Brisbane, Penrith and the Roosters are coming home with a wet sail and the Dolphins are along for the ride.
The resurgence of these four teams has set up an intriguing premiership race to give new competition leaders Canberra, title favourites Canterbury and perennial challengers Melbourne plenty of food for thought.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, their hopes of a maiden title are looking wobbly with Luke Metcalf and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad likely gone for the season.
And if anyone was holding out hope for the Sharks springing to life, they are also going backwards at a rapid rate of knots with their mid-season form slump continuing in Melbourne on Sunday.
Here’s how the teams stack up after Round 17.
1. Bulldogs (Last week 1): Even though they lost, they are still the team to beat – the defeat to Penrith was a great indicator for the players in the side without big-game experience about what to expect in the finals.
2. Raiders (2): Ricky Stuart was able to afford to rest Hudson Young and they still motored to victory over the Knights in Newcastle.
Josh Papalii should not be able to cover as much ground and make as much of an impact at his age, and size, but the veteran prop is still having huge sway on the Green Machine’s fortunes.
3. Storm (3): After grinding the Sharks into the ground, they face a tricky trip to the tropics to face the Cowboys and the loss of Sua Fa’alogo to a hamstring injury will have an impact but you just know that Craig Bellamy will slot players into the various vacancies who will get the job done.
4. Roosters (4): They had the bye and after three wins in their past four outings has lifted them to sixth, they are a puncher’s chance of sneaking into the top four.
5. Panthers (5): Their victory over the Bulldogs at CommBank Stadium on Thursday night was the kind of performance that became routine over the previous five years but has been sadly absent in 2025.
If they can get through Origin III unscathed, their hopes remain alive of recording the best Five in a Row since the D-Generation had their dial locked on 23FM, your one-stop non-stop shop of classic rock.
6. Dolphins (7): Back on track with a bang after they had a hiccup in Perth the previous round.
The loss of Kodi Nikorima to a hamstring injury will be a body blow but with Isaiya Katoa in red-hot form, these Dolphins should make the finals and be a decent chance of making some noise when they get there.
7. Broncos (8): They’re starting to show that if they can put it all together, they are still a title threat despite their slow start to the year.
All else being equal, they will go as far as Reece Walsh takes them and although he is brilliant at his best, the variation to his dud moments is still too wide.
8. Warriors (6): Their loss to Brisbane was compounded by the likely season-ending injuries suffered by Luke Metcalf and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.
After prop Mitchell Barnett tore his ACL a few weeks ago, the injury gods are not on their side and they won’t be able to win the comp if Metcalf and CNK are not on the field.
9. Sea Eagles (14): And this is where the rest of the competition sits.
Manly get a bigger than deserved bump up the rankings because the teams that were above them are struggling and at least they won, although it was only over the Wests Tigers so they are a mile away from the legit playoff contenders.
10. Sharks (10): Nobody who has seen Cronulla over the past few years was surprised that they weren’t able to foot it with the Storm at AAMI Park on Sunday.
They have to ask themselves whether this group of players has gone as far as they can and whether it’s time to ship in some new blood.
11. Knights (9): They were slow out of the blocks yet again against Canberra to bring undone their brief mini resurgence of the past month.
With Kalyn Ponga sidelined for two months due to a foot injury, end-of-season trips can be locked in for September if they weren’t already.
12. Eels (11): They were dreadful in the first half in Wollongong and although they pulled their socks up after a rev-up from Jason Ryles, the fac that they nearly staged a comeback win had as much to do with the Dragons’ heavy injury toll.
13. Rabbitohs (12): They scored the first try against the Dolphins but were not in the contest after that.
Another soft-tissue injury to Cody Walker, another hamstring injury, is a sign that the battle against Father Time is never won by players in their mid 30s even if they did have a late start to their NRL career.
14. Dragons (15): They’ve taken a step forward with their victory over Parramatta but with several players getting injured, they will likely be cannon fodder for the Raiders in the national capital this weekend.
15. Cowboys (17): Their win over the Titans on Sunday proved that they are slightly not as bad as the team coming last.
16. Titans (16): At last some good news for the Gold Coast – with the way that the Tigers are spiralling into the abyss, they may not end up with the wooden spoon.
17. Tigers (13): That’s six losses in a row after their meek effort at Manly.
And with Jarome Luai, Api Koroisau, Heath Mason and Jahream Bula out this weekend and Tallyn Da Silva getting straight outta Concord, their chances against the Roosters on Sunday are slim to none.
