The big winners of Round 5 were...
Melbourne Storm answered the critics with an enormous 48-24 win over the previously 3-1 Manly Sea Eagles to retain their record of not having lost consecutive competitive matches since March 2023.
Jahrome Hughes returned after missing just two weeks with a broken hand and played a crucial role by gaining 114 metres, making 14 tackles and assisting two tries - all despite head coach Craig Bellamy's assertions that he was not even slightly pressured by the medical or coaching teams to return ahead of schedule.
The versatile Grant Anderson has shown himself to be a significant and perhaps underrated addition to a star-studded backline, and the news for Bellamy and Storm fans got even better after the game when Ryan Papenhuyzen revealed during a radio post-game interview that he left the field early only because of a 'corky' in the backside, rather than any significant damage.
South Sydney gets an honourable mention in this section owing to their achievement of becoming the third side of the season to notch up four victories after their defence conceded fewer than 20 points for the fourth time already.
But the weekend wasn't all rosy for the red and green: they've lost three players - Mikaele Ravalawa, Cody Walker and Jamie Humphreys - to hamstring injuries.
The big losers of Round 5 were...
St George Illawarra became the first team of the competition to lose to last placed Parramatta Eels, and it came with the embarrassment of blowing an 18-8 lead in the second half.
It was the second time in three weeks that they collapsed horribly, having also led 24-12 and looked home and hosed at home to the Rabbitohs. On that occasion, Valentine Holmes didn't seem to have his kicking boots on, so on a better day they would have been 30-12 in front and able to sustain the South Sydney surge.
They're moving closer to the trio of Sydney, Parramatta and Dolphins in wooden spoon markets off the back of three inconsistent performances.
Six of their next seven games are against teams currently above them in the standings, even though they're in a mid-table 12th, so things could get markedly ugly in the next two months if head coach Shane Flanagan can't pull things together with an inexperienced spine that he has backed to learn on the job.
Dally M Medal race
Cronulla Sharks prop Addin Fonua-Blake picked up the maximum six-votes in their narrow loss to Canberra Raiders, as did his fellow forward Pat Carrigan of the Brisbane Broncos.
Rabbitoh star Latrell Mitchell collected three votes for his try assist in addition to perfect night with the boot (4/4). His teammate Jye Gray is gunning to become the first South Sydney player in 45 years to take out the prestigious honour.
Try of the Week
Sebastian Kris' last tackle winner for the Canberra Raiders on Thursday night would probably take the cake for the composure shown by he and his teammates during such a high-pressure situation (not to mention the absolute limbs in the stands), but this link-up between three Melbourne Storm guns was very hard to go past, particularly for the afterburners shown by Papenhuyzen.
