Brits Down Under: Tom Burgess gets on scoresheet as Kai Pearce-Paul delivers big display

Drew Darbyshire 10 Jun 2024 4:49 PM

Kai Pearce-Paul, Tom Burgess, Max King NRL Alamy — From left to right: Kai Pearce-Paul (Newcastle Knights), Tom Burgess (South Sydney Rabbitohs) and Max King (Canterbury Bulldogs) in NRL action

Round 14 of the NRL season is complete, with England internationals Kai Pearce-Paul and Tom Burgess delivering impressive displays.

Brits Down Under is a weekly feature here on Love Rugby League in 2024, checking out how the NRL‘s British players get on every week.

Here is a brief recap from Round 14, with the Dolphins (Herbie Farnworth), Sydney Roosters (Dom Young, Victor Radley) and Canberra Raiders (Morgan Smithies, Elliott Whitehead) the teams with the byes this week..

Tom Burgess

The Dewsbury-born powerhouse produced a big display in South Sydney Rabbitohs’ 46-12 win over Gold Coast Titans, racking up 149 metres from 14 carries, with 66 of those metres coming post contact. Burgess, who played 36 minutes in total after coming on from the bench, also made 21 tackles, with an impressive tackle efficiency of 91 per cent. Burgess even got on the scoresheet: as he has done a couple of times already this season.

Kai Pearce-Paul

The former Wigan Warriors star got another 80 minutes under his belt as his Newcastle Knights side went down to a 36-28 defeat against Melbourne Storm. It was a workmanlike performance from Pearce-Paul, who made 35 tackles, boasting a tackle efficiency of 89 per cent. He was one of only four Newcastle players to make 35 tackles or more during the match. He was placed on report in the 37th minute for a tackle on Melbourne’s Trent Loiero.

Pearce-Paul, who hails from London, also made 66 metres from eight carries. He also produced an assist and two tackle breaks.

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Max King

The 27-year-old prop was solid in the Bulldogs’ 22-18 win over the Eels. Playing 55 minutes in total, King made 115 metres from 11 caries whilst making 34 tackles on the other side of the ball. He also made one tackle break and seven hit ups.

King, who was born in Huddersfield whilst his dad David was playing for the Giants, has previously spoken to the i about his aspirations to represent his birthplace and mother’s side of the family one day, although he has yet to earn the call-up to the England national team.