Under-fire Queensland Origin league five-eighth Johnathan Thurston has found an unlikely ally in New South Wales coach Laurie Daley.

St George Illawarra halfback Benji Marshall says he has cut the razzle dazzle from his game and is no longer trying to play like a young man.

After leaving the Warriors at the end of last season, workaholic back-rower Elijah Taylor has settled in comfortably at Penrith and has no regrets about leaving New Zealand for a new challenge.

If the Warriors feel like they are getting an extra lift from the crowd today, it might be because their fans are almost twice as close as they have been in previous home games this season.

New South Wales fans will breathe a sigh of relief at hearing Parramatta coach Brad Arthur is set to rest State of Origin superstar Jarryd Hayne.

Queensland winger Brent Tate feared he would suffer a similarly devastating injury to Alex McKinnon after being the victim of a dangerous tackle.

The sight of Daly Cherry-Evans on crutches yesterday would have been enough to make Queensland selectors contemplate reaching for the panic button.

NSW coach Laurie Daley accepts throwing rookie halves combination Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds into the State of Origin cauldron next week is a selection gamble.

St George Illawarra Dragons fans are the most unforgiving in the NRL.

The Roosters have completed a comprehensive 34-14 Anzac Day victory over St George Illawarra at Allianz Stadium.

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart says the NRL's off-season edict about cleaning up the ruck have been ignored, leaving him no choice but to join in on trying to win ugly.

Sydney Roosters have rallied around out-of-sorts playmaker James Maloney as the 2013 NRL premiers seek to break an unprecedented three-match losing streak under coach Trent Robinson.

The naming of the Kiwis side for the upcoming Anzac test looms as one of the most important in recent times.

Steve "Blocker" Roach brings himself close to tears with his pep talks, but his mere presence has some at the Wests Tigers scared into submission.

Last week it was Eric Watson and Sir Owen Glenn in a stoush ... this week Jayson Bukuya and Chad Townsend.

The Warriors provided certainty on a number of fronts yesterday, with the announcement of 10 players re-signing with the club and chief executive Wayne Scurrah saying he will walk if they don’t make the play-offs.

South Sydney officials have lodged a complaint to Penrith after Sam Burgess was struck in the face by a spectator as he left the field after the Rabbitohs' 18-2 win over the Panthers on Friday.

Forget round two: Jarrod Mullen's return is going to make Newcastle a whole different prospect to stop.

Things are getting so bad at the Warriors that the crowd numbers and Nathan Friend's tackle counts are threatening to meet in the middle.

There hasn't been a lot of positivity out of the Warriors this week but a win against the Bulldogs at Eden Park tomorrow will go some way to getting fans back on their side.

Sport divides opinion like few things in life and we have seen a handful of stories recently which have polarised people.

Exciting young winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scored two tries on debut to help Penrith to a hard-fought 12-6 win over the Raiders at a rain-hit Sportingbet Stadium last night.

Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has warned against making knee-jerk changes to the NRL rulebook after the career-ending injury to Newcastle back-rower Alex McKinnon.

The rehabilitation of Konrad Hurrell takes another step this week with his first start of the season against the Sharks.