Monday's Expert - Round 20 wrap

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Monday's Expert is here - with a full wrap of everything happening around the rugby league traps this Monday 5 August 2019. Includes match review charges, POTY leaderboard, crowds, ratings and injury news.

First things first...

The results are in. Check out how Round 20 played out in our one-page results wrap. You can check out results from any competition across the NSWRL and QRL, as well as Super League and Championship here.

Our match reports for the twentieth round can be found here.

And while we're on it, thank you as always to our dedicated volunteer updaters and writers - Andrew Jackson, Justin Davies, Sam Bourke, Rob Crosby, Rick Edgerton, Andrew Ferguson and Josh Robertson.

Match review

Four players charged in Round 20:

Nelson Asofa-Solomona (Storm)
55th minute, Grade 1 Dangerous Contact (head/neck) on Patrick Carrigan
Base penalty 100 points
1 x non-similar prior offence last 2 years (20% loading)
Guilty / no contest 120 points (1 match)
Early guilty plea 90 points (0 matches)
PLEA: Guilty - early plea
OUTCOME: No suspension. 90 carryover points accrued.

James Maloney (Panthers)
73rd minute, Grade 1 Tripping on Jeremy Marshall-King
Base penalty 100 points
2 x non-similar prior offences last 2 years (40% loading)
15 carryover points to add
Guilty / no contest 140+15=155 points (1 match)
Early guilty plea 105+15=120 points (1 match)
PLEA: Not guilty. Will face judiciary Tuesday.
OUTCOME: Guilty. 1 match suspension.

Sam Burgess (Rabbitohs)
4th minute, Grade 2 Careless High Tackle on Matt Moylan
Base penalty 150 points
One similar, one non-simlar prior offence last 2 yrs (70% loading)
Guilty / no contest 255 points (2 matches)
Early guilty plea 191 points (1 match)
PLEA: Guilty, but disputes grading. Will face judiciary Tuesday.
OUTCOME: Charge downgraded. Guilty Grade 1. $1900 fine.

Manu Ma'u (Eels)
36th minute, Grade 1 Careless High Tackle on Corey Norman
Base penalty $1500 fine
Guilty / no contest $1500 fine
Early guilty plea $1150 fine
PLEA: Guilty - early plea
OUTCOME: $1150 fine

The LU Leaderboard

At the conclusion of each match our reporters choose their best three players from the match. You can views those points in each match in their respective match reports. Each week we'll update the leaderboard:

