NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS	GAME 2	SYDNEY CITY ROOSTERS
32	Saturday, 26th of June 1999	18
Tries	Referee : Paul Simpkins	Tries
S Prince	Venue : Sydney Football Stadium	R Cross
J Doyle	Crowd : 4,029	R Miles
S Valentine	Half Time : 16-6 North Queensland	N Wood
D Smith
B Jellick
Goals		Goals
N Goldthorpe 6/7		I Cleary 3/3
COMMENTS : In the most amazing upset this season, the Cowboys defeated the Roosters in Sydney and without Paul Green or Brett Hetherington. The Roosters were without Fittler and Lam, but Cleary made a successful return from his hip injury and they should ahve won easily on paper. However the Cowboys came out full of fire and confidence with Scott Prince starring and Noel Goldthorpe having a solid game. It was a poor game from the Roosters and they will have to regroup especially as they are without Lam for another week after the clubs decision to stand him down until his shoulder has fully recovered, and Fittler still has at least 4 more weeks before he could come back.

AUCKLAND WARRIORS	GAME 3	BALMAIN TIGERS
22	Saturday, 26th of June 1999	4
Tries	Referee : Brian Grant	Tries
L Swann 2	Venue : Ericsson Stadium
N Vagana	Crowd : 5,000
J Seuseu	Half Time : 4-0 Balmain
O Manuel
Goals		Goals
J Simon 1/5		S Nevin 2/2
COMMENTS : The Warriors scored back to back wins for the first time this season with an inspired second half performance over the maligned Tigers. After a scrappy first 40 in which the Tigers could only manage 2 penalty goals, the Warriors came out in the 2nd and produced some fine footy to completely outplay Balmain. The new half combination of Jones and Simon seems to be working wonders, whilst Logan Swann scored a double and was impressive throughout. Both teams have little or no chance of making the finals, but the Warriors are trying to save some face after the flack they have received from the Sydney press over their 5 year NRL licence. The Tigers on the other hand have really collapsed after a promising start to the year, and now look certain to merge with either Wests, Canterbury or Parramatta.

BRISBANE BRONCOS	GAME 4	PENRITH PANTHERS
19	Saturday, 26th of June 1999	6
Tries	Referee : Tim Mander	Tries
S Renouf 2	Venue : Penrith Football Stadium	S Sattler
T Carroll	Crowd : 10,004
	Half Time : 8-0 Brisbane
Goals		Goals
B Walker 3/6		C Hicks 1/1
D Lockyer 1 Field Goal
COMMENTS : Brisbane have won 5 on the trot. Scary hey? Especially during Origin time, which has been traditionally a bad time for the Broncos, they seem to have come through unscathed and look to be roaring towards a possible Finals spot. But can they make it? On 17 points they are only 1.5 wins out of the 8 and with the form they are producing, who would doubt it? But there is still 9 weeks until the finals, and there are still teams like Souths, Canberra and North Sydney who are vying for a spot. Steve Renouf produced a vintage game in this encounter, scoring 2 tries, one of which involved him dodging and weaving past 5 Panthers before diving over in the corner. Brisbane were also without Walter and Tallis for this game which makes that little bit more scary as well.

CANBERRA RAIDERS	GAME 5	CANTERBURY BULLDOGS
18	Sunday, 27th of June 1999	2
Tries	Referee : Bill Harrigan	Tries
K Nagas	Venue : Stadium Australia
M McLinden	Crowd : 12,811
J Croker	Half Time : 2-2
Goals		Goals
David Furner 2/3		D Halligan 1/2
B Pearson 1/1
COMMENTS : In this dour struggle, both sides had the chances to win, but Canberra had the luck and the bigger determination to get over the line. After a tryless first half that resembled an arm wrestle, both sides came out pumped up in the 2nd half, but it still took 20 minutes for a try to be scored. Canterbury looked to have the first big chance, but a contentious decision from Harrigan saw no penalty for an offside tackle and Canberra got off the hook. In the end in cam down to 3 quality tries in the last 20 minutes against a tiring Bulldogs that just couldn't match the intensity. Ben Kennedy had a top game for the winners, whilst the slick Silva was the Bulldogs best. Canberra's halves were impressive. McLinden, McFadden and Finch all played well.

MELBOURNE STORM	GAME 6	MANLY SEA-EAGLES
19	Sunday, 27th of June 1999	18
Tries	Referee : Steven Clark	Tries
B Kimmorley 2	Venue : Brookvale Oval	A Torrens
B Roarty	Crowd : 7,084	S Menzies
	Half Time : 12-8 Melbourne	J Hopoate
Goals		Goals
M Geyer 3/5		A Brown 3/4
B Kimmorley 1 Field Goal
COMMENTS : The closeness of the score was the only thing that made this game interesting. It was sloppy, ugly game that Melbourne were lucky to get away with. However Brett Kimmorley was the standout player of the match and deservedly received the Man of the Match accolades plus the fact that he scored the winning poitns with a 37 metre field goal in the 77th minute. However it was a Matt Geyer tackle on John Hopoate seconds from full time that sealed the match for the Storm. Both sides played very lack-lustre and seemed to need a 'pep pill' to wake them up. In the end Kimmorley was the difference though as Manly remain in the cellar of the ladder.

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS	GAME 7	WESTERN SUBURBS MAGPIES
48	Sunday, 27th of June 1999	10
Tries	Referee : Matt Hewitt	Tries
M Hughes 3	Venue : Marathon Stadium	C Marland
S Conley 2	Crowd : 14,869	S Coxon
D Albert	Half Time : 20-0 Newcastle
M Gidley
S Rudder
D Buderus
Goals		Goals
A Johns 6/9		S McMenemy 1/2
COMMENTS : 2 consolation tries to the Magpies gave them something to talk about, but the Magpies were completely out classed in this 10 try to 2 romp. After the first try in the 6th minute, the Knights just piled the points on and didn't look like stopping. Clinton O'Brien was a standout for them, whilst Andrew Johns was his usual self and Mark Hughes equalled the club record for tries in a match with a hat-trick plus a sold game on the wing. There was not much that the Maggies could do especially with Skandalis and Howard out through injury plus an injury to Brett Hodgson in the first half. The Knights are now 3rd on the ladder and look real threats to taking home a piece of metal in September

ST.GEORGE-ILLAWARRA DRAGONS	GAME 8	NORTH SYDNEY BEARS
20	Sunday, 27th of June 1999	12
Tries	Referee : Sean Hampstead	Tries
R Wishart 2	Venue : North Sydney Oval	N Roy
J Ainscough	Crowd : 6,774	M Buettner
N Blacklock	Half Time : 12-10 North Sydney
Goals		Goals
W Bartrim 2/4		J Taylor 2/2
COMMENTS : Can they bear it? North Sydney have again tumbled to a demoralising loss, and this time the off field dramas are almost certainly hurting their onfield performances. There is no love lost between coach Peter Louis and captain Jason Taylor, who have been involved in verbal wars for most of the season. According to Taylor, assistant coach Keiren Dempsey has been doing the bulk of the coaching. Add this to the fact that their new home ground is not ready and that they are looking to miss the cut for the 14 team comp and you have a side about to self-destruct. They can bearly make the 8 even if they win the majority of their games, and look tohave thrown away another season. The Dragons on the other hand are looking better and will have their full complement of players to choose from after next weeks bye. Wishart scored a neat double in this game after some uncharacteristic mistakes that lead to Bears tries. Jamie Ainscough was a special for the Dragons, whilst Matt Seers made some outstanding plays from fullback for the the Bears. The Dragons now move to 5th on the ladder and add to the congestion.