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What is going on? The Broncos, Dolphins and Sea Eagles are unbeaten, while the Storm, Cowboys and Eels are on struggle street.
After a round that was too hot to deal with, let’s see where all the teams finished up in this week’s Power Rankings.
Missing out on 2022 finals footy seems like a distant memory for Kevvie Walters and his troops.
To be locked at 18-all with the Dragons with ten minutes on the clock to then finish with a 40-18 win was super impressive.
The boys look fresh, fit and focused, and deserve their top spot this week. And Adam Reynolds is just on fire.
With their neighbours sitting in first spot, the new kids on the block are just behind.
Their third win on the trot had a 36-20 score line and came with their highest margin to date of 16 points against a depleted Knights team.
They are knocking all preconceived ideas and expectations out of the park and seem to have this winning thing down-pat. There is obviously something in the water in and around Brisbane.
They did it the hard way against the Eels on Friday night, getting the job done in the end with a 34-30 win.
Tommy T is flying, Haumole Olakau’atu is a machine, while Josh Schuster looks right at home in the halves.
Eagle Rock must be on constant repeat at the local radio station.
It was a fight ’til the death against their arch-enemies the Rabbitohs, and the Roosters showed why they are always in the fight.
The stats favoured the Bunnies, but the tricolours were able to do more with the ball in hand.
Having a few more troops back made a huge difference, brilliant use of the bench had an immediate impact, Jaxson Paulo had a party against his former club, and Brandon Smith finally looked comfortable in his new colours.
The draw hurt the premiers this week. Despite taking home the two points thanks to the bye, the results and efforts from the teams above them could not be ignored.
They bounced back from their loss against the Dragons by clawing back from 24-18 for a convincing 38-34 win against the Storm in the scorching Gold Coast heat.
Their combinations are clicking, Tanah Boyd has improved out of sight since Kieran Froran joined the club, and AJ Brimson is stamping his name all over the fullback jersey.
And Big Tino just continued to do Big Tino things.
Can you believe the Warriors are in the top four?
A great win against the Knights in round 1, a game they should have won against the Roosters in Round 2, and then a solid win again the Cowboys in stifling conditions up in Townsville.
Zero second-half points were scored against them on Saturday. All forwards ran for over 100m and they only allowed Jason Taumalolo to do the same for the Cowboys. Shaun Johnson looked like he had all the time in the world.
It was a gutsy effort from The Burrow, but they just couldn’t quite capitalise on all of their opportunities.
Cam Murray and big Keaon Koloamatangi were superb, but poor ball control and a few brain snaps from Cody Walker cost the team dearly.
The Bunnies now sit with just one win against the Sharks that could have gone either way.
Coach Craig Fitzgibbon summed it up best in his post-match presser – “We’re getting ourselves into some good games for the neutrals.”
Their past three games have been exciting to watch if you’re not a Sharks fan. Playing some good footy, they are just falling short on the execution in some areas and letting teams back into the fight.
Braydon Trindall was once again one of their best, it will be interesting to see if he will bump Matt Moylan out of the halves when Nicho Hynes returns.
Hmmm. Not quite the score we all expected after their big win over the Titans last week.
I bet Red V fans wish a game of footy went for 70 minutes! What happened there?
It was a great arm wrestle between the Dragons and the Broncos with ten minutes to go, but the humid conditions were too much for the visitors, and the floodgates opened for Brisbane to score 22 points in the last stanza.
But the scoreboard didn’t entirely reflect the game, with a lot of positives to take away from it.
What is going on in Townsville?
A one-point win followed by a 12-point loss and then a 14-point loss seems to be a far cry from the preliminary finalists that stunned the competition last year.
Terrible ball control, poor discipline, and piggybacking teams up the other end.
Has second-year syndrome kicked in?
A golden point win then two tough losses is not usually a Storm scenario. Having a team score 18 points in six minutes against them seems unheard of.
The men in purple are missing a lot of troops, but that usual ‘next man up’ mentality’ just seems to be lacking.
Handling errors that are just so un-Storm-like are creeping in at a rapid rate, and this usually dominating side find themselves well and truly out of the top eight on the NRL ladder.
After two close losses, the Green Machine are finally in the winner’s circle for 2023.
Many thought they were unlucky in their last two outings, but their resilience paid off during their four-point win over the Sharks.
Huge defensive efforts, especially close to their line, and a beautiful double from Corey ‘Big Red’ Horsbrough was icing on the cake.
It was a stinking hot 36 degrees at Belmore on Sunday, and while it wasn’t pretty, the Bulldogs got the job done.
But to be fair, they backed up last week’s win against an understrength Storm with a tight win against the current wooden spooners.
They played well, and combinations are starting to click, but they almost coughed up a 20-point lead when the Tigers put on three quick tries in the space of five minutes to set up a grandstand finish.
Side note – how good is Paul Alamoti?
Hooley Dooley.
Sitting 0-3 the grand finalists find themselves in an uncomfortable and unrecognisable position.
The holes left by players like Reed Mahoney just seem to be getting bigger, and the cohesion between the team seems almost invisible.
At least Brad Arthur used all of his bench this week.
Players like Clint Gutherson are trying, the effort is definitely there, but the execution is certainly missing.
The Knights put in a big effort being down 100 men, but the Dolphins were just too good and the Knights were poor where it counted. Considering the star power that was missing, this Knights fan was proud of the way everyone else on the team dug in, but that doesn’t help the NRL ladder.
The fullback problem seems to be sorted with Lachie Miller absolutely killing it in the back, but the experience still stuck on the sideline will continue to be a struggle for Newcastle.
Luke Brooks. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
It was another match where the Tigers could have come out on top, but the boys just couldn’t finish it off. They did well to chase down their 20-point deficit, but letting it get that big in the first place is part of the problem.
Luke Brooks and Adam Doueihi played like a halves pairing that had just met. Brandon Wakeham came onto the field and put a rocket up the side – he may prove a welcome headache for coach Tim Sheens come team selection time.