26 points - James Tedesco (Roosters)
23 points - Cameron Smith (Storm)
21 points - Cameron Munster (Storm)
20 points - Cody Walker (Rabbitohs)
19 points - Daly Cherry-Evans (Sea Eagles), Jason Taumalolo (Cowboys), James Maloney (Panthers)
18 points - Anthony Milford (Broncos)
17 points - Mitchell Pearce (Knights)
16 points - Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (Raiders), Mitchell Moses (Eels), Josh Papalii (Raiders)
15 points - David Klemmer (Knights)
14 points - Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Warriors), John Bateman (Raiders), Clint Gutherson (Eels)
13 points - Cameron Murray (Rabbitohs), Luke Keary (Roosters), Damien Cook (Rabbitohs), Shaun Johnson (Sharks)
12 points - Luke Brooks (Wests Tigers), Josh Hodgson (Raiders), Payne Haas (Broncos), Blake Green (Warriors), Robbie Farah (Wests Tigers)
11 points - James Fisher-Harris (Panthers), Ryan Papenhuyzen (Storm), Adam Reynolds (Rabbitohs), Kalyn Ponga (Knights)
10 points - Kenneath Bromwich (Storm), Ben Hunt (Dragons), Benji Marshall (Wests Tigers), Latrell Mitchell (Roosters), Tyrone Roberts (Titans), Tom Trbojevic (Sea Eagles)
9 points - Michael Morgan (Cowboys)
8 points - Corey Norman (Dragons), Manase Fainu (Sea Eagles), Jake Trbojevic (Sea Eagles), Martin Taupau (Sea Eagles), Siosiua Taukeiaho (Roosters)
7 points - Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (Panthers), Nathan Cleary (Panthers), John Asiata (Cowboys), Jahrome Hughes (Storm), Corey Thompson (Wests Tigers)
6 points - Paul Vaughan (Dragons), Issac Luke (Warriors), Kieran Foran (Bulldogs), Paul Gallen (Sharks), Viliame Kikau (Panthers), Brandon Smith (Storm)
5 points - Josh Morris (Sharks), Ryan Matterson (Wests Tigers), Corey Oates (Broncos), Aiden Tolman (Bulldogs), Brian Kelly (Titans), Brian To'o (Panthers), Wade Graham (Sharks), Blake Ferguson (Eels), Briton Nikora (Sharks)
4 points - Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (Roosters), Kane Elgey (Sea Eagles), Jesse Bromwich (Storm), Nathan Brown (Eels), Andrew Fifita (Sharks), David Fifita (Broncos), Matthew Lodge (Broncos), Will Hopoate (Bulldogs), Ryan Sutton (Raiders), Reed Mahoney (Eels), Nelson Asofa-Solomona (Storm), Josh Addo-Carr (Storm), Liam Martin (Panthers), Brodie Croft (Storm), Chanel Harris-Tavita (Warriors), Jayden Okunbor (Bulldogs), Bronson Xerri (Sharks), Chad Townsend (Sharks)
3 points - Jack Wighton (Raiders), Victor Radley (Roosters), Jack Cogger (Bulldogs), Joel Thompson (Sea Eagles), Braden Hamlin-Uele (Sharks), Maika Sivo (Eels), Reuben Garrick (Sea Eagles), Joseph Manu (Roosters), Kyle Flanagan (Sharks), Matt Moylan (Sharks), John Sutton (Rabbitohs), Connor Watson (Knights), Moses Mbye (Wests Tigers), Boyd Cordner (Roosters), Manu Ma'u (Eels), Brendan Elliot (Sea Eagles), Curtis Sironen (Sea Eagles), Aidan Sezer (Raiders), Kodi Nikorima (Broncos), Ken Maumalo (Warriors), James Graham (Dragons), Jarrod Croker (Raiders), Dylan Brown (Eels), Tevita Pangai (Broncos), Jai Arrow (Titans), Josh Reynolds (Wests Tigers), Michael Gordon (Titans), Josh Jackson (Bulldogs), Josh McGuire (Cowboys), Joe Ofahengaue (Broncos), Lachlan Croker (Sea Eagles), Corey Harawira-Naera (Bulldogs), Sam Burgess (Rabbitohs), Brandon Wakeham (Bulldogs), Jarome Luai (Panthers)
2 points - Cameron McInnes (Dragons), Andrew McCullough (Broncos), Josh Hoffman (Eels), Kotoni Staggs (Broncos), Isaac Liu (Roosters), Jake Turpin (Broncos), Edrick Lee (Knights), Kyle Feldt (Cowboys), Alex Twal (Wests Tigers), Jake Clifford (Cowboys), Scott Drinkwater (Storm), Connor Tracey (Rabbitohs), Herman Ese'ese (Knights), Brett Morris (Roosters), Joseph Tapine (Raiders), Jazz Tevaga (Warriors), Mason Lino (Knights), Esan Marsters (Wests Tigers), Suliasi Vunivalu (Storm), Daniel Alvaro (Eels), Lachlan Lewis (Bulldogs), Matt Scott (Cowboys), Josh Mansour (Panthers), Moeaki Fotuaika (Titans), Jayden Brailey (Sharks), Blake Lawrie (Dragons), Danny Levi (Knights), Michael Jennings (Eels), Phillip Sami (Titans), Jarrod Wallace (Titans), Addin Fonua-Blake (Sea Eagles), Jordan Rapana (Raiders), Ryan James (Titans), Joseph Leilua (Raiders), Michael Chee-Kam (Wests Tigers), Joe Lovodua (Dragons)
1 point - Gareth Widdop (Dragons), Russell Packer (Wests Tigers), Peta Hiku (Warriors), Brad Takairangi (Eels), Jack Gosiewski (Sea Eagles), Jesse Ramien (Knights), Nathaniel Roache (Warriors), Sitili Tupouniua (Roosters), Cade Cust (Sea Eagles), Thomas Burgess (Rabbitohs), Tepai Moeroa (Eels), Bailey Simonsson (Raiders), Agnatius Paasi (Warriors), Matthew Dufty (Dragons), Reimis Smith (Bulldogs), Daniel Tupou (Roosters), Jacob Host (Dragons), Matt Prior (Sharks), Jake Granville (Cowboys), Mitchell Barnett (Knights), Shaun Lane (Eels), Liam Knight (Rabbitohs), Jack Bird (Broncos), James Tamou (Panthers), Tariq Sims (Dragons), Adam Elliott (Bulldogs), Anthony Don (Titans), Jack Williams (Sharks), Christian Crichton (Bulldogs), Braidon Burns (Rabbitohs), Matt Ikuvalu (Roosters)

Sore points

A quick look at the injury news to come out of Round 20:

Christian Welch (Storm) - ACL - season

Kurt Mann (Knights) - knee - TBC

Jarome Luai (Panthers) - eye - TBC

Kodi Nikorima (Warriors) - ankle - TBC

Karl Lawton (Warriors) - shoulder - TBC

Zac Lomax (Dragons) - hamstring - TBC

The good news

Here's who clubs could be expecting back this week either from suspension or injury - keep an eye out for their names on Tuesday as teamlists are named:

Broncos: Matt Gillett, Tom Dearden, Sean O'Sullivan

Raiders: Nick Cotric, Ryan Sutton, Luke Bateman

Bulldogs: Kieran Foran

Titans: Jai Arrow

Sea Eagles: Jack Gosiewski

Knights: Josh King

Panthers: Viliame Kikau

Rabbitohs: Cory Denniss

Dragons: Jeremy Latimore

Warriors: Patrick Herbert

Metrics Metrics Metrics

Each week we'll do our best to keep you across the crowd figures and TV ratings which are often the most talked-about parts of the game.

Round 20 attendance (times are AEST)

After twenty rounds last year (NRL season 2018), 2,302,070 had attended 152 matches at an average of 15,145 per game.

Round 20 ratings

Note: Ratings figures courtesy of Mediaweek Australia on Twitter and TV Tonight.

One last thing...

Congratulations to Mounties and CRL Newcastle, who are through to next Saturday's NSWRL Harvey Norman Women's Premiership Grand Final. The contest will take place before the Bulldogs v Wests Tigers NRL match at ANZ Stadium. Kickoff is 5:00pm.