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There have been few NRL upsets in the first two rounds, other than Parramatta raining on North Queensland’s ‘premiers’ title, but if the Cowboys play as badly as they did on Saturday they deserve to be beaten.
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Boyd Cordner will make a difference to the Roosters, and given Jackson Hastings’ poor performances, Mitchell Pearce will walk back in when he comes off suspension, but by then the Chooks’ season will be in the balance.
The fight for the wooden spoon is between Newcastle and St George – disappointing for Dragons fans given their top-eight performance last season, with pretty much the same roster.
Nathan Brown is already in trouble despite his two-season tenure to turn the Knights around. Tyrone Roberts will be glad to have moved on.
The two standout teams based on player ratings are the Broncos and Cowboys. Brisbane are yet to impress, with two wins from mediocre performances in attack. The Cowboys were methodical in Round 1 and diabolical in Round 2, but they were slow starters in 2015.
Parra’s victory on Saturday night was Kieran Foran induced – he made a few crucial tackles, but his presence and reading of the game were top notch, and his teammates responded. It will be interesting to see if that enthusiasm continues every week.
Foran still seems to be playing at half-pace, and I fear his hamstring is a week-to-week proposition. As opposition coaches often do, they’ll find a way to expose him if he is not 100 per cent fit.
My team ratings after Round 2 are as follows:
139.5 – Brisbane
138.5 – North Queensland
123.0 – Melbourne
123.0 – Canterbury
123.0 – Souths
118.0 – Cronulla
115.5 – Parramatta
115.0 – Canberra
115.0 – Penrith
115.0 – New Zealand
113.0 – Sydney
112.5 – Gold Coast
109.5 – Wests
109.0 – Manly
104.5 – St George Illawarra
100.0 – Newcastle
On these ratings, the competition is already split into three tiers – Brisbane, North Queensland, Melbourne, Canterbury and Souths at the top.
There is then a cluster of seven teams in a battle for the remaining three finals spots – Cronulla, Parramatta, Canberra, Penrith, New Zealand, Sydney and the Gold Coast. Personally, I think those three teams will be the Sharks, Raiders and a toss-up between the Eels and the Warriors.
The bottom tier teams – Wests, Manly, St George Illawarra and Newcastle – are a lock to miss the eight. Their season is about proving they are worthy of anything but margin betting against the higher ranked teams.
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