NRL Roundup: Roosters pile on more points, Storm hit rock bottom

Aaron Murphy

Manly Sea Eagles players celebrate the team's fourth consecutive win. CAMERON SPENCER / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP

The Cowboys jumped the Sharks into eighth place as several teams begin to hit their strides in the second month of the competition.

The numbers that matter

The big winners of Round 8

Manly Sea Eagles, and in particular new boss Kieran Foran who became the first interim coach in NRL history to win his first four games in charge.

Not bad for someone who even himself doubted his ability to lead a first grade side less than 12 months after hanging up the boots himself, is it?

Foran has managed to unlock the best of some of Manly's greatest assets such as Haumole Olakau’atu as well as Trbojevic brothers Jake and Ben, who filled the absence left by Turbo at the weekend when they bulldozed Parramatta after half-time.

That was their first game at 4 Pines Park since Anthony Seibold was booed by their own supporters in an embarrassing loss to Sydney Roosters.

"They deserve to enjoy it - but we're realistic, we've achieved nothing yet," said Foran of his four-game winning streak, perhaps wary of what's to come - Penrith, Brisbane and Wests Tigers, who are all amongst discussions for the top-four at the moment.

Nonetheless, their attack is humming under Foran, having notched up more than 150 points already, and there's no better way for a new coach to get the ball rolling.

The big losers of Round 8

Melbourne Storm have already featured in this section a few times - and then they find a new depth to sink to.

Not long after he went viral for giving Joe Chan a serve in the sheds at half-time, Storm coach Craig Bellamy blew right up at his entire squad on Anzac Day as his players let through five unanswered South Sydney tries before half-time (24-0), only for them to concede another four following the break.

"Embarrassing" was the word that Bellamy used after the match to describe what he said was a poor team effort and work ethic not befitting of the Anzac Day occasion.

It was an especially glorious occasion for the Rabbitohs, who had never won in Melbourne and whose coach (Wayne Bennett) was on a 15-game losing streak against Bellamy.

Bellamy appears to be lost for answers as he goes through an unprecedented period in his illustrious coaching career, and whilst he admitted that he is on the verge of swinging the axe, Bellamy also alarmingly conceded that he doesn't have a lot of depth at his disposal since the club lost the likes of Eli Katoa, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Xavier Coates and Tui Kamikamica.

They can add to that Jahrome Hughes for at least one week after he went into concussion protocols, and that's with tough games against Dolphins (away) and Tigers (home) to come.

Who scored braces this week?

The hat-tricks this week were scored by North Queensland's Murray Taulagi, Penrith's Dylan Edwards, KL Iro of the Sharks and Souths prodigy Tallis Duncan, who has shot himself into outside Origin contention with his trio of tries against the Storm.