Daniel Tupou moved past Steve Menzies into fourth all-time on the tryscorers list after a brilliant hat-trick as the Roosters upset the Bulldogs 32-12.

Tupou had 121 run metres, two tackle busts, an offload, a linebreak and three brilliant finishes both in the air and on the ground to keep the Roosters finals hopes alive with their third straight win.

Tupou now has 182 tries behind only Billy Slater (190), Alex Johnston (209) and Ken Irvine (212) ahead of him and he could finish second all-time by the time he retires.

Roosters coach Trent Robinson paid tribute to Tupou’s selflessness and skill as a finisher.

“We’re all cheerleaders for Tupes, more so than himself,” Robinson said.

“They had a pretty clear game plan to stop Tupes tonight, so it’s not only just putting the ball down over the line, it was pretty tight there. Both teams were defending well and Tupes had to work hard for both those first two tries.

“They had a defensive system that they wanted to play on him, and he had to work that out, and adapt around it, and he did and that’s the quality of a winger as well.

“You know he’s good in the air, but I thought he did really, really well in that and then also to combine that with the back-field carries, to take over another humble legend in Beaver and pass it on to Tupes to go into fourth. It’s a pretty nice bloke to take over.

“I think I was lucky enough to coach Beaver, and the old back-rower has gone back to fifth, but he’ll be happy for Tupes I know that.”

The Roosters celebrated Tupou’s milestone and Robinson believes he is a pioneer in the air that Xavier Coates has followed in recent seasons.

“We just celebrated the fact of him going into fourth and also just the way he does it,” Robinson said.

“The art of his craft that he gets to put into practice. I think he’s one of the best wingers of all time, and he’s certainly the best Polynesian winger.

“I think he’s really led the way there and he’s the sort of the first guy, I know Xavier Coates is doing a really, really good job on that, but I think Tupes has been the first guy that’s really owned the air in this game for over a decade.

“I think he’s the one that sort of led the way. I don’t even know how many high ball catches, I think he would have to be number one in obviously being fourth.

“But he has changed the shape of defence as far as the way that the high ball catch, he’d have more high ball catches than any other person in the game by an absolute mile.

“He always seems like he’s sitting behind somebody, but I know he’s definitely at the front of that cue when it comes to that part of the game.”

The Roosters next face the Eels as they aim to break into the top eight and no one will want to face them in the sort of form they have been in lately.

GRAY SOUTHS’ SAVIOUR AS BENNETT’S MEN AVOID SPOON WITH EELS UPSET

Wayne Bennett is set to avoid the first wooden spoon of his career after Jye Gray produced a masterclass to lead the Rabbitohs to an upset 20-16 victory over the Eels.

Gray was in everything for Souths to finish with 200 run metres, five tackle busts, two linebreaks, a linebreak assist and a try assist, but it was his work in defence to come up with three try-savers that won Souths the game.

Cooper Cronk was full of praise for Gray’s stunning defensive display.

“I feel like Jye Gray needs a standing ovation or something for what he delivered for South Sydney tonight,” Cronk said.

“Without his performance, Parramatta win the game. I counted three genuine try saving tackles in that second half.

“He is the smallest player on the field, but he has the biggest heart.

“You have got to give credit to Souths with the injuries that they have had at different stages, their care factor, their defence, their toughness and ability to just keep turning up.

“Tonight was a big performance and just shows that spirit that South Sydney has.”

Cronk was particularly in awe of a last ditch Gray tackle to deny Isaiah Iongi a match winning try in the final minutes.

“You can talk about skill and athleticism, but when you underpin it with effort like this, it’s the reason why Souths keep fighting despite being dismantled by injuries,” Cronk said.

“The last try-saver on Iongi was literally on the line. That is a try for all money, probably draw with Lomax getting a kick to win it.

“Jye Gray might have just won the game with one tackle along with Tallis Duncan.

“He is probably the smallest player in the competition, but his heart is huge.”

Braith Anasta questioned if Gray holds the No.1 jersey when Latrell Mitchell returns.

“It begs the question do you leave him at fullback and Latrell Mitchell in the centres?” Anasta asked.

“Yes,” Cronk said.

“I think the way you are structured with injuries you just get all your best talent on the field.

“Latrell Mitchell is a moments player and probably the best moments player in the game.

“His best position is fullback, but they can’t move too many other people around. I think Gray is a fullback and let Latrell play centre.”

Kevin Walters agreed Gray has a mortgage on the Souths’ No.1 jersey going forward.

“Latrell last week against the Titans seemed to be enjoying himself in the centres and had a big impact on the game,” Walters said.

“I think if you are Wayne Bennett you are keeping Jye Gray in the No.1 jumper.”

SHARKS’ TITLE HOPES TAKE MASSIVE HIT AFTER INJURY BLOW

The Sharks were able to return to form with a thumping of the Titans, but the result came at a massive cost with inspirational skipper Cam McInnes suffering a suspected ACL injury.

20 minutes into the contest, McInnes looked frustrated when he was forced off the field.

Unfortunately, Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon indicated post game that his captain’s season is likely over, but challenged some of his other senior players to stand up in McInnes’ absence.

