The Roosters are having the season from hell, with just two wins in their last nine games and a finals berth slowly disappearing in front of their eyes.
And one man who has especially haunted them is exciting Storm winger Xavier Coates, who has remarkably scored hat tricks in both his games against the Roosters in 2023.
Coates bagged three tries when the teams met in Melbourne in round six and repeated the feat on Saturday night at the SCG.
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You have to go way back to 1954 to find the last time a player managed two hat tricks against the Roosters in the same season.
The player who achieved the feat in 1954 – when Sir Robert Menzies was prime minister – was Newtown winger Ray Preston.
Origin star's promise to teammates
Val Holmes made a promise to his Cowboys team-mates to have a big game in the crucial clash with the Sea Eagles at Brookvale on Saturday night after having a rare shocker in Origin III last Wednesday.
And Holmes was true to his word – the classy centre ran for nearly 200 metres, came up with a wonderful try assist for Reuben Cotter and also made a line break in the Cowboys' 19-8win at Brookvale.
Holmes was as good as anyone on the field in a tough old school game in which Manly were up for the fight but just couldn't convert their chances into points.
In a vital game before their home fans, Manly were a major disappointment and are in danger of missing out on finals footy.
Tago steps up
Under-rated centre Izack Tago has proved a godsend for the Panthers during the Origin period.
Two weeks after producing the game of his life against Melbourne, Tago was at it again against the Dolphins yesterday.
Tago scored two tries and was involved in two more – basically proving the difference between the teams in the Panthers' 24-14 win.
With Ivan Cleary resting his Origin brigade and Nathan Cleary still hamstrung, the Panthers needed someone to step up – and Tago did the job in style to get the weakened Panthers home.
Cronulla can no longer ignore fringe players
Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon needs to give his team a major facelift if Cronulla hope to make an impact in the finals.
The Sharks are well entrenched in the top eight but were cannon fodder for the rampaging Warriors 44-12 in Auckland on Saturday.
In a major concern, it was the Sharks' sixth loss in their past seven games against current top eight teams this season.
Fitzgibbon is showing faith in his top 17 but they simply aren't doing the job and meanwhile, talented players like Connor Tracey, Braydon Trindall and Kayal Iro can't get a look-in.
The Sharks can put a score on the likes of battlers Canterbury, the Dragons and Tigers – but struggle against the big boys and changes are clearly needed.
Year of the Warrior?
The Warriors have emerged as the game's new entertainers in the run-in to the finals.
Andrew Webster's men have scored 30 points or more in five of their past six games and simply dismantled the normally well disciplined Cronulla side 44-12 on Saturday.
The Warriors have always had the ability to play sparkling attacking football but Webster has added a new consistency and steel in defence.
Shaun Johnson has wound back the clock to his glory days, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak is scoring tries for fun (15 in his past 11 games), five-eighth Luke Metcalf has proved a great buy, as has Jackson Ford, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad is playing inspired football at the back and Addin Fonua-Blake is leading the charge up front in rousing style.
The team has a potent mix of youth and experience and who's bold enough to say 2023 may not be the year of the Warrior?
Young gun starting to arrive
The Broncos have had big raps on Brendan Piakura for some time and the 21-year-old came of age at Belmore on Saturday afternoon.
A former Maroons under 18s rep, Piakura made his top grade debut in 2021 and has played only a handful of games in the top grade.
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But the Cook Islands international got his chance with the Broncos down on troops against the Bulldogs and made the most of his chance.
Piakura laid on the Broncos' first try for skipper Adam Reynolds and then scored a four-pointer himself and really added some spice to the Brisbane attack in the 44-24 win over the Bulldogs.
Knights star key to resurgence
If the Knights can keep Kalyn Ponga fit and firing, they could go deep into this finals race.
The Knights looked in strife a few weeks ago – so much so that there were reports that coach Adam O'Brien was on thin ice.
But the Newcastle boys have now scored 100 points in their last two games – thanks largely to the brilliance of Ponga – and are well and truly back in the hunt for September football.
They followed up the 66-0 smashing of the Bulldogs with a 34-18 win over the Tigers on Friday night.
Ponga was simply superb – he laid on his team's first three tries then scored a dazzling solo four-pointer before coming up with a fourth try assist.
He appears over his head knock problems and if he continues in this hungry mood, the Knights are capable of troubling any team in the race.
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