The NRL weekend saw Latrell Mitchell at his best, the referees confounding belief once again, one piece of Kalyn Ponga magic in a sorry afternoon, and a milestone day for one of rugby league's toughest individuals.
Read on as ESPN takes a look back over the weekend at some of the biggest hits and misses.
HIT
Blues to miss the presence of Mitchell
Whether you like him or not Latrell Mitchell is a brilliant footballer. With 19 minutes remaining in the second half against the Eels he joined in a backline movement on the right-hand side of the field. Seeing that the backpedalling defence had allowed him just enough room, he accelerated and dived from about three metres out, knowing that the wet conditions would allow him to slide across the line. His angle of attack didn't allow space for a draw and pass to his winger, so he went himself.
Twelve minutes later, attacking down the same side with more time and more room he gave the passed the ball to put Jacob Gagai over in the corner for his second try.
Mitchell is such an imposing figure, a handful to stop and possessing all the skills to score or set up tries. New South Wales will definitely miss him for the decider, but his replacement Bradman Best has the size, speed and agility to also cause problems for a defence. What he lacks perhaps is the aura and unbridled confidence of Mitchell.
MISS
Rule implementation changes from week to week
Consistency is not a word the NRL apparently cares too much about when it comes to refereeing. Having enjoyed the benefits of multiple "six again" calls and penalties in their Round 17 victory over the Sharks, Bulldogs players and home fans were extremely frustrated when multiple infringements were ignored by the referee in their first half against the Warriors. Different referee, different week and a completely different game as far as ruck infringements were concerned.
The Warriors were first to enjoy the extra possession of a "six again" call, as the Bulldogs scrambled to keep them out and crept offside. It wasn't until five minutes to go in the first half that the Bulldogs were awarded their first, which was greeted by an almighty roar from the home crowd.
Into the second half the infringements were shared around fairly evenly until the Bulldogs levelled the scores at 12-12 at the 55th minute. From that point on, the referee put the whistle away completely, reluctant to give either team the call that would help them to victory. In the process he missed a reckless hit by Jaemen Salmon on Te Maire Martin, which has subsequently seen the Bulldogs second-rower banned for two weeks, and Reed Mahoney being a few steps offside in charging down one of the Warriors' field goal attempts.
It is frustrating for all involved as they never know what the referee will serve up each week.
HIT
Ponga's back tackle enough to win him an Origin jersey?
It is not often you see one of rugby league's best fullbacks attempt a tackle with his back to the ball runner, but that's exactly what Kalyn Ponga did to help prevent a Raiders try just before halftime. Ethan Strange cut through the Knights' line near halfway and charged downfield. Ponga fell momentarily for the right-foot step of Strange, which turned him inside out. Still, Ponga was able to back into the Raiders half and knock him off his stride just enough for the cover defence, led by Bradman Best, to catch up.
Strange regathered his feet a metre out from the line and had a chance to offload to his support, but he went himself and was held up. It was an incredible effort from Ponga who would otherwise have been disappointed with his first game back from injury. Ponga made several handling errors through the game and with the Knights holding a comfortable 16-6 lead and attacking the Raiders line he threw an awful pass that led to Kaeo Weekes streaking the length of the field for a try. It brought the score to 16-12 and placed the Knights under enormous pressure for the rest of the game.
MISS
If you can't out-jump them, belt them
You had to feel for Tigers winger Solomona Faataape who was completely mismatched in height with his opposite Will Warbrick. Early in the second half with the Tigers still in the contest down 16-22, Jahrome Hughes bombed towards the corner hoping to cash in on Warbrick's advantage.
Faataape ran towards Warbrick, never once looking up at the ball, and buried his shoulder into the ribs of the Storm winger. Warbrick was pushed offline and the ball bounced harmlessly away. The referee suspected there might be a case for a penalty try, but on review the bunker awarded a penalty and sent Faataape to the sin bin.
It was the 13th sin binning for the Tigers in their last 10 games and the Storm took full advantage, scoring two tries to take the score out to 28-12. The Tigers had one kick left in them to back to 34-22 down, before the Storm sealed the 40-28 victory.
HIT
Heads up play by Collins leads to Teddy try
There was an unusual try in the second half for the Roosters in their victory over the Dragons. With the Dragons on the attack around halfway, a Ben Hunt pass bounced off the forehead of Jack De Bellin. Instead of just diving on the loose ball Roosters prop Lindsay Collins baseball slid scooped it up and regained his feet all in the one motion.
Collins took a couple of steps towards the scattered Dragons defence, before the ever-present James Tedesco loomed up on his left. Tedesco took the pass, cut through and outsprinted the chasers for a try which stamped out any thoughts of a Dragons' fightback.
MISS
Bombed tries cost Cowboys dearly
Scott Drinkwater dummied twice just inside his own half and split the Sea Eagles defence open. He took off downfield and had Valentine Holmes and Murray Taulagi looming in support as he approached the fullback. He timed his pass to perfection but instead of putting Holmes away for a try, it sailed across his face and didn't have enough power to make it to Taulagi. Instead it landed in the arms of Manly centre Ruben Garrick .
It was the second blown try of the first half for the Cowboys and Manly crossed not long after to take a 12-6 lead. With the game going to golden point extra time where Daly Cherry-Evans was able to win it with a field goal, the Cowboys' errant finishing proved extremely costly.
HIT
JWH marks milestone with a bang
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves became the Roosters' most capped player when he ran out onto Allianz Stadium for his 307th game, against the Dragons. Well known for his no-nonsense, hard-hitting style, which often sails close to being illegal, it was no real surprise to see him sent to the sin bin for a high shot early on in the encounter.
JWH waved an apology to his teammates as he jogged off for 10 minutes, surprisingly it was only the tenth sin binning in his lengthy career. The Roosters responded by scoring a try during his absence. When he returned, he received a roaring ovation from the crowd and another when he left the field for the final time. Six stitches in his head and the usual heavy workload during a convincing Roosters victory -- it really was the only way for him to celebrate such a milestone.