“It’s not looking good,” Fitzgibbon said.

“I tell you what it will be, it will be a chance for someone else to step us as a leader.”

McInnes isn’t a player who will break the game open.

Nor is he a player who will set up or score three tries a game, but his role on this Cronulla team is invaluable as a fellow middle forward and former Blues teammate Isaah Yeo noted.

“The amount of clean up work he does for that group, but obviously intangibles, the leadership. You can see how deflated Fitzty was talking about his captain,” Yeo said on Fox League’s Super Saturday.

“Just shows the mark of the person, possible ACL and he’s still the one leading the line speed after it’s just happened.”

Fitzgibbon will be hoping that McInnes’ injury will galvanise this team heading into the finals.

However, one expert says it might be too much for the Sharks

“He is one tough dude and I feel like he’s the heartbeat of the Cronulla Sharks,” multiple premiership winning halfback Cooper Cronk said.

“When they play well and defend well, he is everything that brings it together.

“Craig Fitzgibbon held it well together but I’ll find it hard to back the Sharks from here without the inspirational middle forward.

“He’s key to exactly what they want to achieve defensively.”

HOW WALSH FOUND THE BALANCE

Broncos fullback Reece Walsh has been rocks and diamonds this season.

The superstar No.1 has lit up games with scintillating performances, but equally has shown his hand too much and been unable to stamp his mark on contests.

But against the Dolphins? He struck the perfect balance.

The 23-year-old needed to stand tall after Brisbane were hit with a wave of injuries a week earlier, with Adam Reynolds, Selwyn Cobbo and Ezra Mam all sidelined.

So Michael Maguire was counting on Walsh to get it right, alongside the new halves pairing of Ben Hunt and Billy Walters who were very impressive in their side’s win.

For skipper Pat Carrigan, Walsh’s display against the Dolphins was one of his best, assisting three line breaks, scoring one try and also assisting another.

“Tonight he really got the balance right. He’s done some really special things for him, but at the end of the day, we just need Reece to be Reece Walsh.

“He’s actually really calm out there, talking really well to the boys, and I think that instilled a lot of confidence in him, but that was a big play (his second half 40/20).

“He’s a hard taskmaster on himself, but I think he found that balance tonight and he was a massive for us.

“All that back five, to be honest. You know, the way that Deine and Josiah started our sets was pretty special too, so when those boys are doing that for us, I think it makes it a lot easier for us middles.”

Carrigan also explained that Walsh’s decision-making will always be the part of his game that he needs to develop.

The energetic fullback flies into plays, but at times can be erratic when attempting to complete the final pass — which at times does hurt the Broncos.

“I think that’s always the growth for him, but in saying that his mindset’s always to take the game on and that’s why we love him, that’s why we love playing with him,” Carrigan said.

“He’s a special player. He works hard at those sort of things at training and he’s reaped the rewards for that tonight.

“We just need Reece to be Reece and we can all support each other and that’s where we’re going as a team.”

Speaking to Code Sports, Walsh also responded to the criticism of his form this season.

“It’d be pretty easy for me to shy away and not want to put my hand up,” he said.

“I feel if I ever did that, it’d probably be dishonour to myself to let someone else do that and just sit back and not chase the game.

“I’ve just got to keep working on my process, doing my job and I’ll take whatever criticism it is if I’m trying to be the best teammate I can.’’

SPOON IN REACH FOR KNIGHTS

The Knights have shown fight in weeks prior to Round 24.

But that grit and desire in their performance seemed to have evaporated in the second half and now they are well and truly in a battle for the wooden spoon.

Newcastle have just a two-point buffer on the Titans with three games remaining in what have been poor campaigns by both respective teams.

The Knights face the Broncos, Sharks and Eels — a tough stretch of fixtures.

Meanwhile, the Gold Coast have the Warriors, Dolphins and Tigers. A three-game stretch you could argue is easier than their rival’s.

If the Knights’ performance against North Queensland was anything to go by, they could in for a tough few weeks.

“It was just one way traffic and it could have been a lot worse for the Knights,” Matty Johns said on Fox League.

“The Cowboys blew two or three tries.”

Meanwhile, league legend Bryan Fletcher added: “The defence was not great, both of these teams have had pretty ordinary years.

“It’s getting worrying, the spoon is well within the Knights reach.”

For Adam O’Brien, he explained in the post-match press conference that his side will simply be focusing on finishing the season on a high.

But from there, it remains to be seen if he stays as the club’s head coach in 2026, with reports surfacing the club are preparing to buy him out of his contract.

“It’s what we spoke about in there, we lack some confidence. We lack, no so much belief, I think you find when you’re having a season like we are having,” he said.

“You get to a point in the middle of the week where you train yourself into some confidence then when things go amiss and you bomb a couple of tries, it’s just our confidence and belief is eroding.

“It wasn’t that long ago, similar personnel were out and we played against some top four teams and pushed them to golden point.

“Went right down to the wire against the Roosters, that’s not that far away.

“But in our last two performances, we want to win so badly that we want to skip to that and everything is looking so difficult.”