Around the Grounds: Round 6

As the entire NRL celebrated Beanie for Brain Cancer Round, it was a weekend filled with plenty of intriguing results and storylines.

The Sydney Roosters continued their good form to hand the Parramatta Eels their first loss of the year, while Penrith and Newcastle both continued their strong starts to the year with wins over the Storm and Broncos respectively.

St. George-Illawarra claimed their second win of the year with a strong performance to down the Gold Coast Titans, while Wests Tigers showed their attacking nous to pile on 34 unanswered first-half points to triumph over the Cowboys.

Newcastle Knights 27 def. Brisbane Broncos 6

Judiciary — Thomas Flegler (1 week), Patrick Carrigan (1 week)

Injuries — No injuries reported.

Up Next — Broncos vs. Titans (Saturday), Cowboys vs. Knights (Saturday)

After heavy defeats in consecutive weeks, it was another tough night for Brisbane on Thursday as the Knights cruised to a comfortable win at home. 

Suspensions to Patrick Carrigan and Thomas Flegler will only hurt the Broncos further, while the Knights continue to surprise with their top four charge ahead of another winnable clash next Saturday against the Cowboys.

South Sydney Rabbitohs 40 def. NZ Warriors 12

Judiciary — Wayde Egan (1 week)

Injuries — Tom Amone (knee), Lachlan Burr (concussion), David Fusitu'a (concussion)

Up Next — Panthers vs. Rabbitohs (Thursday), Storm vs. Warriors (Friday)

South Sydney continued to flex their attacking muscle with another strong performance against the Warriors — less than seven days after they piled on the points against the Gold Coast Titans at Bankwest Stadium.

The loss was compounded further for the Warriors with news post-match that Coach Stephen Kearney had been sacked, effective immediately.

Penrith Panthers 21 def. Melbourne Storm 14

Judiciary — Jarome Luai (0 weeks)

Injuries — No injuries reported.

Up Next — Panthers vs. Rabbitohs (Thursday), Storm vs. Warriors (Friday)

The Panthers squandered a late last week to Parramatta but there would be no case of deja vu this time around as Ivan Cleary's side posted arguably their finest win of the season to down the Melbourne Storm by seven points.

The loss is just Melbourne's second defeat of the season while Penrith find themselves inside the top four ahead of a fascinating clash against the Rabbitohs next week before taking on Wests Tigers the week after.

St. George-Illawarra Dragons 20 def. Gold Coast Titans 8

Judiciary — Jordan Pereira (3 weeks)

Injuries — Corey Thompson (jaw), Young Tonumaipea (knee), Phillip Sami (hamstring)

Up Next — Roosters vs. Dragons (Friday), Broncos vs. Titans (Saturday)

After breaking through for their maiden win of the season in Round 5, St. George-Illawarra made it back-to-back victories with a comfortable win over the Gold Coast Titans, who lost new recruit Corey Thompson to a jaw injury early in the contest.

Matt Dufty continued his good form with over 160 metres on the ground and had a hand in several tries while the Dragons halves also continued their resurgence.

Wests Tigers 36 def. North Queensland Cowboys 20

Judiciary — Harry Grant (0 weeks), Sam McIntyre (0 weeks), Josh Aloiai (fine)

Injuries — Robert Jennings (hamstring), Alex Twal (knee), Zane Musgrove (foot)

Up Next — Cowboys vs. Knights (Saturday), Bulldogs vs. Wests Tigers (Sunday)

Wests Tigers raced out of the blocks to post their biggest half time lead in over 15 years on Saturday night — leading the Cowboys 34-0 at Campbelltown — before taking the foot off the pedal to end up 16-point winners in the end.

Three game-ending injuries didn't help the cause for Michael Maguire's side, but the hosts will certainly have enjoyed being back in the winners' circle after disappointing defeats in the past fortnight. The Cowboys, however, slump to their third loss in a row and find themselves in a must-win game against the Knights next week.