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Colossal Cleary stars in the best of Twitter for NRL Round 19

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NRL Twitter recap
NEW Zealand Warriors went into Friday night hoping to give the departing Manu Vatuvei the perfect send-off.

Alas, it was not to be.

Penrith Panthers ran out 34-22 winners thanks to a standout display from 19-year-old Nathan Cleary, who finished with a hat-trick and five conversions.

The irony: he used to hover on the sidelines in Auckland back when his dad, Ivan, played for the Warriors.

The bad news did not stop there for New Zealand.

Their finals hopes in tatters, the Warriors also lost star man Shaun Johnson to what could be a season-ending knee injury.

Back on Aussie shores, Canberra Raiders kept their finals hopes alive with a dramatic victory over St George Illawarra.

It was a game littered with playmaking errors, but Aiden Sezer produced a superb 40/20 in extra time to set up an 18-14 win for the Green Machine.

It looks like the Raiders had a little help from Ramsey St.

But the result was rather overshadowed by Josh Papalii.

The Queensland representative went unpunished for a head-high charge that ended Josh Dugan’s night.

Newcastle Knights have won many admirers with their battling displays this season, and they produced another one when Brisbane visited on Saturday.

The Novacastrians led on several occasions, but it wasn’t quite enough to keep the finals-bound Broncos at bay.

One who came out of the clash with less than favourable reviews was Korbin Sims.

He played 76 times for Newcastle before heading to Brisbane at the end of last season, but Knights fans don’t remember him fondly.

North of the Tweed, the defending champs drowned in wet and wild conditions as the Gold Coast claimed a shock win.

Cronulla slipped to fifth with that 30-10 defeat, while the Titans may yet harbour finals hopes after joining a thick pack of chasers on 18 points.

Sunday saw Manly Warringah play host to Wests Tigers on a lovely afternoon at Lottoland.

Daly Cherry-Evans could not win an Origin jersey last week, but he continues to enjoy a fine season in maroon.

The Sea Eagles soared up to third on the NRL ladder with a 28-16 win that featured a few controversial calls from the refs.

But there was nothing much Tigers fans could say about Aaron Woods, who reprised his Origin efforts with another stellar shift as the unengaged bystander.

Up at Barlow Park, it was all about the Cowboys.

Jason Taumalolo was at his line-breaking best as North Queensland romped to their third straight win without Johnathan Thurston.

But what really grabbed the Twittersphere’s attention was the ball-handling of Sam Burgess.

The South Sydney man made a few costly errors up in Cairns, and social media users did not waste the opportunity to lay into his entire error-prone family.

Topics: Featured, NRL

 
 
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