Round 7 of the 2025 NRL season has wrapped up, so we’re looking over the results and digging into three big takeaways from the weekend.
Around The NRL
Easter Weekend is quietly one of the best weekends on the NRL calendar. Five consecutive days of footy kicked off with the St George Illawarra Dragons beating the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 20-18. The scoreline flatters the Sea Eagles in the end with the Dragons looking the better side for much of it.
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs remain at the top of the NRL ladder following their 32-0 shutout of the South Sydney Rabbitohs. The story of Good Friday came later, though.
Watch all the highlights as the Dolphins take on the Storm in Round 7!#NRLDolphinsStorm pic.twitter.com/GyaVI09MsL
— NRL (@NRL) April 18, 2025
Plenty will have planned an early night as the Melbourne Storm cruised to a 16-0 lead. But as the Dolphins mounted a comeback to finish the first half, the second became must-watch. So too did Craig Bellamy’s press conference as his side lost 42-22 at Suncorp Stadium.
“I can’t remember coaching a Storm team that has been up 16-2 and then gets 40 in a row put on us. It’s a bit embarrassing, really.”
The New Zealand Warriors made up for a disappointing performance in Round 6 with a 20-18 win over the Brisbane Broncos. To make matters worse for the visitors, Reece Walsh has since been ruled out for 4-6 weeks.
A horror five-game losing streak has come to an end for the Penrith Panthers as they beat the Sydney Roosters 40-12 at Allianz Stadium.
It looked as though the Gold Coast Titans might end a losing streak of their own while leading the Canberra Raiders 16-0 before going into the sheds level at 16-all. Ricky Stuart’s side found the energy to get the job done in the second half to secure the 30-20 comeback win.
The Newcastle Knights continue to struggle. While they improved with the ball to score 14 points, Adam O’Brien’s side allowed the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks to score 34 on their way to a convincing victory.
Finally, the Wests Tigers and Parramatta Eels played out one of the most entertaining games of the NRL season.
Wests came back after Parramatta built and early lead. Three sin-bins made it 12 v 11 at one stage. But in the end, Mitchell Moses capped off an emphatic return to footy with three try assists and a 38-22 win.
Watch all the highlights as the Wests Tigers take on the Eels in Round 7!#NRLTigersEels pic.twitter.com/j81oHdEL1m
— NRL (@NRL) April 21, 2025
3 Takeaways From Round 7
Don’t Sleep On The Dragons
The St George Illawarra Dragons are 3-3 for 7th on the NRL ladder, but they’ve performed better than their record suggests. They crumbled to give up a massive lead before the bye. Even in this one, Shane Flanagan’s side appeared to be doing it easy before allowing the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles to mount a comeback.
But if you strip it back and assume Flanagan will find an answer for these mid-game fades, what you’ve got is a decent enough defensive team, and an attack that is growing legs.
Lachlan Ilias and Kyle Flanagan have both copped plenty throughout their NRL career’s to date. They’re unlikely to be a premiership-winning halves pairing, but they’re linking up together nicely and have a good understanding of their role within the attack. They’ve split the field and made things simple, and when you’ve got the always-moving Clint Gutherson at the back, the long side becomes a dangerous avenue of attack.
As the competition cannabises itself and teams take wins and losses off each other, a middling team like the Dragons can be a quiet finals contender.
The Titans Titan & Raiders Raider
You might not see a more Gold Coast Titans performance this season.
They flew out of the blocks and looked unstoppable with the ball. Their speed stunned the Raiders as the kick game cause chaos at the back. Tries from kicks are worth the same, but they’re often not as repeatable in the long run.
When the Titans started searching for points later, they looked lost.
In contrast, it was all classic Canberra Raiders.
That’s a Titans v Raiders first half if I’ve ever seen one.
It’s a game most expect the Raiders to win well. At the same time, few will have been surprised to see them go down early before fighting to come back.
Des Hasler has a lot of work to do with this Titans outfit. Their ability to build leads early and lose them just as quickly is a trend that has developed over a couple of seasons now. Meanwhile, Ricky Stuart will once again be proud of the Raiders’ ability to hang in games. It’s enough to beat the bad teams in the NRL, at least.
They face what should be a tougher task against the Dolphins in Round 8.
Welcome Back, Mitchell Moses
The Parramatta Eels have looked awful to start the 2025 NRL season. Despite Zac Lomax doing everything in his power to make the relevant before his injury, Parramatta became an instant feature in the wooden spoon conversation.
As it turns out, Mitchell Moses, the best player at the club, might be enough on his own to get them out of it.
Player Spotlight | Mitchell Moses
— Rugby League Writers (@rugbyleaguewriters.bsky.social) 2025-04-21T21:38:00.587Z
The Eels looked like a different team with Moses leading the way.
He instantly made his impact felt with an early 40/20. With it, Moses manufactured points as the Eels finally offered some threat attacking the opposition line. His control of the side is what they’ve been lacking. Dylan Brown, in particular, benefited from the freedom of playing second fiddle.
As much as Moses improves the Eels, they’re still on the bottom of the ladder with only two wins in six games ahead of the bye. Moses is all but certain to miss time to State of Origin with performances like this, too.
The period after the bye is crucial for Parramatta as they look to bank enough wins for another stint without their most influential player.