The Dragons woes have rolled on, the Cowboys have an Origin bolter on their hands and the Storm are staring down the barrel of a 24-year low.

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The Bulldogs, meanwhile, have a big selection headache on their hands after a stellar performance — and so too do the Warriors in their No.7 jersey.

Elsewhere, the Sea Eagles have found a ready-made Tom Trbojevic replacement.

Read all the biggest talking points below after Round 12!

RETURNING STAR’S ‘MASSIVE’ STATEMENT CREATES FRESH DOGS HEADACHE

Stand-in fullback Jacob Kiraz overcame a shaky start to prove crucial for the Bulldogs in snapping their five-game losing streak against the Melbourne Storm on Friday night.

With regular fullback Connor Tracey missing the game with a hamstring injury, and Stephen Crichton set to return from Origin duties following this week, Kiraz’s performance has sparked major calls around a reshuffle to the Bulldogs backline.

Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters believes the Lebanon representative player should stay in the fullback position moving forward.

“He’s going to have to I think (stay fullback), when Crichton comes back,” Walters said post-game on Fox League.

“(Connor) Tracey’s form hasn’t been anywhere near where it was at the start of the year, and they’ve been chasing a win… and he (Kiraz) was hugely infection on his team,” former Bulldog Michael Ennis continued.

“There’s something about the Bulldogs that’s different when Jacob Kiraz plays… he just seems to have this will to win and this ability to just continue to compete and compete, and all of a sudden others around him start to get more involved and become a little better.

“It wasn’t about structure and landing through on two passes. It was just about finding a will and a way to win, and he was a massive part of it.”

Jacob Kiraz delivered at fullback.Source: Getty Images

Kiraz’s performance was complimented by a season-best performance from centre Bronson Xerri, who has had a year full of distractions.

Reports emerged earlier in the season around the 25-year old looking for a release from his contract with Canterbury-Bankstown, despite club bosses saying otherwise.

His performance on Friday night against the Melbourne Storm will certainly do him plenty of favours in silencing the noise around his situation.

Xerri was another standout in the 30-20 come from behind victory at Accor Stadium, and the numbers also backed it up to go with it.

He finished with a mammoth 239 run metres with 80 of those post-contact, going along with a try assist. The craziest number though? 11 tackle busts for the entire contest.

It was a performance which attracted plenty of praise from the Fox League panel post-match.

“I think that’s his best game in a Bulldogs jersey,” former Bulldog Braith Anasta said.

“To me, the difference quite simply to put it, was in recent weeks – he’s waited for the ball to come to him,” another former Canterbury player in Michael Ennis added.

“Tonight he went up looking for it, he went looking for work, and every time he carried the ball – he did it with purpose.”

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Payten praises ‘patient’ Cowboys win | 05:14

‘A LONG WAY OFF’: STORM FACING POTENTIAL 24-YEAR LOW

The chance of the Melbourne Storm missing finals for the first time since being penalised for breaching the salary cap in 2010 is growing.

In the Craig Bellamy era, 2010 is the only season the Storm have missed the NRL finals. Despite their penalty, their wins would’ve seen them finish in fifth spot.

You would have to go back to 2002 to find a season where Melbourne finished outside the top eight with no penalties, when they finished 10th after nine wins and 14 losses. Their record of nine wins, fourteen losses and a draw in that season 24 years ago, remains their worst ever record throughout a season.

The Storm will need to win five of their last twelve games this year to at least level their worst amount of wins in a season in their club’s history.

It’s the stark reality facing the grand finalists of the last two years, who currently sit with a record of four wins and eight losses after their latest defeat to the Bulldogs.

It has commentators questioning whether they can make the finals, or whether they’ll miss the post-season for just the second time under the eye of Craig Bellamy.

“I think Melbourne are a long way, a long way off being back to be honest,” former premiership winning hooker Michael Ennis said on Fox League.

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy is in uncharted territory.Source: News Corp Australia

“If you want to play finals, you don’t need to have either the (Cameron) Munsters, Kalyn Pongas or the (James) Tedescos to chip and chase and win you the game – you just need to tackle, hold the ball and compete on every play and get your team through moments when you’re under pressure,” Melbourne great Cooper Cronk added.

“They beat the Tigers in Melbourne who have been injury-ravaged, and they beat Parramatta who weren’t great and aren’t troubling the best.

“So there’s a lot of work to be done by Melbourne. I’m certainly not sold on them after that second half, yes they’ve got key players out but it wasn’t good enough.”

To that point, the Storm completed just 50 per cent of their sets in the second half as they faded away yet again to continue a concerning trend that Bellamy doesn’t have any answers for.

While the Storm missed the class of Cameron Munster and Harry Grant who were on Origin duty, Cronk said that would have mattered little to Bellamy.

