The wet and wild conditions in Round 22 brought a few of the competition frontrunners down to earth on the weekend.
Canberra suffered their first loss in 10 weeks when St George Illawarra gave them the slip in torrential rain at WIN Stadium while the Bulldogs botched a golden opportunity to rise into top spot on Sunday when the Tigers got down and dirty in the mud at CommBank Stadium.
The Warriors’ late season fade-out continued with their last minute loss to the Dolphins, highlighting doubts over whether they can overcome their injury toll to be a factor in the finals.
And a special shout-out to the Titans, who get a bump up the ranks to the dizzying heights of 15th despite losing.
Here’s how the teams stack up after Round 22.
1. Raiders (Last week 1): No need to panic. Their loss on Saturday night to the Dragons was their first in 10 rounds.
And it was bound to happen that the Green Machine would skip a gear here or there, and the fact that the Bulldogs went down to the Tigers means they have kept top spot on the actual ladder
2. Storm (3): They had to pull out all the stops to get over the top of Parramatta on Thursday night, and although they are operating on less than full capacity with Jahrome Hughes sidelined, they are humming along nicely in the lead-up to the finals.
3. Panthers (4): It’s tough to assess what actually happened on the Gold Coast on Saturday.
The first half looked like the Panthers were on their way to a cricket score, but then the Titans got on a roll and the premiers were lucky to get out of jail on the back of Nathan Cleary’s boot and their trainer’s supposed lack of awareness that kicks happen after tries are scored.
They are still not at their peak, but the fact that the bookmakers now have them second favourites behind Melbourne to win the comp means that expectations are now high that the Panthers can go all the way for a fifth straight year.
Lachlan Galvin. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
4. Bulldogs (2): Most people expected the Tigers to be too fired up for Lachlan Galvin’s grudge match, but it was the Bulldogs who appeared to lack focus on the main goal of completing their sets and playing smart in the difficult wet conditions.
They are now 3-3 over the past six weeks and with all five of their remaining matches against playoff contenders, they need to regain momentum quick smart before the finals.
5. Broncos (5): Well that was a glorified training room against the South Sydney NSW Cup side on Friday night.
It was just the kind of gallop that Ezra Mam, Ben Hunt, Reece Walsh and Adam Reynolds needed with Brisbane’s first choice spine finally racking up some games together.
A much tougher challenge awaits this Thursday at AAMI Park.
6. Sharks (6): Another team that was brilliant in the first 40 minutes before taking their foot off the accelerator.
The Sharks went on a feeding frenzy against the Cowboys on Sunday before putting the cue in the rack. Four wins on the trot have them knocking on the door of the top four.
7. Dolphins (8): They showed plenty of smarts to get the win over the Warriors after being down to 12 players and facing a two-point deficit heading down the stretch.
After working their way into attacking range and knocking back a long-range penalty goal, they brought out the flair to conjure up the match-winning try to Jamayne Isaako and land a dagger blow on the Auckland side.
Herbie Farnworth. (Photo by Janelle St Pierre/Getty Images)
8. Warriors (7): They are fighting hard but with injuries biting, they have now lost two out of three with their only win a lucky one over the Knights after the siren.
The Bulldogs are their only top-eight opponents in the final five rounds but the Warriors have lost their momentum and they desperately need James Fisher-Harris back on the park to have any chance of doing some damage at the pointy end of the season.
9. Roosters (10): They absorbed plenty of punishment in the first half hour at Brookvale on Saturday night before blowing the match wide open with a couple of tries before half-time and another early in the second half.
If they don’t get the chocolates in Brisbane this Saturday against the Dolphins, then their nine-year finals streak could be coming to an end.
10. Sea Eagles (9): The decision by Daly Cherry-Evans to keep his Roosters switch quiet has backfired. They would have been better off announcing the deal months ago when it was sealed.
The fact that it is still being whispered about shows there are no secrets in rugby league. And you can be certain that once it is finally announced, the phrase “the worst-kept secret in rugby league” will be used.
11. Eels (11): They were the better team for the most part on Thursday night against Melbourne. But the Storm’s edge in experience meant they had slightly better composure in the second half.
Not that the Eels should be too disappointed with the result because it’s another building block for their future.
12. Tigers (13): They are an emotional kind of team and they rode that all the way against the Bulldogs on Sunday.
As much as Benji Marshall wants to say that the Galvin situation was not a motivating factor, it was clear from the way Wests’ players targeted him throughout the contest that it helped fire them up for the grudge match.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe Photography/Getty Images)
13. Dragons (15): The wet and windy conditions in Wollongong on Saturday night brought the Raiders back down to St George Illawarra’s level.
They love a scrap and with Canberra’s attacking class negated, they were able to hustle and bustle the Green Machine into error.
14. Knights (12): They had the bye and dropped a couple of slots.
It’s been that kind of season for Newcastle.
15. Titans (16): They lost no admirers despite losing their game against Penrith after storming back from a 24-point deficit only to go down due to a combination of the opposing trainer’s dirty pool during a conversion attempt and Nathan Cleary’s brilliance.
16. Cowboys (14): They looked like a team that had met at the pub an hour or two before kickoff, and then a few schooners before the match, such was the incompetence on display at Shark Park on Sunday in the first half.
Griffin Neame and Tom Dearden saved them from total embarrassment, but nothing will save Todd Payten from the axe at season’s end.
17. Rabbitohs (17): The ongoing injury saga at South Sydney is conspiring against Wayne Bennett in his battle to avoid a first wooden spoon.
It all goes on the line this Sunday at Cbus Super Stadium – never has a 2pm Sunday Titans match been such a must-watch match in the NRL.
