Apologies to the Bulldogs but top spot in the Power Rankings has been stripped from them in absentia during their bye round simply because the Storm were at their scintillating best on Sunday.
Melbourne have re-established their position as the yardstick for 2025 after their hiccup a fortnight ago against the Dragons and the only real challenge confronting Craig Bellamy right now is maintaining this kind of form throughout the season and into the playoffs.
It’s fairly obvious that they have zero weak links in their chain but their dominance is not as simple as that.
Pretty much every player in every position is either the best in the NRL or at the very least in the top five.
No team, including Canterbury, has come close to the heights that the Storm have reached this year although the Dogs have a style of play which could potentially throw a spanner into the works of the Melbourne machine.
After six rounds there are three tiers to the competition which is easily explained – two teams have everything on track to have a shot at the title and two teams have no chance whatsoever.
And then there are 13 sides in a logjam who have blatant flaws in their game or lack the consistency to be seen as a serious threat, including – for the first time in a long time – Penrith after sinking to a 1-5 record to start to the year.
Here’s how the teams stack up after Round 6.
“We didn’t get to play our game as a result of all the defence. We’re trying so hard but we didn’t execute our tackles.
Tier 1: The contenders
1. Storm (Last week 2): They didn’t just beat the Warriors on Sunday at AAMI Park, they annihilated a team that had been traveling well.
When Jahrome Hughes was on the field for the first 40 minutes they ran in six unanswered tries and although the Warriors’ defence wasn’t great, they were simply outclassed by an opponent that earned the right to throw the ball around by dominating the middle third before running in some spectacular tries off the back of that platform.
2. Bulldogs (1): They had the bye last round and their prospects are on the up, not that you can go better than undefeated, with Matt Burton and Viliame Kikau due back from their knee injuries on Good Friday against the Easter Bunnies.
3. Daylight: Daylight’s usually second in sporting analogies but in the NRL at the moment it has to settle for third, highlighting the yawning gap between the top two and the rest.
3. Daylight
Tier 2: The logjam of meh
3A. Sharks (5): Default. Default. The two sweetest words in the English language according to Homer Simpson. Iin lieu of no other serious contender for the top of the ladder at the moment, Cronulla are the best of a mediocre rest.
They did enough to put away a depleted Manly side on Saturday in Perth and they’re still far from their best but they have the tools to stay in the fight until they hit their straps.
4. Raiders (9): It’s time to give the Green Nachine their due and they’ve been given a massive bump up the rankings following their dismantling of Parramatta in Darwin.
Ricky’s Raiders regeneration is rapidly rising. Alliteration aside, the development they put into Ethan Strange’s rookie season last year is already paying off and he was magnificent in their emphatic win over the Eels.
5. Broncos (3): They still can’t put together a string of weeks of their best and they drift in and out of games in attack and defence.
Whether it was complacency or they simply lack the firepower, they didn’t seem to rise to the challenge against a revved-up Roosters side last Friday night and the 26-16 scoreline was an accurate reflection of their lack of commitment to the task.
6. Sea Eagles (4): Manly are one of many teams who have been rocks and diamonds this season. When they’ve been on their game they’ve been sensational, but when they’ve been off they’ve been terrible.
They’ve won three games by 14 points or more, but lost one by 20 and another by 24 and would have lost to the Sharks by double digits if not for a consolation try in the 79th minute.
7. Panthers (5): For the third week in a row, this is surely as low as they’re going to go.
They are now staring down the barrel of 117 years of premiership history in their bid to win a fifth straight title.
All good things must come to an end and although it is still too early to write them off entirely due to the talent on their roster, not even the most optimistic of Panthers fans would be confident that this team will be there when the whips are cracking at the end of 2025.
Terrell May. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
8. Tigers (10): How the Panthers would love to have Jarome Luai and Sunia Taruva in their team. They were integral in Sunday’s victory over the Knights in Newcastle and have now given Benji Marshall’s side some organisation in the playmaking department and some finishing touch out wide.
And front-rower Terrell May continued his case to be the buy of the season with another dominant display in the middle.
9. Cowboys (11): They missed the jump for 2025 but the Cowboys have recovered from three straight losses with a hat-trick of wins, culminating in their professional display to conquer South Sydney in Perth.
Tom Dearden is a natural leader for this team and whether he ends up in the halves or at fullback, Jaxon Perdue is a talent that cannot go to waste although he is getting involved plenty at centre, notching two tries against the Rabbitohs.
10. Rabbitohs (7): They are one of many tricky teams to assess following the first six rounds given they have been decimated by injuries and suspension.
Latrell Mitchell had his moments at five-eighth but yet again he was not involved enough and too much of the playmaking burden was left to Bud Sullivan and Jye Grey from the back.
With Sullivan now suspended and Cody Walker and Jamie Humphreys out injured, Lewis Dodd will finally get his chance to prove he can be a worthwhile investment after a slow start to the season due to suspensions and middling form.
11. Warriors (8): They have dropped three spots in the rankings but they didn’t actually play that poorly against Melbourne, it’s just that the Storm were red hot, white hot even.
The outlook could be bleak for the Warriors if James Fisher-Harris is out long term with a pectoral injury, their most important player.
12. Dolphins (16): They didn’t just beat Penrith because the premiers are in a slump. They performed well throughout the contest and thoroughly deserved their victory to the tune of 30-12.
There is plenty of pressure on young halfback Isaiya Katoa but when he has Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow getting involved at fullback, Herbie Farnworth bobbing up all over the place from centre and Jeremy Marshall-King scheming around the ruck, the Dolphins are a much more impressive squad.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow celebrates after scoring. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
13. Roosters (15): They’ve only won two matches this year but one was an impressive win on the road against Penrith and last Friday was even better when they knocked off the Broncos on their home turf.
The decision to give rookie Hugo Savala a crack at halfback paid off for Trent Robinson who wisely decided to shake things up at the Roosters because they were on a path to nowhere if they had stuck with their misfiring line-up.
14. Dragons (15): They only beat a third-rate Gold Coast side last Friday but at least the Dragons looked like a cohesive unit this time around.
The jury is still out on Lachlan Ilias at halfback but Kyle Flanagan stepped up with his best performance of the season and St George Illawarra can still consider themselves playoff contenders even though they have lost three out of five.
15. Knights (13): They can’t score points which is kind of crucial in most sports.
There is a huge reliance on Kalyn Ponga to produce magic in attack but he can only do that if the pack goes forward and on Sunday their forwards were unable to make inroads against the Tigers and if not for their hard-working scrambling defence the Knights could have lost by a lot more.
Tier 3: No hope
16. Titans (12): It’s deja vu all over again for long-suffering Gold Coast fans.
They had a two-week departure from reality when they knocked over the Knights and Roosters but over the past couple of weeks they have been woeful against the Dolphins and Dragons.
The only consolation from their 38-16 loss in Wollongong was that Tino Fa’asuamaleaui was out suspended but even someone of his stature can only carry so many of his teammates on a week-to-week basis before he will be off to the chiropractor with a crook back.
17. Eels (17): Their deal to play matches in Darwin either needs to be scrapped or a lot more zeroes need to be added to the contract to make it worthwhile.
That’s four losses on the trot now in the Top End and Para look like they will remain at the bottom end of the ladder all season long even when Mitchell Moses gets back in a few weeks.
