Late drama, broken jaws, outstanding performances ... that was round nine in the NRL.

The Broncos (for at least a few hours) were outright top of the table after beating the Panthers by the unusual score line of 8-5.

Meanwhile, Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney made strong cases for Origin selection, guiding the Roosters to an easy win.

In the Australian capital, the green machine keep on moving forward under coach Ricky Stuart, trouncing the Titans by 40 points.

Golden Boot winner Shaun Johnson is finally starting to produce his International form for his club, scoring late to give the Warriors the win over the Sharks in a game that saw Konrad Hurrell break the jaw of Anthony Tupou.

Five-eighth Michael Morgan looks to have finally cemented his place as JT’s scrum-half partner after he put in a Man-of-the-Match performance for the Cowboys.

Daly Cherry-Evans finally looks to have put months and months of contract talks behind him, combining with Brett Stewart to lead the Sea Eagles to victory.

Finally, Billy Slater’s timely return from injury helped the Melbourne Storm run over a disappointing Parramatta Eels side. Who's ready for Round 10?