Nine talking points from the weekend that was: NRL Round 21

The Sharks and Titans are still to come tomorrow night, but it has been an intriguing weekend of rugby league and there are plenty of talking points to unravel. Don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments below.

Read more:
» AFL talking points from Round 19
» The Wrap: Super Rugby semi-finals

What is wrong with the Broncos?
The Brisbane Broncos are quite frankly looking very ordinary.

For a team that were runners up last year losing the grand final in golden point to the North Queensland Cowboys (more on this soon) and supposed to be just as good this year, it seems strange how they have fallen off the charts.

Brisbane started the season very strongly, which makes it even stranger but their forwards ever since the Origin period hit are lacking any real drive, and both Ben Hunt and Anthony Milford have gone off the boil.

A loss to the 15th placed Sydney Roosters on Thursday Night is only making things worse for the Broncos. They now find themselves having lost six of their last eight games and down to sixth on the table.

Right now, they don’t look like premiership contenders and could struggle to stay in the eight if this keeps up.

It seems they are directionless in attack, and for that the blame must fall upon Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt. If they can’t start firing over the last couple of rounds then the Broncos are done.

Inconsistency plaguing the NRL judiciary
I wrote about this today, but such is the issue it needs to be brought up again.

How the NRL are governing the ‘touching of referees’ rule I still don’t understand with Tyson Frizell charged, and how Josh Reynolds doesn’t get any time off for his trip I don’t really know either.

Strange weekend for the judiciary and match review committee – definitely losing the patience and confidence of fans as they go.

The Bulldogs won’t contend for the premiership
Just on that Bulldogs vs Dragons game, one other thing became abundantly clear – the Bulldogs aren’t going to be contending for the premiership.

They might have won, but it was a scrappy performance riddled with errors against a Dragons side that have been woeful.

They lacked direction in the halves and just generally didn’t look like a team who will be contending for the premiership.

I’m not saying they can’t improve here – because they could and have shown glimpses of being a better team than what they showed on Friday Night, but they are running out of time to get things right.

In saying that, they still hold a spot near the top four – I just can’t see them contending with the Sharks and Storm.

Time to make it Golden Try
Look, it’s not the first time this has been suggested by the media, players, coaches or right here on The Roar, but here we go again.

The New Zealand Warriors took on the Penrith Panthers on Saturday Afternoon and proved once again that golden point is flawed and needs to go – it’s just not a good look on our game.

Looking past the basic fact that referees won’t blow a penalty and that is a terrible look for the game (just look at where the Panthers were during the final set on Saturday) teams trying to execute field goal after field goal is just silly.

Some of these games are among the best of the season during regular time, but then turn almost farcical during golden point.

Shaun Johnson’s try, after being rushed by an offside Panthers on Saturday was fantastic, as have other tries during golden point over the years, and continue to make a case for scrapping golden point.

I’m not sure of the exact rules for the best way forward, but scoring a try and playing attacking rugby league has to have something to do with it.

Can the Canberra Raiders make the top four and win the competition?
Jeez this Raiders team are exciting to watch. Their 50-point mauling of the Rabbitohs puts them in third on the ladder and they are a real threat to the competition right now.

I don’t see the Raiders winning the competition if they don’t finish in the top four, but they could well do that with the way things are going.

They are now a point ahead of the Cowboys and Bulldogs who are fourth and fifth, but the next couple of weeks will be telling as they take on the Sharks and Storm. If they are to be genuine contenders then you would expect they need to win at least one of those.

The bottom line is this though – the Raiders are capable of turning it on in a hurry and must be feared and respected by every team come September.

The North Queensland Cowboys are shot without Johnathan Thurston
Now, it’s not like the Cowboys simply can’t string a win together without him on the field – they can because frankly they have a hell of a lot of talent on the field bar the best player in the game.

It’s just that they can’t beat the really good teams without Thurston, as the Storm showed on Saturday Night with their victory.

The Cowboys hung in there well, but just didn’t have that killer edge you need to win a premiership or beat the good teams.

The likes of Michael Morgan and Lachlan Coote are perfectly able to steer a team around and backed up with a forward pack featuring names like Jason Taumalolo and Matt Scott they should be able to compete – it’s just that winning games won’t happen.

So if Thurston isn’t on the field the Cowboys won’t win the premiership – simple as that really.

Just on that, no point for the Cowboys to rush him back. They are comfortably in the finals picture, and if there is one team who could win it from outside the top four it’s them, with Thurston at the helm.

Was dropping Robbie Farah the best thing the Wests Tigers could have done?
Gutsy call Jason Taylor – and one that appears to be working early on. The Tigers have now had two games without Farah, albeit against the Dragons and Eels for two wins, but the signs look extremely positive.

Mitchell Moses is looking reborn, and since he made his debut in 2014 he hasn’t really lived up to the massive expectations.

He has had what has to be considered the best couple of games of his career so far though in the last fortnight, and if he gets going in combination with James Tedesco and Luke Brooks, then the Tigers are a threat without a doubt.

Where to for the South Sydney Rabbitohs?
The Rabbitohs were awful on Sunday. Absolutely awful as they were thumped by 50 at the hands of the Raiders.

They made errors at nearly every opportunity, looked uninterested on the defending side of things and had next to no execution.

While Luke Keary was off the field with an injury, Adam Reynolds almost refused to stand up and do what needed to be done, while Sam Burges made more errors than any other player on the field.

There are constant rumblings at Redfern that Michael McGuire has lost the dressing room and if you needed any further proof then here it is.

Souths are a rabble, and moving McGuire on, along with a couple of players might be the fastest way back to the top. McGuire himself looked like a defeated man in the coaches box.

Could be an ugly finish to the season, and not much fun next week when they travel to Melbourne next week.

What to make of the Sea Eagles and Tigers?
As much as I hate what I am saying, the two clubs from outside the top eight who look like they could make it are the Tigers and Sea Eagles. Now we have already discussed why the Tigers are firing above but the Sea Eagles had a big 36-12 victory over the Newcastle Knights on Sunday to make it four straight.

Both teams have got themselves on a late-season roll and are now level within reach of the top eight. The Sea Eagles in particular looked to be locked in and playing better than they have at any other point this season, although they are still two points behind.

Will they finish ahead of clubs like the Broncos, Titans, Warriors and Panthers? That’s hard to say.

There might be room for one of them, but given their for and against compared to those clubs, they won’t want to be losing any more contests.

Still, watch this space for both of those clubs.

That’s our Round 21 talking points. What did you make of the weekend Roarers with one game to go? Let us know below!

Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde