Souths dent Manly's minor premiership drive in NRL

SYDNEY (AP) Sam Burgess returned from injury to lead Souths to a 23-4 win over Manly in the 22nd round of Australia's National Rugby League, damaging Manly's bid for the minor premiership while substantially advancing their own.

Manly stayed atop the premiership ladder with 14 wins but Souths' 13th win of the season lifted them within two points of the Sea Eagles with four rounds remaining in the regular season.

Souths have a tough run home with matches against Brisbane, North Queensland the Bulldogs and Roosters all but the Broncos are in the top eight while Manly closes with games against Gold Coast, Parramatta, Penrith and North Queensland.

North Queensland made an emphatic statement of their playoffs claim, surging into the top-four with a record 64-6 over Wests.

Brisbane beat the Bulldogs 41-10, inflicting the Bulldogs' fourth straight loss which dropped them back to seventh place, while Melbourne dropped to sixth after a 32-30 loss to Newcastle. Penrith remained in third place ahead of its Sunday clash with St. George-Illawarra and the Roosters held fifth pending Monday's meeting with Gold Coast.

Burgess had 21 hit-ups for 221 meters, made 29 tackles and delivered three offloads including one that led to a try by Greg Inglis in a performance which underpinned Souths' win over Manly and kept them in the running for their first premiership since 1971.

Souths took a 12-4 lead to halftime and clinched their win with 15 minutes remaining when winger Alex Johnston touched down for his 15th try in only his 11th NRL game. Manly suffered a further blow when it lost Steve Matai for two weeks with a shoulder injury.

"We were a bit down and they just wrestled the crap out of us in that first half and slowed the game right down which suited them," Manly coach Geoff Toovey said. "Losing Steve Matai early didn't really help us either."

North Queensland scored 12 tries to one in their 64-6 win over Wests who are ravaged by injuries and internal dissent.

Matthew Wright had a hat-trick within 15 minutes of the kickoff while backrower Jason Taumalolo, winger Tautau Moga and Antonio Winterstein all crossed for two tries each as North Queensland posted their biggest-ever win. Wests' margin of defeat was second only to their 64-0 loss to Melbourne in 2001.

The Bulldogs continued their slide out of the top eight with their 41-10 loss to Brisbane on Friday. Five-eighths Josh Reynolds was put on report twice in the second half and finished the match in the sin-bin for a high tackle, leaving him in doubt for the Bulldogs' next match on Friday against Parramatta.

Halfback Ben Hunt and five eighths Ben Barba had their best match together as playmakers, scoring a try apiece and giving Brisbane's attack a sharp edge. Barba's try right on halftime gave Brisbane a commanding 20-6 lead at the break.