A Shaun Johnson field goal in the 78th minute gives Cronulla a 19-18 win over Penrith, while Manly shows it can win without Tom Trbojevic via a 50-18 thrashing of North Queensland.
Check out how the action unfolded in our ScoreCentre.
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AAP: Dan Himbrechts
)Manly has claimed its biggest NRL win without Tom Trbojevic since his 2015 debut by thumping North Queensland 50-18 at Brookvale Oval.
Renowned for struggling without Trbojevic, who was rested following his three-try display in State of Origin I on Wednesday night, Manly’s attack unleashed on the Cowboys to comprehensively overturn a 12-0 deficit after just nine minutes.
The win marked just the Sea Eagles’ 10th in 33 games without Trbojevic since the start of 2019, and moved them two points clear of North Queensland in sixth place.
Such was their turnaround compared to the start of the season without Trbojevic, the Sea Eagles only scored 47 points without him in the first five rounds of the year.
The 50 points on Friday evening was the most they have scored without the star fullback since his 2015 NRL debut.
The margin of victory surpassed their previous biggest win without Trbojevic, which stood at just 20 points.
The Cowboys in comparison were horrible.
The visitors completed just 21 sets for the game, holding just 42 per cent of possession and missing 38 tackles.
Scott Drinkwater provided the only real highlights when he kicked for their first try and threw a two-man cut-out ball for their second.
Manly’s points rush began when Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran combined to put Brad Parker over on that edge.
Another came down that side when Parker earned a quick play-the-ball and Karl Lawton capitalised out of dummy half.
Parker scored another try from a long Cherry-Evans ball in the 77th minute.
On another occasion, Lachlan Croker caught the Cowboys short on their right to put Moses Suli through a gap, backing up himself inside.
Cherry-Evans, meanwhile, was superb on the night Manly honoured the late Bob Fulton.
The captain finished with four try assists, kicking once for a chasing Dylan Walker, another time for Kieran Foran as well as for Haumole Olakau’atu.
Incredibly, the big second-rower Olakau’atu scored twice from kicks, collecting another from Croker.
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