Rugby League | News page 2 | Aussie Punter

The final match of the 2011 NRL regular-season sees league leaders Melbourne travel to the Sydney Football Stadium to take on the 12th place Roosters on Sunday night, with the redemption-seeking Storm all-but certain to claim the minor premiership - even if they suffer an unlikely loss. The scars of last year's much publicised salary cap scandal seem to have well and truly healed for Melbourne, who had recorded an ominous 12 consecutive wins prior to last weekend's spiteful top-of-the-table clash...

Third place Brisbane will take on second place Manly for the second time at Suncorp Stadium this year, when the two sides meet on Sunday afternoon in what is being billed as the final home game for retiring Broncos legend Darren Lockyer. Brisbane are nearing top form as they head towards this year's finals series, having won five consecutive games since their 26-6 loss to league leaders Melbourne in Round 20. Rookie coach Anthony Griffin has named an unchanged line-up from last weekend's win over...

Canterbury's slender playoff hopes hinge on whether they can record a thrashing over the visiting Raiders at ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon, as the Bulldogs look to sneak into eighth place and extend the career of retiring captain Andrew Ryan for at least one more week. The home side's 2011 campaign appeared done and dusted last weekend, before staging a remarkable comeback against eighth place Newcastle, coming from 16 points down at half-time to record a 32-22 win. Halfback Trent Hodkinson...

Gold Coast and Parramatta will lock horns in a bottom of the table showdown at Skilled Park on Saturday night, with the loser to be left with the unwanted title of 2011 wooden spooners. The Titans are coming off a 39-10 thumping at the hands of the Wests Tigers on Monday night and will need to overcome a short turn-around if they hope to register what will be just their seventh win of the season. While the visiting Eels are coming off their seventh consecutive loss - a 13-12 golden point defeat...

Cronulla will be determined to finish what has been a disappointing 2011 campaign on a high note in front of their home fans, when they take on the high-flying Wests Tigers at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night. Last weekend's 28-20 loss to North Queensland was the 13th place Sharks' seventh straight defeat and their 16th of the season, leaving them just three points clear of bottom place Parramatta. Former Tiger Dean Collis has again been named to start at right centre ahead of Ben Pomeroy - who...

The Warriors and Cowboys will both be desperate to avoid a loss - which would mean a likely seventh place finish and a first-up, sudden-death finals match away to either Melbourne, Manly or Brisbane next week - when the two teams clash at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night. Last Sunday New Zealand suffered just their second defeat in their past eight games, going down 26-22 to defending premiers St George Illawarra at WIN Stadium, which leaves the seventh place Warriors two points behind North...

Defending premiers St George Illawarra will be out to keep their slim hopes of finishing in fourth spot and claiming a home semi-final alive, when they kick-off the final round of the regular-season against 11th place Penrith at Wollongong's WIN Stadium on Friday night. The sixth place Dragons were forced to come from behind against New Zealand last Sunday, eventually running out 26-22 winners to notch up their first win six weeks. While the Panthers also brought a five-game losing run of their...

Finals football starts a week early this year, with Newcastle and South Sydney set to do battle in a sudden-death encounter at Ausgrid Stadium on Friday night, with the winner almost certain to claim eighth spot and the loser to start planning for 2012. The Knights looked to have sealed their place in the top-eight after leading 22-6 against Canterbury last weekend, but instead they were run down by the Bulldogs, who are a slim chance to leap-frog the winner of the Knights/Rabbitohs match - they...

Penrith will be hoping to avoid a fifth straight defeat when they host sixth place New Zealand at Centrebet Stadium on Saturday night, in what is their final home match of the 2011 NRL season. Whilst still a mathematical chance of reaching the finals, the Panthers 2011 campaign is realistically over following last weekend's 32-18 loss at home to the Tigers, which was their fourth straight defeat. They welcome back New South Wales representative Michael Jennings from his club-imposed one-match...

Two of the NRL's cellar-dwellers of 2011 go head-to-head at Robina's Skilled Park late on Saturday afternoon, with last place Gold Coast hosting 14th place Canberra. The home side's narrow away win over Cronulla a fortnight ago is their only victory from their past eight outings and was quickly tarnished by last weekend's 40-16 loss at home to league leaders Melbourne. The Titans welcome back former representative forward Anthony Laffranchi into the back-row at the expense of Luke O'Dwyer, who...