Rugby League: Kiwi superboot breaks Aussie legend's record

Superboot Daryl Halligan was letting his achievement sink in yesterday, after passing a major milestone in Australian rugby league.

The former Kiwis winger grabbed 10 points in Canterbury's 14-16 National Rugby League loss to the Canberra Raiders on Saturday night to set a new career points-scoring record for the 93-year-old premiership.

He took his tally over 10 seasons with North Sydney and the Bulldogs to 1978 points, eclipsing former Parramatta great Mick Cronin's mark of 1971 points set between 1977 and 1986.

After threatening to break the record over the past three weeks, he finally got there in a way not many had predicted - with a try.

"It's fantastic and I feel really great that it's happened," the 33-year-old former Waikato rugby representative said.

"But it's not something I set out to do and I don't know where to place it just yet."

Halligan, who played 20 tests for the Kiwis and who has been kicking as well as ever this season with a success percentage in the mid-80s, was also pleased that the record came through a try and not with his boot.

"I guess everyone had the perception I would kick a goal," he said.

"My wife, Linda, and I talked about it and she mentioned it would be nice to reach over and score a try."

Halligan's record: 224 games, 78 tries, 831 goals, 4 field goals, 1978 points.

Meanwhile, Brisbane produced a commanding second-half performance to overwhelm Wests Tigers 56-12 at home yesterday to maintain their four-point lead at the top of the table.

Honours were even at halftime, with the score at 12-12, but the Broncos hardly made a mistake after the break as they ran away with the match.

With the Broncos' forwards laying the platform, Brisbane put on 10 tries, including three from Wendell Sailor.

After having been as high as second on the premiership table, the Tigers have now dropped out of the top eight. Their place has been taken by the Sharks, who further doused St George Illawarra's playoff hopes with a 40-10 victory at Toyota Park.

Man-of-the-match Chris McKenna and skipper Andrew Ettingshausen each crossed twice to help the Sharks to their third victory in a row.

In matches on Saturday, bottom-placed North Queensland ran in four tries to upset Penrith in Townsville 28-12 and snap the Panthers' winning streak at six matches.

The Panthers, for whom Kiwi forward Tony Puletua scored one of their two tries, looked jaded and were hampered by a series of unforced errors.

Newcastle moved into fourth spot after overwhelming the struggling Northern Eagles 52-20 at Marathon Stadium.

Knights fullback Adam MacDougall was again in superb form, proving difficult to stop and getting two of his side's 10 tries.

On Friday night, the third-placed Sydney Roosters, with skipper Brad Fittler at his influential best, maintained their momentum with an impressive 26-0 away win over Parramatta.

- NZPA