How Latrell answered Laurie’s Origin call; Billy facing brutal halves dilemma — Hoops

Relive Blog with Hoops from below.

What an incredible round of rugby league. From Latrell Mitchell’s booming field goal to Herbie Farnworth’s heroics on Thursday to the string of comeback wins — the quality of the football was simply epic.

Latrell once again showed how the bigger stage the better he goes and has surely rubber-stamped his selection for the NSW Blues in the centres with a 15/10 performance to help South Sydney upstage the Broncos.

Returning NSW coach Laurie Daley has gone on the record stipulating how he intends to pick players who are in form and Latrell delivered right on cue.

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The images of the Gold Coast Titans ownership group sitting behind the Titans bench on the sidelines were also telling given the revelations about coach Des Hasler’s top eight contract clause last week.

The Titans players delivered with a stunning comeback to snap a five-game losing run against Newcastle but the question remains will it be enough to save Hasler’s tenure on the Gold Coast?

Wayne's hilarious reaction to Trell FG! | 05:19

The Raiders produced one of the most clinical opening 40 minutes you’ll see in the top-of-the-ladder showdown against Canterbury-Bankstown before Stephen Crichton on the right edge and big Billy Kikau on the left went to work and piled on 32 unanswered points in the second half.

Bulldogs utility Jaemon Salmon couldn’t help himself with another sledge at Raiders coach Ricky Stuart with the “weak gutted dog” try celebration but now the Canterbury-Bankstown forward is out for up to 10 weeks with an ankle injury.

Warriors halfback Luke Metcalf confirmed his status as the most improved playmaker in the competition by helping pilot the Up The Wahs into second place on the ladder with another impressive victory over the Dragons.

The way Metcalf has taken over the running of the Warriors with Shaun Johnson retired has been nothing short of remarkable.

The other impressive thing about the Wahs is they’re going about their business without James Fisher-Harris and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.

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Then there was the Cowboys shoot out against Penrith where North Queensland’s attacking guns Scott Drinkwater, Jaxon Purdue and Tommy Dearden twice fought back from 12-point deficits but then couldn’t quite get it done in golden point to finish with a 30-all draw.

The form of Dearden is good enough to pose the question of does Queensland coach Billy Slater entertain the idea of picking him at halfback for the opening State of Origin clash.

There’s no question Dearden will be in the Maroons 17 but the way he’s playing you could make a case for selecting him over the top of Queensland halfback and captain Daly Cherry-Evans.

The Maroons probably won’t go that way but on form it’s a fair question.

Payten fires on refereeing after draw | 06:32

The DCE situation with the Manly Sea Eagles hasn’t aged well with the maroon and white side crashing to a third straight defeat at Fortress Brookvale now known as Four Pines Park.

The Sea Eagles look far from a united side.

As if all of that wasn’t enough the Melbourne Storm went out and put on an absolute clinic to slay Wests Tigers with a 64-blot scoreline.

The Tigers unfortunately looked like they threw the towel in after Ryan Papenhuyzen scored the first of four tries.

We’re giving Jarome Luai’s old man Martin the benefit of the doubt with his piss-take post on Instagram about “get out clause activated” but there’s no question it’s another unwanted distraction the Wests Tigers don’t need.

What it all added up to was a sensational round of rugby league with the State of Origin sides to be picked for Origin I this time next week.

What were your likes or dislikes from a cracking Round 10?

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