PENRITH PANTHERS	GAME 2	NORTH SYDNEY BEARS
20	Saturday, 24th of April 1999	18
Tries	Referee : Steven Clark	Tries
R Beckett 2	Venue : Penrith Football Stadium	M Buettner
R Girdler 2	Crowd : 13,328	S Trindall
	Half Time : 12-2 Penrith	J Wilson
Goals		Goals
R Girdler 2/5		J Taylor 3/4
COMMENTS : Once again, Ryan Girdler pounces! He had an outstanding game running in 2 crucial tries in the second half and setting up both of Becketts.After leading 12-2 at half time, Norths looked in trouble. But the Bears came back and scored 3 tries in 7 minutes to take a 18-12 lead with 10 minutes to go. Penrith didn't lie down though. Through the genius of Girdler, the Panthers got home in front of a decent home crowd.

MANLY SEA-EAGLES	GAME 3	PARRAMATTA EELS
12	Saturday, 24th of April 1999	6
Tries	Referee : Brian Grant	Tries
D Gartner	Venue : Brookvale Oval	D Moran
S Menzies	Crowd : 8,174
	Half Time : 8-0 Manly
Goals		Goals
A Brown 2/3		L Burt 1/1
COMMENTS : Wha? How? Que? That's what I thought when I saw the score in this game. Followed by a serious of expletives! Manly turned it all around to win their first game of the season against the Eels who had 4 players backing up (or not playing) from the game the night before. The commitment wasn't there and with a new coach at the helm, the Eagles wanted to impress. Now why couldn't they do it the preceding 7 weeks for Fulton? Crazy..

CRONULLA SHARKS	GAME 4	ST.GEORGE-ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
18	Sunday, 25th of April 1999	16
Tries	Referee : Sean Hampstead	Tries
D Peachey 2	Venue : Shark Park	N Blacklock
B Howland	Crowd : 22,279	A Mundine
	Half Time : 12-8 Cronulla	D Treacy
Goals		Goals
M Roger 3/5		W Bartrim 2/4
COMMENTS : A very entertaining game between 2 quality teams of 99. Mundine has really stamped his authority for the Dragons this year and gave another classic performance in this game. It wasn't enough though with David Peachey leading his team from the back. He had a strong game pushing of rep duties later in the year. The game could have been drawn, but Wayne Bartrim missed a conversion from an easy position with 2 minutes remaining. The Sharks deserved the win though.

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS	GAME 5	CANBERRA RAIDERS
21	Sunday, 25th of April 1999	21
Tries	Referee : Paul Simpkins	Tries
D Albert 3	Venue : Bruce Stadium	M McLinden
M Gidley	Crowd : 12,580	B Mullins
	Half Time : 16-6 Newcastle	B Kennedy
Goals		Goals
A Johns 2/4 - 1 Field Goal		L Williamson 4/5 - 1 Field Goal
COMMENTS : A great Anzac Day clash! Newcastle looked to have this game under control in the first half, but as Wazza Ryan says, "It was a game of 2 halves". True! Newcastle easily won the first half, but once again they showed that they tend to fall off in the 2nd half. If it wasn't for the video ref disallowing a McLinden try, Canberra could have won it! As it was it took a Luke Williamson field goal with 6 seconds to go to seal the draw. Albert has well and truly returned to form with a 3 try performance. Like usual the Johns boys showed off their combination that has won them so many games. Full credit to Canberra for coming back so well after last weeks thrashing.

BALMAIN TIGERS	GAME 6	WESTERN SUBURBS MAGPIES
28	Sunday, 25th of April 1999	16
Tries	Referee : Rod Lawrence	Tries
C Hancock 3	Venue : Leichhardt Oval	J Mills
J Webber	Crowd : 10,153	B Hodgson
J Carlaw	Half Time : 10-6 Balmain	S Georgallis
C Morcombe
Goals		Goals
J Caine 2/6		B Hodgson 2/3
COMMENTS : Balmain showed some great attack in this game, lead by the Kiwi player, Jason Lowrie. But the standout performance in this game came from Wests. Although they lost the game, they showed plenty of fight and heart. They look to have turned the corner in a horror season with last weeks win and this week pushing the Tigers right till the final hooter. The major blow for the Tigers however came when Craig Field, their new signing, broke his collarbone. He could be out for up to a month

NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS	GAME 7	BRISBANE BRONCOS
20	Sunday, 25th of April 1999	20
Tries	Referee : Matt Hewitt	Tries
K Tassell	Venue : Dairy Farmers Stadium	C Walker
K Warren	Crowd : 30,302	B Thorn
PBowman	Half Time : 14-10 North Queensland	G Tallis
		M Hancock
Goals		Goals
G Bourke 4/8		M Devere 1/2
		B Walker 1/1
COMMENTS : The Cowboys looked like they had the spark needed to beat the Broncos, and for most of the game, they were. It took a goal from the sideline after the siren had gone taken by Ben Walker, to salvage a draw for the Broncos. Once again, the Broncos lacked the killer instinct that they have had in previous years. You could forgive some players for being tired after the test match, but as a whole, the team didn't put in until it was REALLY needed. Darren Lockyer's part in the game ended after 3 minutes when he was hit heavily by Noa Nadruku and hit his head hard on the turf. He suffered concussion and a possilble fractured cheekbone. Well Done to the Cowboys for really putting it to the reigning premiers.

SYDNEY CITY ROOSTERS	GAME 8	CANTERBURY BULLDOGS
42	Monday, 26th of April 1999	6
Tries	Referee : Bill Harrigan	Tries
R Miles 2	Venue : Sydney Football Stadium	H El-Masri
M Sing 2	Crowd : 23,000+
A Lam	Half Time : 22-6 Sydney City
B Fittler
S Rigon
L Ricketson
Goals		Goals
A Walker 5/8		H El-Masri 1/2
COMMENTS : Canterbury have so far this year been inconsistant and hard to tip. Today only proved that theory with the Roosters running rampant. The Roosters are the easy premiership favourites and look to have the perfect combinations to go on with it. What team wouldn't want a Fittler, Lam, Fletcher, Sing? They will go on from here in leaps and bounds, while the Bulldogs will have to regroup after a sloppy start to the season.