“Craig would be filthy. You don’t need to be an Origin player to hold the ball. You don’t need to be an Origin player to make tackles,” Cronk said on Fox League.

Melbourne’s run doesn’t get any easier either. They host the Sydney Roosters fresh off a bye next week, before facing an in-form Newcastle Knights side in Round 14.

The Storm will finally have a long-awaited bye in Round 15, before facing the Raiders at home and Manly away.

Bennett calls out poor Souths discipline | 02:44

DRAGONS WOES ROLL ON

Where to for the Dragons?

After yet another defeat at the hands of the Warriors, Dean Young’s outfit are well and truly languishing and there’s no end in sight to their nightmare.

The Red V faithful booed their team off the park, they can’t score points and their defence has been lacklustre, with pundits delivering grim predictions.

“I think they’re on the path to potentially not winning a game this year,” Brent Read said on Triple M’s Sunday Sin Bin.

“I know it’s a huge statement because we’re 12 rounds into the comp. They’ve got a Titans game in a month or two. That may be their most realistic hope… it’s a huge issue for that footy club.

“Next year can’t come quick enough… this year is an absolute write-off. It’s going to end up being arguably the worst season in NRL history, that’s what they’re on a path to.”

League legend James Graham echoed Read’s opinion, saying: “It is really sad to see the Dragons in this situation… they were booed off and I spoke to a number of people, those boos weren’t directed at the team.

“I know it can feel that way but it was directed at a couple of individuals in that team rather than the team itself.”

Then fellow legend Gorden Tallis delivered the final nail in the coffin, but also raised a big question.

“Sometimes in life you’ve got to hit rock bottom to really look at yourself in the mirror,” he said.

“I think now with the Dragons it is that… right now with where they are at when they keep losing, they look at everything.

Dragons players look dejected after defeat.Source: Getty Images

“They look at recruitment. They look at pathways. They look at how they develop their players and then they look at why they aren’t making better decisions off the field.”

So, where do those off-field decisions needs to begin and how can Young extract some positives from the remainder of the season?

Lean into their youth.

The Dragons have already done so in the forward pack, fielding the likes of Loko Pasifiki Tonga, Dylan Egan, Toby and Ryan Couchman and Hamish Stewart.

Those five got through a mountain of work against the Warriors — especially Ryan Couchman, who made 41 tackles and had 18 carries for 144 metres.

There’s no doubt these rising stars are doing everything they can to lift their team, but it’s their backline that seems to be struggling.

Rising star Hayden Buchanan suffered a shoulder injury last round and looks set to be sidelined for an extended period, meaning the Red V could call on their Cup players.

The likes of Tyler Peckam-Harris, who was the last player to be culled from the Dragons squad on game day, as well as Tom Kirk, Nathan Lawson and Toby Rumble could all be given a crack.

Because — could it get any worse as it stands?

Valentine Holmes has also been far below his usual elite standards, and a shift to a new role could rejuvenate the veteran flyer.

He has previously performed well on the wing at Origin level, so Young could opt to shuffle him wider to get the best out of his back-field carries.

Tensions flare as Mahoney crosses! | 00:37

HIGH-FLYING WARRIORS FACE SELECTION HEADACHE

What the Warriors have got going right now is clearly working.

But coach Andrew Webster faces an interesting selection dilemma ahead of this week’s blockbuster clash against the Panthers.

Webster told reporters before the Dragons game that he had not selected Luke Metcalf since the previously injured halfback was lacking match fitness, having been sidelined since suffering a moderate hamstring strain on Easter Sunday.

Webster had left Metcalf out of the NRL side while he sorted his future and a busy travel schedule only made it harder for the soon-to-be Dragon to get reps in ahead of his return.

The Warriors coach could delay making a call on Metcalf for another week by letting him build up his confidence in reserve grade, but eventually he will need to make a decision on whether he recalls Metcalf or sticks with the impressive Te Maire Martin.

Webster wasn’t ready to make that call on Saturday night after the win over the Warriors.

“I’m not going to make a selection tonight,” he told reporters.

“I just know that while the team’s winning, people are going to deserve their spots, but I’m not going to make any selection this afternoon.”

Webster did credit Martin for doing a “terrific job” since returning from his own injury, having gone down with a broken fibula in the annual Māori-Indigenous All Stars match in February.

“He iced two really good opportunities. Coming back into the team he’s doing a terrific job,” Webster said.

Te Maire Martin of the Warriors celebrates scoring a try.Source: Getty Images

“He hasn’t played much footy and once he gets going he’ll start seeing the game even better and a bit quicker.

“I thought we were really dominant when we hung onto the ball for long enough, the way we carried and we created opportunities on their try line that were just by running hard.”

While it is hard to ignore what Metcalf did in his breakout 2025 season, that was just under a year ago now and Fox League expert Luke Keary knows better than most that it can take longer than that for players to rediscover their best form coming off a torn ACL.

