the Match, Clinton Schifcofske who went over for the first 4 pointer. He converted his own goal and from then on Parramatta must have had 75% of the possession. The Eels repeatedly attacked the Raiders goal line, but the to Canberra's credit, they didn't break until the last 5 minutes when Kidwell cut down the wing and trampled over several Raiders on his way to a great individual try. This try was the nail in the coffin for the Raiders and the end of a low scoring yet entertaining struggle. After the game, Raiders coach meninga complained about Clark's refereeing and is certain to incur a $10,000 fine for himself and the club. Clark had a fairly mediocre game with some decisions being a little questionable. However Meninga can't blame the referee for his teams performance. Canberra were outplayed all over the park and the better team won on the night. Justin Morgan made an impressive return of 1st grade, and rookie fullback, Daniel Vaealiki was solid at the back. Andrew MacFadden was the best in the losing side.

AUCKLAND WARRIORS	GAME 4	CANTERBURY BULLDOGS
30	Saturday, 19th of June 1999	10
Tries	Referee : Paul McBlane	Tries
N Vagana	Venue : Ericsson Stadium	D Britt
J Vagana	Crowd : 8,954	D Halligan
O Manuel	Half Time : 14-4 Auckland
S Hoppe
S Jones
Goals		Goals
J Simon 3/4		D Halligan 1/2
C Doherty 0/3
COMMENTS : The new captain of the Warriors had played 1 game for them previous to this match. He had only played 2 games in first grade all season. In past years he has played for NSW and Australia. 2 weeks ago he was dropped from a top 8 side. In this game he was the Man of the Match and combined superbly with his halfback, Stacey Jones. The player is John Simon, and people who said that he was past it should look again. Together with quality youngster, Stacey Jones, they went about destroying the Bulldogs who had won 7 in a row before this match. That was brought to a stunning halt through the almost fault-less Warriors display. Robert Mears played well against his old club as well. He is another player discarded and picked up by the Warriors. We'll have to start calling them the Orphanage of the NRL!

BALMAIN TIGERS	GAME 5	PENRITH PANTHERS
24	Sunday, 20th of June 1999	16
Tries	Referee : Matt Hewitt	Tries
J Carlaw	Venue : Leichhardt Oval	A Hinson
W Rothery	Crowd : 6,033	G Alexander
A Nable	Half Time : 11-4 Balmain	C Hicks
S Dunley
Goals		Goals
S Nevin 3/4		C Hicks 2/3
COMMENTS : After a Shayne Dunley try in the 25th minute, Balmain were the leaders for the remainder of the game. But this was close to not being the case after a bust by Craig Gower. He sprinted through a gap in the 28th minute and looked certain to score, however he didn't account for a diving Shannon Nevin who took him down around the ankles just short of the line. It appeared that Gower's momentum took him over the line legally, but referee Hewitt thought otherwise and disallowed the try calling it a double movement. Gower was pretty pissed, but replays showed that the right decision was made because Gowers arm hit the ground before reaching out over the try line. Balmain played inspired football for the rest of the match with Craig Field standing out as well as Darren Senter and Jason Lowrie. Penrith were their own worst enemies with 21 dropped balls or bad passes. Injuries have hit the Panthers again though with MacGillivray fracturing a cheekbone, and Nigel Gaffey hurting his knee and back.

NORTH SYDNEY BEARS	GAME 6	SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
24	Sunday, 20th of June 1999	12
Tries	Referee : Paul Simpkins	Tries
J Goddard	Venue : Sydney Football Stadium	J Loomans
N Roy	Crowd : 9,505	B Rodwell
G Larson	Half Time : 12-8 South Sydney
M Seers
Goals		Goals
J Taylor 4/5		J O'Neill 2/3
COMMENTS : South Sydney's coach, Craig Coleman, has said that he is considering making a comeback to play halfback for his Rabbitohs after Souths went down to the Bears in an entertaining game at the Sydney Football Stadium. Souths lead 12-8 at half time, but thanks to some wide running from Glenn Morrison and the usual tactical play from Jason Taylor, the Norths lifted themselves out of a slump to record an important victory. The win places the Bears 2 wins out of the 8 and still a chance to be there in September. Meanwhile Souths drop out of the 8, however they are still on the edge and can pick themselves up with a bye next week followed by a match against the out of form Panthers.

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS	GAME 7	NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
24	Sunday, 20th of June 1999	8
Tries	Referee : Sean Hampstead	Tries
M Hughes	Venue : Marathon Stadium	M Ryan
D Albert	Crowd : 16,508
T Tahu	Half Time : 12-8 Newcastle
D Buderus
B Peden
Goals		Goals
J Holbrook 2/6		N Goldthorpe 2/2
COMMENTS : Another dominating performance from the finals-bound Knights. Even without their origin stars they looked classy against the Cowboys who, it has to be said, are coming last. Matthew Johns peformed admirably in the absence of his brother, whilst the other backs, Gidley Hughes and Craigie were all impressive. However the star of the Knights was 'Butts' Tony Butterfield, playing in his 200th First Grade game he toiled brilliantly from the front row with powerful running and tricky off loads. North Queensland tried hard but were definitely out muscled and out talented by the Knight side that is improving with leaps and bounds from their earlier performances this season.

ST.GEORGE-ILLAWARRA DRAGONS	GAME 8	WESTERN SUBURBS MAGPIES
44	Sunday, 20th of June 1999	4
Tries	Referee : Brian Grant	Tries
M Coyne	Venue : WIN Stadium	B Hodgson
R Wishart	Crowd : 11,117
W Bartrim	Half Time : 14-4 St.George-Illawarra
B Mackay
C Ward
C Fitzgibbon
J Hooper
Goals		Goals
W Bartrim 6/7
C Fitzgibbon 2/2
COMMENTS : What can be said about this one? The Saints were just too good. Like I have said before, when the Dragons click, they really CLICK! This was one of those games where everything they did tuyrned to gold and the Maggies had no answers. One surprise however was the performance of Jason Hooper. A virtual unknown Illawarra Junior who came on as a replacement and ended up being the player of the game. Brad Mackey also played well whilst Harvey Howard was the Magpies best.