Five key points from NRL round three
Strange-old day at the SCG
Greg Inglis' 'brain snap' field goal attempt with Souths trailing by two in the final seconds capped off a bizarre day at the SCG on Sunday.
Who in their right minds would have tipped the 0-2 Dragons to beat the red-hot Rabbitohs, even in conditions as atrocious as the gods delivered?
Fans of the Red V would have had little cause for optimism, and when playmaker Benji Marshall was ruled out with a hamstring injury, even the most faithful of supporters would have been dreading the outcome.
But after being thrashed 30-2 by Cronulla seven days earlier, St George Illawarra rediscovered the grit and determination that led them to an unlikely finals berth in 2015.
After a completion rate below 50 per cent in round two, Paul McGregor's men managed to complete 88 per cent of their sets despite the SCG being turned into a swimming pool.
Their forwards, led by Jack De Belin and Tyson Frizell, ripped in and matched it with the more-fancied Souths pack, failing to make a single error all game, while custodian Josh Dugan was close to best-on-ground in his return to fullback.
Halfback Josh McCrone, filling in for Marshall, and captain Gareth Widdop kicked the Rabbitohs into submission, with the Englishman's boot proving the difference.
So ruthless were the Dragons that you can hardly blame GI for suffering the Terry Lamb moment on full time that would have seen his side lose by one point, rather than two.
Eels looking like the real deal
The site of a rampaging Semi Radradra setting up a try and scoring two of his own in Parramatta's dominant display against the Bulldogs has long-suffering Eels fans eyeing a return to finals footy in 2016.
Not since the days of Wendell Sailor has a winger dominated a game in the same fashion as Semi on Friday night.
Radradra laid on a scintillating try for Michael Jennings before scoring twice in the final 12 minutes to inflict the Bulldogs' first loss of the year.
With the game in the balance, he produced the big plays, dotting down under the posts after five-eighth Corey Norman steamed through a hole before Radradra did it all himself with a bustling effort.
He may be known as the Fijian flyer but the try-scoring sensation has rocketed into contention to make his Australian debut in May.
But unfortunately for NSW fans, we won't be seeing him in a sky blue jersey any time soon.
Bunker's first big blunder
The video refereeing system has undergone a major overhaul in 2016, but unless we're mistaken, they're still not allowed to rule on forward passes.
The Eels-Bulldogs game descended into controversy in the second half when Sam Perrett was denied a try by the video referee because of a Sam Kasiano forward pass.
Matt Cecchin ruled a try on the field but asked the bunker to check the last pass, questioning whether it had been thrown forward or had been touched by an Eels player.
The video refs came back with a no-try ruling, overturning Cecchin's on-field decision, but because video referees cannot rule on forward passes and because Cecchin had ruled a try, many questioned why Perrett hadn't been awarded the four-pointer on the spot.
Bulldogs coach Des Hasler and captain James Graham admitted they were confused by Cecchin's decision, while NRL referees boss Tony Archer argued they were only checking whether the ball had been touched and not whether it had travelled forwards out of Kasiano's hands.
The try would have seen the Bulldogs cut Parramatta's lead to 8-4 and possibly 8-6. Most would agree that the process was completely wrong but at the end of the day the pass appeared to be a mile forward.
Reeling Roosters desperate for return of Pearce
The Roosters' horror start to 2016 descended even further on Thursday night when they were thrashed 40-0 by the Cowboys and saw two more players suffer long-term injuries.
Off-season recruit Dale Copley will be sidelined for up to four months with a torn pectoral, while back-up hooker Ian Henderson suffered a gruesome compound leg fracture right on full time.
They join internationals Boyd Cordner and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves on a big-name casualty list, while former co-captain Mitchell Pearce has more than a month remaining on a disciplinary suspension.
With Pearce watching on from home, halves Jackson Hastings and Jayden Nikorima continued to struggle. Nikorima is still finding his feet in first grade while Hastings is finding it hard to lead his side around the paddock.
The Roosters face fellow strugglers Manly and the Warriors in the coming weeks before again coming up against the Rabbitohs in round six, whom they were thrashed 42-10 by in round one.
Panthers unearth a future superstar
We thought we'd seen the dream debut in round two when Kerrod Holland delivered the Bulldogs victory over the Panthers with a tricky conversion after the full-time siren.
But Panthers debutant Te Maire Martin went one better against the Broncos on Saturday, scoring a try and kicking the match-winning field goal in an upset victory.
A late inclusion for his first NRL game, the former Junior Kiwi scored to level the game 11 minutes from time before kicking the winning one-pointer.
The outstanding performance means coach Anthony Griffin will face some tough decisions when Matt Moylan and James Segeyaro return from injury.
Moylan was originally slated to start the year in the halves, while regular No.7 Peter Wallace shifted to hooker to make way for Martin. When Wallace, Martin, Segeyaro, Moylan and Jamie Soward are all fit, someone is going to have to miss out.