Who's deadly NRL R17: Jesse Ramien, Kotoni Staggs, Lattrell Mitchell, Cody Walker, Ezra Mam

Guest Author Published July 11, 2022 at 9.00am (AWST)

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A maiden treble that almost ended with four tries at the end of the night has marked a pivotal point in a NRL career-best performance from Sharks centre Jesse Ramien.

None of the other three tries during the Kamilaroi and Weilwan man's past 12 appearances in his fifth year at Cronulla had been more damaging than in the home side's 28-6 win over Melbourne Storm on Thursday.

Ramien opened the scoring stepping back inside towards Melbourne's line in the 11th minute, but a few plays later the 25-year-old also dropped the ball over the same line to deny stretching the Sharks' lead out early.

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But Ramien redeemed himself prior to the break, chasing a grubber kick through to score again before in the second half bursting around four defenders for the finisher in the 75th minute.

The back-to-back loss for the Storm ahead of Wednesday's State of Origin decider was cast against a backdrop of Reimis Smith being ruled out for rest of 2022.

The Bundjalung man has been forced to watch from the sidelines for more than two months during rehabilitation on a pectoral tear.

But Smith, the nephew of rugby league great Anthony Mundine, further aggravated that muscle injury before even stepping back on the field.

"He's worked pretty hard to get back, and he was probably only a week or two from getting back into training," Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said of Smith.

"For that to happen again isn't ideal for him or for us.

"I'm not quite sure what to say there because he's distraught.

"He's worked ultra-hard, but it's come to nothing now."

Indigenous flyer Cody Ramsey did his best to spoil the party for Brisbane Broncos that were celebrating 30 years since winning their inaugural premiership over St George.

But Kotoni Staggs was equal to the task to secure the hosts a 32-18 victory on Sunday against the Dragons.

A textbook cut-out pass put Ramsey perfectly into space and his sprint 40 metres into the corner levelled the scores.

But after exchanging tries once more, the Broncos crossed four successive times, starting and ending with Staggs.

The Wiradjuri man marvelously weaved in and out of the defence to breach the line in the 36th minute.

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Torres Strait Islander Ezra Mam also joined Brisbane's stampede in the 55th minute; the rookie sensation scoring off supporting multiple ball runners next to the uprights.

Staggs matched the pace of his halfback's run four minutes earlier to chase down a 30-metre Broncos kick.

Ramsey still showed as much grit heading inside the final 10 minutes than what the fullback had done with flair, breaking tackles to collect a double and the side's third.

Cody Walker was another Indigenous playmaker to score two tries in a half across the weekend, setting up the 40-28 victory at Newcastle.

The South Sydney revelation, 26, was perhaps dubiously awarded a ninth minute try after scooping up a ground dummy-half pass and then running into teammate George Burgess close to the line.

The 38th minute try was one of anticipation for the Yuin and Bundjalung man, intercepting a speculative Knights' pass to dash more than 80 metres under the posts.

Latrell Mitchell's six goals on Friday night added to the Birrbay and Wiradjuri man captaining the Rabbitohs for the first time in his 37 games at Redfern.

Daine Laurie, Walker's nephew, had initially put the Wests Tigers up by 12 points in a promising 15-minute start of their clash with Parramatta on Saturday night.

The Bundjalung and Yaegl man chased through a Tigers' high ball, only to soon gather a fumbled Eels' catch from a tackle to score for the first time this year.

But the complexion of the derby changed quickly as Parramatta crossed for the next five unanswered tries within 37 minutes to seal a 28-20 win at Leichhardt Oval.