“This is a funny one because coming off an ACL, I think it takes 12-18 months to come back,” Keary, who suffered an ACL injury in 2021, told foxsports.com.au earlier in the month.

“And then when he came back, obviously he was a little bit off the pace, which is just totally normal.”

That was when Tanah Boyd was still available as an option for the Warriors and while Keary conceded Metcalf may take a while to ramp up, he was of the opinion that it was worth it for Webster to play the long game because Metcalf’s ceiling is that high.

Martin is a more dependable defender and also still a running threat while also offering a solid long-range kicking game, so that isn’t to say the Warriors can’t win the premiership with him.

It is just a question of whether they want to take the gamble on Metcalf. We may get an answer to that question as soon as this week.

Manly hold off determined Titans | 07:16

HAVE MANLY FOUND TURBO’S SUCCESSOR?

While Lehi Hopoate was once viewed as the long-term successor to Tom Trbojevic at the Manly Sea Eagles, another candidate has put their hand up to be the club’s future No.1

In only his second official NRL start at fullback, rookie Clayton Faulalo showed that he has all the makings of a long career in first grade and if he continues performing the way he did against the Titans, he is the perfect replacement for Tom Trbojevic.

“He’s been unbelievable,” Sea Eagles head coach Kieran Foran said.

“The performances he’s put in over the past month have been exceptional. He’s been near on our best player on the field for the past month along with plenty of others.

“I thought he came up with some special plays at important times.”

Playing in front of the home crowd at 4 Pines Park, he delivered a try, one try assist – a cracking pass to winger Blake Wilson – and ran for over 200 metres.

It was the kind of all-round attacking performance that didn’t just show promise but hints at a genuine long-term potential at the top level of the NRL.

Clayton Faulalo has been excellent in the No.1 jersey.Source: Getty Images

Speaking after the match, Fox League’s analyst Cooper Cronk even suggested that the Sea Eagles could look at a more flexible approach to keeping Faulalo in the side.

Cronk stated that coach Kieran Foran may need to consider reshaping his backline to accommodate the emergence of Faulalo and Tom Trbojevic once he returns back to the field from his injury.

“Maybe they can be flexible with Clayton at fullback. Maybe he can play fullback than have a stint in the centres,” Cronk said.

“Maybe there’s a little bit of load management that gets Turbo [Tom Trbojevic] through the back end of this year and has him firing at the right time.

“With one change Manly’s hopes of 2026 have turned upside down.”

Although he has played a range of positions in the backline coming through the ranks, Luke Brooks revealed that Faulalo is primarily a fullback and has been impressed with him over the past couple of weeks.

“I thought he’s been outstanding especially the last two weeks (and) he’s skills out the back,” teammate Luke Brooks said on Fox League.

“Obviously he played a bit of centre and winger when he’s come into first-grade but he’s main position is a fullback and we’ve really seen that the last few weeks.”

Warriors come back to beat Dragons | 02:25

THE COWBOYS’ HIDDEN ORIGIN BOLTER

He’s been one of the Cowboys’ most consistent players and now Todd Payten has raised a big question — why wasn’t Tom Mikaele in Origin conversations?

The 28-year-old has failed to cement a spot in the Cowboys pack in recent years, but this season he has emerged as a key cog in a red-hot middle in North Queensland.

Why? Because of an off-season transformation and an honest sit-down with Payten, which led to a shift in the focus of Mikaele’s game.

Instead of being the biggest man in the middle, Mikaele is now one of the fittest and he punched out over 60 minutes against the Rabbitohs.

Mikaele ran for 139 metres from 15 carries and made 23 tackles to go with an impressive seven tackle busts.

“We had a conversation at the back at the end of last season just with the speed of the game and where it’s at,” Payten said.

“Weight was a talking point and he’s dropped 10 kilos in the pre-season and he’s kept eight of it off. So it allowed him to move faster for longer.”

So, being one of the most in-form forwards in the competition, why wasn’t Mikaele in the Origin conversation?

Thomas Mikaele has been in fine form.Source: Getty Images

Well, if you take a look at Queensland’s forward pack, he could be a lot closer than what meets the eye.

Tom Gilbert is arguably the next cab off the rank when it comes to the next middle to be called upon, while Mo Fotuiaka is also in the conversation.

But Mikaele could be competing with that pair should a Maroons forward go down injured in the series opener.

“He’s been playing outstanding all season. He’s been up there in our top two or three forwards every week,” Payten said.

“He’s punched out some big minutes, provides an offload, a quick play-the-ball. He keeps moving in ‘D’, so really surprised that he hasn’t been mentioned in that Origin talk at all.

“But he’s been really consistent for us. He missed a couple of games early in the season after being injured in Vegas.

“We sorely missed him and he’s become a real leader for us and happy for him because he’s worked hard.”